Ramen Burger: More than a Passing Fad (food)

While the cronut ended up getting worldwide media exposure, it wasn't the only combination food fad that people in NYC waited in line for. There was also the ramen burger, which made its debut last fall at Smorgasburg, the Brooklyn Flea food market. While the hours-long lines for it have come and gone, the ramen burger is still available in the city at Ramen.Co, a ramen restaurant in the financial district opened by the creator of the ramen burger. I decided to give it a try with a friend a couple of weeks ago.


ORIGINAL RAMEN BURGER ($8) - RAMEN BUN, ANGUS BEEF PATTY, ARUGULA, SECRET SHOYU SAUCE, SCALLION, SERVED WITH CHIPS
The first thing I noticed as I unwrapped my ramen burger was that it looked really small. And yet, I found it perfectly filling for lunch when I was done with it. The burger patty itself was decent. It won't come close to rivaling the many burgers in NYC vying to be the best, but it would beat most fast food and fast casual burgers, and was decently juicy for a relatively thin patty. The secret shoyu sauce was excellent, with a nice viscosity and sweetness, but more importantly, packing an umami punch. Of course the key product innovation here is the ramen bun, and I have to say I thought it worked really well. It managed to hold together as a bun without being hard to bite through. I am a big fan of springy noodles, and this compressed noodle patty somehow managed to convey that same texture as a whole. Altogether, it was a really well-composed dish that clearly had a lot of thought put into it.

SHREDDED BEEF RAMEN BURGER ($9)
My friend enjoyed her shredded beef version, which I guess one would call a sandwich rather than a burger. All the burgers come with very thick crinkle cut potato chips which I enjoyed but my friend thought were too thick. I think it depends whether you prefer crisp or crunch in your chips.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I liked that the ramen/burger combo was more than just a novelty, and I thought the noodle bun worked much better than many rice buns I've had previously at fast food places. It makes me wonder what other bygone food fads I should try once there aren't huge lines for them any more.

Ramen.Co
100 Maiden Ln/191 Pearl St
Manhattan, NY