Kambi Ramen House

This place is so damn hip AND lowkey, NO attitude at all. Friendly, attentive service--but best is the ramen--my fav is #2 with thin noodles. Each ingredient is flawless and discrete, the broth is perfect. You can watch the prep right there, the decor is elegant but simple, totally meets my esthetic needs. Looks like Momofuku without the nauseating hype. And on Thur. nights, the owner plays in an excellent jazz trio, right there. Wish they had a bigger menu, and drinks--that would be heaven. But they know what they do, and do it right.

Pretty good....I ordered the spicy miso ramen with wavy noodles and chicken. The chicken looked a little suspect....lots of tendons etc. Menu said it would be served with wild vegetables, however it was just some corn kernels, a few bamboo shoots and some seaweed...and a tiny bit of it. I wouldn't order this again. However, the kimbhi and gyoza were great, and other people's food looked good, so I would try it again. Also a poor selection of drinks.

For a quick bowl of delicious comforting ramen without the wait, I always go to Kambi. Ippudo is awesome, but I refuseeeee to wait an hour and a half for a casual bowl of noodles, as amazing as they are. At Kambi, I've never had to wait, the service is friendly (they always give me a cup of green tea when I'm waiting for my to-go order). My favorite is the very garlicky basic, (loveee how garlicky it is). The texture of the broth is velvety and smooth with a thickness that coats your tongue (in a good way!). My boyfriend prefers the shoyu, which is delicious too but I can never resist the basic. The thick and wavy noodles are both really tasty. You can pretty much skip the apps though because none are noteworthy. The bean sprout salad is literally blanched bean sprouts with a little sesame vinaigrette poured over them. The gyoza are pretty good, but nothing to write home about.