Ramen Kid

The staff is super friendly the sake is hot and delicious and hey the ramen is tasty… this place is a great way to end your day after shopping in Madison.

I stopped in on a Sunday afternoon to order to go. I was told it’d take 10 – 15 minutes so I went for a walk around the block during my wait. I returned 15 minutes later and was told it would just be another couple of minutes. It was another 15. So I stood there watching the kitchen work and finally saw a guy throw my ingredients (pre made) into a to go package about a half hour after I’d ordered. And it took all of one minute.
The ramen itself is pretty good and flavorful (I ordered the miso) but I was pretty put off by the wait, with no apologies.

This is a must!
I was excited to hear Madison finally got a true Ramen house. Son and I tried it out this Saturday afternoon. I was so anxious to try it, I forgot to photograph our meals.
We ordered the spicy miso, veg, and tonkatsu ramen. All were excellent. The servings were plentiful, hot and presented in an appetizing manner.
The goyza are to die for. I would say the best I have had in Madison. They do offer other noodle type dishes if you not in the soul mood.
The establishment is in inviting. It’s my understanding, this use to be some type of night club/​bar. You would not know that from the remodel. The outside sign doesn’t really standout to grab your attention, so be on the lookout for it when seeking this place. Seating is limited. Each table only holds two, however, tables can be slid together to accommodate larger groups. I would go with a very large group or you may find your self standing. They do have counter seating if your by your self.
As everything downtown, parking is either on the street or about a block up there is a small lot.

There’s a New Kid on the Block slinging out bowls of ramen to a receptive audience. After my recent visit to the Ramen Kid, would I be crooning «Baby You Got It» about my experience, or would «Single» (as in a single Unilocal star) be more apropos?
Other than a new sign, the pale brick exterior of the restaurant has changed little from its previous incarnation as the Lava Lounge, so don’t expect to be blown away when you first lay eyes on the establishment. However, the interior is another story, as the owner has done an effective job converting the former night club into a proper ramen shop. It’s a long, narrow space and despite limited natural light, the interior is well illuminated. The animé collage above the open, stainless steel kitchen, the Japanese calligraphy on the dining room walls and the multicolored paper umbrellas all set the proper mood for the Japanese themed eatery. The matching tables and chairs along with the neat stacks of red, white and black bowls and plates stacked on the bar reinforce the sense of order inside the restaurant. The fairly loud background music sounded fairly unique — it sounded like Japanese pop to my uneducated ear. While there are still rough spots to the interior décor (a hastily painted false ceiling, a grungy looking mirror behind the kitchen cooler), overall the new incarnation was generally well executed.
Ramen Kid offers counter service. The engaging cashier deftly guided me as I navigated the limited menu for the first time. The kitchen delivered my steaming bowl of deliciousness in slightly more than five minutes, which was greatly appreciated, as Madison was in the grips of the a particularly virulent Polar Vortex and the steam from the bowl had revived both body and soul that encounter. Because the restaurant was not particularly busy during my visit, I had the runner, the cook and older gentleman who I assumed was the owner ask me what I thought of my lunch.
The menu includes over a half dozen ramen options, a pair of stir-​fried noodle dishes and several different curry bowls. For appetizers, there are a variety of dumplings, calamari, kara-​age (fried chicken bites) and edamame. The restaurant also offers a limited beer and wine menu. After consulting the staff, I wisely decided to go with the popular Tonkatsu (marinated soft boiled egg, green onions, bamboo shoot and pork chashu). The intensely savory broth had a soothing depth of flavor, extremely satisfying on its own and the salt level was spot on. My bowl brimmed with a generous quantity of slurpilicious noodles. The soft boil egg added a nice visual element but flavor-​wise, it seemed lost in the other components of the dish. I was pleased with the quantity of the under-​seasoned pork chashu, however, I wished it was portioned into smaller pieces.
Overall, I’m extremely excited to have a ramen shop joining Madison’s food scene and look forward to further exploration of their menu.

Unilocal Elites have been blowing this place up, so I didn’t want to be left out. Glad I made the 40+ mile trip to check it out!
I stopped by for a late lunch around 3pm. Parking wasn’t a problem and I was immediately seated when I came in. The server gave me the option of wherever I wanted to sit.
I had already looked at the menu online before I came in so I knew exactly what I wanted. Started with the spicy Gyoza (pan fried) and then ordered the spicy miso.
The Goyza was flavorful and it was a decent amount of food for an appetizer. The only con would be the large amount of grease on them from the meat. But I just let them drip a little bit before indulging in them. I found that they had more than enough flavor that I didn’t need the dipping sauce.
The spicy miso was filling and full of flavor! Next time I order it though I am going to go with extra noodles and extra pork Chashu. I was disappointed to only find one slice of Chashu in my bowl. The egg was cooked perfectly and I found that the bowl had a perfect balance of veggies, broth and noodles. I am just partial to the noodles, that’s why I would order extra next time.
The ambiance and décor was nice. Playing some more modern hip hop music really cheered things up (glad they didn’t have the usual Asian music going on). Unfortunately a group came in after me and they couldn’t keep their kids under control, running around and yelling. But that’s not the restaurant’s fault.
Total bill was very reasonable, $ 14.72 for the entire meal. Great value in my opinion. If you are in need of a warm full belly, hit up Ramen Kid for sure!

After seeing all the buzz on this relatively new restaurant, I decided to venture over on a frigid winter night.
The space is simple with a counter, a dining room, and a sushi bar-​like sitting area. It’s not brand new, but still kept up very well.
I ventured outside the ramen atmosphere and got the vege curry. The curry sauce was EXCELLENT, but the vegetables that came on top looked like they were from a frozen bag. All in all, it was a hearty meal for $ 7.
My friend got the pork ramen and loved it. Ramen is definitely a hit at this place and I won’t make the same mistake when I go back. The one disappointing aspect of our visit was that they no longer have the green bean appetizers (which look great in the other photos).
Either way, the other Unilocalers have it right; this place is a great deal with excellent ramen!

I visited this place for the first time in a freezing night.
The place is very small with not too many tables. And there are lots of people, maybe because of the cold weather (?)
I ordered the tonkatsu ramen and takoyaki.
The soup was very nice, creamy and tasty, and not too salty. And I enjoyed the noodles a lot. The pork chashu was ok, a little bit dry, but that’s a leafy a good deal for Madison.
I very much enjoyed my first try of takoyaki! It was like a mouthful of octopus mixed with mayo and other sauces. Crispy on the outside but creamy (and hot) in the inside.
For an extra $ 2.5 you can make a combo of your ramen, which you can choose from deep fried gyozas (very crispy), curry rice (a huge bowl) or extra noodles.
The dishes all come in a big portion and the prices are reasonable.
The only complaint is really about their slow service…

So far have been here twice And loved it. I think this would be a wonderful, interesting date place. The décor is primarily animé/​manga + other hallmarks of Japanese and/​or Asian culture in general. For the state street/​Downtown Madison area, this is a unique concept restaurant that I hope will develop and enjoy more success in the future. If you’ve ever had ramen at Mitsuwa market in Arlington heights, IL, this is as close as it gets in Madison.
As for the pricing, I paid 10 $ for the spicy miso combo w side which is reasonable given the large quantity of food that is given.
I’ve ordered the spicy miso ramen both times, which is not necessarily spicy (just more flavorful) and if you like it even hotter, just ask! They will provide sriracha and Japanese hot pepper. The first time I ordered gyoza as a combo side. The second time I ordered curry rice.
If you are starving, order the curry rice on the side. It is essentially rice with a huge portion of curry.
Although some have commented that the service is not up to par, I actually think it was pretty good given the fact that they are currently understaffed and are training new employees.
I would say give it six months and they will have great, consistent service. (Maybe I’m biased;) they forgot my curry rice and to make up for it, they gave me a whole plate of extra ramen noodle… with the curry rice at the end)
Overall-​cute place with potential!

I came here with my boyfriend for lunch on Saturday afternoon. The restaurant is right off of Gilman and Johnson, so parking is tricky depending on when you go. The interior of the restaurant is cute and has a Japanese feel with an American touch. The walls are plastered with Animé and Miyazaki stickers and memorabilia, which was fun guessing which sticker belonged to which show while we were waiting.
Service was dependent on how many people were there. There is one server, and she was either very busy or not (no happy medium). We came when the restaurant was pretty full, so we found the service a tad spotty.
Food was pretty good (especially for the price!). For $ 7.50, I received hot ramen with pork, egg, and broth. I was slightly disappointed that my soft boiled egg’s yolk was hard, but it didn’t take away from the meal. My boyfriend and I ordered the Tonkatsu (his was spicy and $ 0.50 more expensive). I preferred his over mine, so if you like spice, definitely opt for the spicy option. I wish there were more veggies (mushroom, cilantro, onions, sprouts, and ESPECIALLY seaweed), so I found the broth lacking.
Fried dumplings were alright, but if we were going to get another combo, we would order the extra noodles option instead of dumplings. Overall, I wasn’t blown away, but I had a very pleasant experience.

Awesome food !!! service was excellent seems our orders were taken quickly and food came fast… Loved the shoyu ramen will come again

Good Ramen for 8 $! Better broth and cheaper prices than Umami… but the service was pretty terrible.
We’ll definitely be back for take out though.

I came to Ramen Kid on a blustery Wisconsin winter night. I am a big fan of ramen, so I had been anticipating the opening of this establishment for some time.
I ordered the Miso-​Based Vegetarian ramen bowl, as well as the Takoyaki (Octopus dumplings). The ramen was flavored well and had the necessary components including a hard boiled egg, green unions and a heaping mound of slippery noodles. The fried octopus dumplings were also satisfactory; a sensually greasy combination to say the least.
The ramen itself is not groundbreaking. No incredibly unique flavors or toppings, but it checks all the boxes and left me content. The price makes up for the lack of originality; most bowls run around $ 7 – 8, which is more than enough of an incentive to make me a repeat customer.
The ramen was hot, the service was quick and the price was right. I recommend checking this spot out on a dismal and dreary winter day. it’ll warm you up.

These five stars are for the food! The tonkotsu ramen rivaled the version I had at David Chang’s Momofuku. It had a rich pork broth with delightfully salty homemade noodles and toppings. We added the nori sheets because – nori. It was the best soul-​warming, umami-​packed bowl of ramen I’ve had. I’d recommend stirring the broth a bit before tasting it, because the flavor-​dense bits of the soup tend to hang out around the bottom half of the bowl.
For an extra couple bucks, we turned our bowl-​to-​share into a combo with 3 potstickers. The potstickers were delightfully crispy!
Like everyone else, I’m going to complain about the service. It was unfortunately the worst service I have received. Everyone working there was nice, but it seemed like they were just hanging out or hadn’t been trained yet. For example, we asked a server for another bowl so we could share the ramen, and a few minutes later saw her across the restaurant chatting with the chef, while we wondered where our extra bowl was. I’m really hoping that, because this was only the second week the restaurant was open, and because they were totally in the weeds, that all of these issues will be resolved in the near future! Their food is way to good to be ruined over poor service. Looking forward to the next visit!

Ramen Kid is a newly opened restaurant in the heart of Madison. I had been waiting for it to open since I saw the location being renovated and was excited to try out Madison’s second ramen restaurant. This is my first review on Unilocal because I was so appalled at my experience there.
Upon entering the restaurant, the atmosphere did not feel welcoming because as new customers, my girlfriend and I did not know what to expect or do. Was I supposed to find my own seat, wait to be seated, or order at the counter and retrieve my food later? Eventually after waiting 15 minutes in the front alongside other loitering customers, the waitress guided us to our seat. The look of the restaurant is that of a typical ramen bar, nothing special besides the manga comic pictures above the bar. It was not spacious and some tables were very close together.
The waitress asked for our drinks and then minutes later took our order. We ordered the Takoyaki to share as an appetizer then ordered the Tonkotsu and Kara-​age Curry as our entrée. The time it took for our food to come to our table was incredibly disappointing, it was an upwards of 30 minutes. Our appetizer ended up being the last thing to come to our table. Later on during our meal, I witnessed another customer receiving their food late with a side of an apology from the waitress, just like we had.
The Takoyaki came with 5 pieces, each of which had only small piece of octopus inside a ball filled mostly tasteless batter. I had a taste of the Kara-​age Curry, but it did not wow me at all. The item tasted like generic Japanese curry with chicken and a side of sliced ginger. The only good thing about the curry was the portion size was large. My entrée was Japan’s signature Tonkotsu. The first thing I noticed that there was an absurd amount of noodles compared to the meat, egg, and bamboo shoots. There were only handful of shoots and only two small slices of meat. The broth tasted bland and I ended up not finishing it. The egg wasn’t prepared as well as other ramen places, instead it was more of a typical boiled egg, this left me disappointed as it is one of my favorite parts of eating ramen.
I will not be going to Ramen Kid again in the near future as the terrible service and mediocre quality has left a bad impression on me for the time being. I do see potential for improvement as it is in a good location. Once they are staffed better and become better prepared for busy nights as well as improvement in food quality, they will be heading in a positive direction.

Love that there’s a great ramen place in town! Staff is all nice and friendly. Can’t wait to come back.
The soup is delicious and if I’m super hungry I like a little curry katsu to go with it. Can never have enough yummies especially when it’s chilly out.
Thanks Ramen Kid!

2^nd visit at the great ramen place. Tried gyoza, kara-​age & goma-​ae at Sunday noon, no wait time. The quality of these snacks needs to be improved. The way beans were cut and saused could be better. Staff friendly as always. The room is well air-​conditioned but pretty moist due to the vapour coming from open kitchen. Coming back next time for other dishes.

We’ve been waiting for Ramen Kid to open for weeks. On a cold, blustery day, a hot bowls of pork tonkatsu, soy sauce ramen, & teriyaki chix hit the spot. Service was friendly. It was cool hearing them offer the mailman lunch, but he was in a rush today with a smile responding with, «…next time, I promise.»

So you’re probably wondering if I liked this more than I liked this more than Umami ramen, and the answer is yes!
Umami is a more hipster kind of place. Ramen kid is for the animé geek.
I got tonkotsu with extra noodles and extra chashu for $ 12. The broth was creamy and savory with just the right amount of salt. The green onions added a lot to the flavor too. The noodles were nice and bouncy. The menma was the best I’ve had and had a savory fermented flavor that wasn’t too sweet. The marinated egg was perfect; it had a runny yolk and a savory flavor. The chashu was thicker than I would’ve liked, but it was unique. It was incredibly soft and smoky unlike any other chashu I’ve had.
I got the karage too, but it wasn’t that great compared to others I’ve had. It pretty much just tasted like beer-​battered chicken tenders.
The atmosphere was awesome too! You can eat in front of the kitchen like they do in animé, and they have a collage of manga above the kitchen.
Next time, I’m going to try the takoyaki and the other ramens. I think I found a new go-​to spot!
Updates:
2÷17÷16 — Got spicy miso with extra noodles, extra chashu, and menma. The menma and chashu were different than last time, but still great. The chashu was much softer and tender. It was like a broth sponge. Not as smoky or chunky this time; it was in traditional slices but on the thicker side. Also, the amount of chashu with extra was the size of my fist. The menma tasted the same, but it was the usual shape this time instead of the kind i got in my picture. Still my favorite chashu and menma ever!

Now that there are two ramen places in Madison, I feel it’s imperative that the two be compared. This review hopes to answer any questions you might have in deciding whether to go here, Ramen Kid, or its competition, Umami. To test consistently, I ordered a classical Japanese ramen meal — pan-​fried pork gyoza and tonkatsu ramen — at both places.
At Ramen Kid, you get half of a soft-​boiled egg and bamboo shoots (seaweed is extra) on top of the noodles, pork, and broth. After trying both, I prefer Ramen Kid. The ramen here is better in almost every aspect. The broth is much richer and thicker and the noodles have texture without tasting doughy. The pork was tender and pretty good overall. The gyoza is also not bad, although it didn’t exactly blow my mind. But I cannot emphasize enough how savory the broth was. It was bitterly cold that day, and god the rich taste and fragrance of that savory bowl of noodles and broth was delicious. Also, it’s really not that expensive.
Hopefully this might have helped you decide where to go. The ramen at Ramen Kid is better than at Umami, but Umami has better things other than ramen. What you end up preferring will depend on what you’re in the mood for.

I went down to lunch today at Madistan (another new favorite of mine) and saw Ramen Kid had opened. We did the only logical thing and came back downtown for dinner.
My first thought was that we screwed up. Employees were eating in the dining room and one of their kids running around, but I think this can be accounted for by the recent opening (maybe even today). You order at the front and the counter worker was very kind, but the whole ordering process went a little rough. The men’s bathroom had a wall soap despenser sitting on the side of the sink, but my wife said the women’s was very nice and had a bidet.
The food was great. My wife had the tonkotsu ramen and I had the pork katsu; then we split the edamame. The food all came out at once. The pork cutlet came with a dark sauce, amazing. I’ve only had pork katsu once before at Saboten in Hong Kong and I thought I’d never find anything as good at home. However, this was just as good or better. The only complaint was the portion was a little small and the rice that came with it was just okay.
The ramen came with a perfectly soft boiled egg. The problem was that we ordered an extra egg and it only came with a half egg total. The broth was thick and salty, so really good. The pork inside was very tender and had great flavor.
5 for the food 3 for ambiance, worth fighting badger hockey parking for