City Ramen
About
Ramen
Location
Adress: 321 S Main St, Royal Oak, MI 48067
Work Hours
Reviews
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Leah D.
Great, flavorful ramen. I had the Royal Ramen (Tonkotsu) and my husband had the Bold Rame (spicy miso) which had just the right amount of spicy. We also tried the gyoza which was a little different then we're used to as far as the filling but very delicious.
It did take quite a while to get our ramen (I know it's made to order) but as someone who works in downtown Royal Oak, I was hoping this would be a regular lunch spot but I'm afraid it would just take too long to enjoy it on a lunch break.
If you're not on a time restraint, definitely worth a try! -
Nicholas L.
Noodles were soggy (overcooked), charshu was tough, and cold. Hard boiled egg also was cold. Strange choice of adding broccoli to ramen... not traditional flavor but it kind of worked in my opinion.
Will be back to try again in a month and see if they improve. If not, I'm done. Kaizen ramen around the block is like 10x better. -
Tommy T.
Overall score: 4/5
I was really excited about this place opening up in the Metro Detroit area. The ramen shop style is very similar to a majority of the ones in Dallas where you order from a tablet and either sit down and they will call your number or you have the number stick at your table. I like that concept because it's fast and efficient.
My friend turned me onto an article about this place and I have been salivating about this shop since I read about it. We decided to go during a Friday evening and to my surprise it wasn't jammed packed which was perfect! It's still new but once word gets out about this place it will be busting at the seams I'm sure on a Friday night.
The atmosphere and ambiance is similar to a small ramen shop and fast food sit down restaurant. The staff were amazingly nice and asked us how our meals were. The kitchen was open and you can see the chefs making the food at the ramen bar. It's super lit inside with a very lofty feel with modern woods and aluminum/metal.
We tried all the appetizers on the menu except the gyoza since they were out. The ribs were juicy, had a slight crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. The glaze was sweet which is great but for me I'm not a big sweet glaze person. We also got the edamame which came out in a huge serving and was served warm with an oil base with some seasoning on it (amazing really). There was also the mustard greens with pork rinds which were good not great but I like where they were going with it. The dressing was pretty good on it.
Now for the ramen. I've eaten ramen all over and my yelp reviews have a ton of reviews for ramen shops around the US. The plating for the ramen is hands down best looking. The broth was very viscous and thick that's not too salty. It had good flavoring just not hearty flavoring. The noodles were super thick (think of lo-mien), but you can tell it was made in house since it was chewy and bouncy. The toppings on our tonkatsu had the mustard greens on it which I'm not used to but not opposed to it now. The egg was perfectly marinated (a little too runny yolk for me), the chashu pork was not too thick and not too thin and tasted great. I like it, it wasn't a bad bowl of ramen.
To be honest with you from a ranking standpoint in the Metro Detroit area I would rank Urban Ramen #1 followed by City Ramen and Johnny Noodle King about even for second place and then Kaizen Ramen after that.
I will definitely be coming back here for sure because it's clean, fast, and good.
Food review:
- Tonkatsu ramen 3.75/5
- Ribs 3.5/5
- Edamame 4/5
- Mustard Green 3/5 -
Jennifer Y.
Yesterday from 4 to 8pm was a soft opening for Instagramer's, which I got to attend.
After walking inside, you see three kiosk machines, which has the menu items. There are five choices of ramen, sides, and drinks. After you order, the receipt prints out and then you bring it to the table to be seated.
After seating down, I got to speak to Tracey, who is the co-owner of City Ramen. He told me his background and why he opened it here in Royal Oak, Michigan. The other co-owner is a Japanese chef who owns 8 ramen shops in Japan and 1 in San Diego. He came down to Royal Oak and trained all the employees about ramen. Phelan (I don't know his job title but I assume he probably is the head chef) showed me downstairs where the noodles are made. Everything is made in house and from scratch.
I tried the bold ramen (spicy miso). Of all the places I have tried in metro-detroit area, City Ramen is hands down the BEST ramen shop. The ramen tasted like somewhere you would find in Japan.
Although they are still in the process of setting a date for grand opening, which will be very soon, it is a must visit place. I highly recommend it!
(PS: Follow @jeyang.foodfunadventures on Instagram!) -
Zee L.
Best ramen in Grant Detroit Area！！The soup is rich but not oily at all，noodle is chewy enough but not hard，egg is perfectly soft inside，pork belly can melt in ur mouth. Fantastic balance！
One thing to improve：please have more choices on the side orders！