Butao Ramen is one of the most popular ramen shops in Hong
Kong and for good reason. I came here with Trixie, FW, and Polly one night per Polly's suggestion of this highly recommended “Black King Ramen”.
When we arrived, we already saw a lineup at the door. It
didn’t look too bad until we looked on the opposite side of the street.
Apparently the line stems from the front door all the way to
the opposite side of the street (as to avoid crowding in front of other
businesses).
As we were waiting, we were given these order forms (they
have Chinese and English). You can choose from their five choices of ramen and
they are separated by colour. The black ramen is sesame and squid ink based, the red ramen is
spicy chili based, the green ramen is pesto based, and butao ramen is their traditional
pork bone broth.
They provide you with another handy sheet to show you what
each ramen looks like.
The restaurant is quite small and each table seats a maximum of 4
people.
I loved how they provided fresh garlic and a garlic press.
It’s perfect for people like me who enjoy maximum garlic-ky goodness and don’t
mind the beautiful putrid breath that comes along with it. :P
Voila! The Black King
Ramen ($90.00 HKD/~$11.00 CAD). The broth is pork bone based but they
combined it with a bunch of other ingredients such as sesame, squid ink, and black garlic
oil. The broth had a pleasant earthiness to it.
The black sesame ball on top was what made the entire broth
incredibly rich and flavourful. This ramen was did not disappoint and I will
certainly return when I have the chance to go to HK again. My only suggestion when eating this: make sure you wipe and rinse your mouth clean or else you'd end up looking like you just ate dirt.
We all added an extra dollar for an egg, and boy was it a
fine decision. The egg yolk was like still liquidy and had the consistency of jelly.
Based on these reasons:
- Unique approach to ramen (separating them into colour categories)
- Pork bone broth was rich and flavourful
- Black King Ramen is a must!
- Prepare for long line ups
Service Rating: 3.5/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $$
Overall Rating: 4/5
Happy Eating!
<-- the green ramen!
Ah, Nagahama style Ramen. I am more of a Tokyo Ramen fan though
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