Shaka Ramen

This is a nice little ramen restaurant. We tried the spicy and tantan ramen, as well as the takoyaki and vegetable spring rolls. The takoyaki and ramen were excellent, the later had flavorful broth and the usual mix of vegetables and meat. The is only one thing I'd change, and that is to use a less fatty cut of pork for the chashu, however this looks like pork belly and is the standard for this type of dish.

Anyway, it's great to have a place like this in Middletown - we'll be back.

First time eating at the new ramen shop in Middletown! The miso ramen was creamy and delicious. Great atmosphere. Hope to go back soon.

Shaka Ramen

400 S. Ridge Ave.
Middletown

Like many people, I’ve been waiting for a Ramen shop to come to town for some time. Now that we FINALLY have one, I went in for the full treatment! For starters, I will say the restaurant is very cool on the inside, the decorating and graphics on the wall were all pretty impressive. The space is unrecognizable from its previous iterations of the taco shop and the cheese place. Second, the staff was super-friendly… like it was a place I’ve already been to 100 times.

On to the food. They offer a combo which gives you a choice of one of the ramen bowls and an appetizer for $20. I went with the spicy ramen with pork and the Takoyaki. I also ordered a tornado potato ($3) and a taro tea to drink. I LOVED the ramen. For me, the noodles and pork were perfect, but what really won me over is the spicy broth. I like spicy, and frequently order things spicy but get served something that I don’t think is spicy at all. The other extreme is I’ll end up over emphasizing the “make it spicy” part and then get something ridiculous that I can’t eat. This was the perfect level of spicy for me. It had kick, it had heat, but 1) didn’t overpower everything else that I ate and 2) didn’t linger and make you want to constantly be drinking something the entire meal. The ramen was an excellent balance of spicy, savory broth and tender meat and noodles. The egg was also good (I added an extra). The Takoyaki was also very good. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had never had it before. It is kinda like a fish ball, but made with octopus instead. I like all kinds of sushi, but not a fan of octopus. I don’t like the texture when it comes to tako sushi. This was different. Maybe because it is chopped fine and mixed with other ingredients, but in any case I enjoyed it and the sauces drizzled on top made it even better. It is something that I will absolutely order again at some point, but I want to try some other things first.

I will be back within a day or two for more spicy a ramen. I highly recommend it. If you are looking for something a little unique to try, I will recommend the Takoyaki. Something else I had never tried before was taro flavored tea. I’m a big fan of Thai iced tea and this is now my new favorite. Delicious! It is on the sweet side, so if you don’t like sweet drinks, this isn’t for you. But if sweet doesn’t bother you, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Overall my experience was really very nice. They were rather busy, so it did take a little time for food to come out, but it wasn’t anything annoying. Maybe as much as 15 minutes, but no other issues. I’m anxious to try other appetizer options, but the ramen was so good the first time, I think I will stick with the spicy ramen with pork! Will be back within the week!

The restaurant is located in one of the little strip malls next to Kohls. If you know where Green Turtle is, it is in the same building at the other end.

Ok overall aesthetics were 5/5 very nice atmosphere nice music very clean establishment. I give the service three out of five. The lady at the front desk was very welcoming but our server was very mediocre. She was sweet but we’ve never been to this establishment. Didn’t suggest anything on the menu, didn’t describe anything we asked about. So for that I give her a 3. I orderd the Spicy chicken ramen it was very flavorful definitely spicy, noodles were cooked perfectly not soggy. We ordered the buns as an appetizer it comes with two they were huge I coulda just ate that alone and would have been full the pork was seasoned well and tender 4/5. The gyrzo were just ok to me I ordered the pork ones they came out quickly which was great. We also ordered the shrimp tempura they are large comes with about 5/6 but I would never order again 0/5 they had absolutely ZERO flavor very bland just fried battered shrimp no season in the batter either. Lastly I ordered the passion fruit green tea $5 decent size tasted amazing would definitely order again .

Food was amazing! Had a very clean and comfortable interior. Loved the Naruto curtain that's divided the kitchen from the eating area. Can't wait to eat here again!