A while back, when I heard so much about a certain weekly ramen pop-up restaurant happening sometimes here, sometimes there, I stubbornly dragged my feet about going. Once I made my move, it was winter-cold in the tall-ceilinged, anime-playing-on-the-big-screen back room where the Lucky Cat Ramen folks had set up shop in the Memphis Made Tap Room. I stayed and enjoyed the richest, most seriously well-crafted bowl of ramen I’ve ever tasted, with the soft-boiled egg soaked in soy, the perfect chewiness of the noodles, and of course, the star of the show, the savory, salty, deeply flavored broth.
This summer, owners Chef Zach Nicholson and his wife Sarah Pardee, who runs the front of the house at Lucky Cat Ramen, have now settled into their new bamboo-walled, lantern-bedecked space next door to Café 1912 in Midtown. Lucky Cat is open for dinner Thursday through Sunday, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Chef Nicholson is determined to bring his classical training together with the best ingredients and techniques in order to end up with consistently amazing results. He’s especially proud of the pork broth used as the basis for most of the ramen, such as the shoyu, tan tan, bacon-collards, and miso miso combinations that graced a recent weekly menu. “The preparation for our pork broth involves a traditional two-day cook time for the bones with a strict routine of blanching them,” Nicholson explains. “This results in a clean, milky, creamy broth.” In addition, the pop-up’s vegetarian bowl is my favorite with a lemongrass, ginger, and charred vegetable broth.
Right now, the only other savory option besides ramen are the pillowy pulled-pork steam buns, or bao, with extras such as Brussels sprouts kimchi slaw, toasted peanuts, and miso barbecue sauce. Dessert is well worth 75 cents: matcha green tea mini KitKats. However, the on-the-small-side menu feels just right because the tight focus more easily allows for excellence.
I implore you to learn from my dawdling. Don’t let it take you as long as I did to try Lucky Cat Ramen!
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Justin Fox Burks
A small menu of well-crafted bowls speaks to Lucky Cat’s dedication to the art of ramen
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Bacon Collards Ramen
with its pork broth base, is a specialty
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Big bites are traditional when eating ramen, and slurping is encouraged.
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Bao
Pulled pork, kimchi slaw, and peanuts are tucked into tiny steamed buns, or bao, that pack big flavor
247 S. Cooper Street (633-8296) $-$$