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Always liked the Whole Foods food courts. They have something for everybody. Thank you!
Just bear in mind that their Ramen Bar is almost hidden in a remote corner of the store, so you really have to search for it!
It is located in a glassed-in area behind the check-outs, in what used to be their demonstration kitchen. Apparently the cooking classes weren't popular enough to sustain that effort, and a few months ago they installed the Ramen Bar in this glassed-in area. It is nowhere near their deli, their sushi station, or their soup, salad, and hot food bars, so you will need to do some exploring of the store in order to locate the Ramen Bar.
You don't have to spend $60 for ramen anywhere. Even the top places in the city like Ippudo and Ramen Lab and Mr. Taka are very reasonable.
For the OP, I don't have any recommendations in central Jersey but it might be worth schlepping into the city sometime.
i was speaking more about sushi, but even with ramen. its disgusting what you get in jersey, it's more like pho, and honestly you can make it yourself at home
Thanks for all of your suggestions. I was underwhelmed by Rai Rai Ramen and doubt I'll make the 45 min drive again for Ramen. Will try the food court in Princeton and maybe Blackbeard in Cliffside Park (it's 1 1/2 hr drive) if I'm in the mood for a drivce. Don't know NY at all so unless I can find someone to tag along with, that's probably out for me at the moment. Can't believe that more sushi places in central NJ don't also do ramen. Found a few that have udon but no ramen. :-/ Central NJ just doesn't know what it's missing.
Below is a Yelp review for Genji Ramen, which is located inside the Whole Foods in Princeton. Just remember that it is not located in WF's food court area, and is actually at the other end of the store, in a glassed-in area that used to be their demonstration kitchen.
A new place for Japanese ramen in Princeton! I am going to be a bit long winded because this is their first review and Princeton is not exactly a hotbed for the ramen enthusiast. Genji Ramen is new and located inside Whole Foods in what was the demonstration kitchen. They've only recently opened and are now open 7 days a week. They only serve ramen: the original Genji tonkotsu (pork), spicy miso, shoyu (soy sauce), and vegetarian. There are 2 kinds of noodles: traditional and vegan (no egg). Toppings are: chashu (pork belly), tamago (marinated boiled egg), and other assorted fixings like nori (seaweed) garlic, ginger, scallion etc.
You will not find the soggy instant style noodle that passes for ramen in other restaurants here. In a word Genji's ramen is authentic and excellent. The soup is clean tasting and full of flavor. Pearls of fat glistening on the surface. Most importantly it was boiling hot. The noodles are not dropped into the boiling water until I place my order. Tender yet springy to the teeth. They do not make their own noodles but it's a high quality product. I was pleased to find a generous heap of saffron on my spicy miso which definitely gave the entire bowl of noodles a lift beyond even the best ramen I've had elsewhere. The pork and egg provide a perfect accompaniment to the noodles. The pork is buttery and the egg yolk just barely firm. I've had the regular Genji ramen, and the shoyu, but the spicy miso is my favorite. The umami is off the chart.
For Sunduri's benefit, I wanted to add that a new, very large Whole Foods is slated to open in Bridgewater, sometime in the latter part of 2017. While I can't guarantee that this location would include a branch of Genji Ramen, I would be very surprised if it did not. Yes, this is quite a few months away, but if you get tired of driving to West Windsor/Princeton, at least there will likely be a closer venue for good ramen sometime next year.
I've always wanted to try the ramen in Princeton's Whole Foods. The Whole Foods, in my town, got stuck with bimbim bop. But, it's not the same as the authentic bimbim bop. Prnceton Whole Foods' ramen is the real deal, on the other hand. (Edit: I will definitely check out the Whole Foods Bridgewater when that opens up.)
At least, Bergen County has a small fair share of authentic ramen places: Blackbeard Ramen (- I second this), Menya Sandaime (Korean owned but Japanese cooks - interesting combo?), Batten Ramen, Ramen Setagaya (understandably - a chain), and those are just the ramen-centric restaurants alone. Not counting the Japanese owned restaurants that don't focus on any particular cuisine (meaning, ones that serve sushi, tempura, etc.).
And then, we have Montclair with two ramen establishments. One is the non-authentic super popular Ani Ramen that is going to open up another branch soon. I don't get the craze for this non-authentic ramen, but oh well. I'll probably try it out one day, but my expectations will be at a minimal. The other one is the newcomer that is Japanese owned, Fujiya Ramen. I did try this one out.
It would be nice if Central Jersey had more ramen places.
Just bear in mind that their Ramen Bar is almost hidden in a remote corner of the store, so you really have to search for it!
It is located in a glassed-in area behind the check-outs, in what used to be their demonstration kitchen. Apparently the cooking classes weren't popular enough to sustain that effort, and a few months ago they installed the Ramen Bar in this glassed-in area. It is nowhere near their deli, their sushi station, or their soup, salad, and hot food bars, so you will need to do some exploring of the store in order to locate the Ramen Bar.
Hi Retriever,
Upon your recommendation, I tried Genji Ramen. I've tried three different types of ramen so far. It's excellent! Since I'm using only my taste buds as a metric and not authenticity, I am not yet ready to say that it surpasses Rai Rai by a long shot as I find Rai Rai's ramen to be terrific. That being said, I agree that Genji is at least as good as Rai Rai, and is also just different enough to keep it interesting.
Thanks for the recommendation!
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