Gochisousamadeshita - Ren's Ramen in Wheaton, MD

Sapporo Tonshio Ramen with extra toppings: egg and stewed fatty pork (i.e. pork belly)

Ren's Ramen

11403 Amherst Ave

Wheaton, MD 20902

(301) 693-0806

M-Sat 11:30-3; 5-10pm

Sun 11:30-5-9:30pm

Closed every second and third Tuesday of the month

[Note: The ramen I am talking about is not packaged ramen, not 10 for $1 Top Ramen...I'm talking about authentic Japanese ramen with broth that takes days to make and hand made noodles!]

When I moved to DC 4+ years ago from LA, I knew that I needed a couple of things in order to live happily here: Sushi, Korean food (soon dubu chigae!), Pho/Vietnamnese food, Taiwanese food (yay for A&J and Bob's), authentic Mexican-style tacos, and Japanese ramen. Within my first or so year here, I found everything except tacos and ramen. Lucky for me, since then, I've discovered good enough tacos and now that Ren's Ramen has reopened, my list of required foods is complete!!

I found Ren's Ramen through my obsessive search on google for "ramen in dc" every month or so. I would say that up until Ren's opened in Bethesda, there were no authentic ramen restaurant in the dc/md/va area. And no, Temari in Rockville does not count. So you wouldn't believe how happy I was when I found them. When they announced that they were closing in September 2010, my heart broke a little and I've been waiting for their reopening ever since.

Ren's Ramen reopened yesterday on June 1. I didn't make the reopening and threw a fit like a little bratty cry baby but I am so glad I made it today!! Ren's is just 2-3 blocks from the Wheaton Metro Station on the red line; very convenient. ICM and I arrived at 5:00pm just when they opened and got our food pretty quickly. My bowl of tonshio ramen with egg and stewed pork belly was delicious! The tonkatsu (pork based) broth was flavorful and perfect, not too salty! Noodles were cooked well, not soggy, just right. The egg is...hmmm...I can't describe it except that it tasted like heaven. The pork belly has a hint of soy sauce flavor and melts in your mouth, ahhh; definitely get it if you like pork belly! ICM's miso ramen was also good though I will aways lean towards the tonshio :). While the gyoza doesn't light up fireworks for me the way the ramen does, I still like it a lot - very standard. 5 stars for sure!