Naoki Ramen opens in Chinatown
Replaces the short-lived Rai Rai at 915 Race St.
Rai Rai Ramen, which opened only last April at 915 Race St. in Chinatown, bowed out a few weeks ago.
But if I may shoyu the new occupant:
It's Naoki Ramen and it borrowed much of the contemporary, energetic look while offering a more focused menu. (Phone number is the same: 215-309-3609. Management politely declined to identify the owners or say if there is any connection to Rai Rai.)
Nine soups include the familar miso, tonkatsu, and shoyu. Seafood ramen ($11.95), for example, was a bowl full of shrimp, squid, crab sticks and mussels.
Appetizers include dumplings (shumai and gyoza), takoyaki, pork bun, and chicken katsu. You might get the mochiko chicken ($7.95) just for the presentation; the fried strips of dark-meat chicken are served with a bowl of a light-colored mayo-based sauce and a plum-based sauce set up in a yin-yang pattern.
Also cool is the selection of Japanese soda, including ramune (aka marble soda).
It's BYOB.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, till 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.