We were shopping in the area and we were lured in by the display of food models in the front, reminiscent of many restaurants in Japan. As we entered, we saw a large news article pasted on the wall describing the store and how it specializes in katsu, a pretty rare sight in Metro Detroit. The restaurant is run by a South Korean husband and wife team and K-pop plays softly in the background, giving a homey feel as you eat. We were greeted warmly and, although the restaurant was decently busy, the proprietress was very friendly and prompt. We opted to get two dishes - one with their special katsu, and one ramen, their namesake.
Tonkatsu Curry Donburi ($16.95) - The donburi first comes with a small bowl of miso soup. The soup is a savory umami bomb. It's pretty simple, with only a couple of pieces of wakame and green onion inside. For the donburi (not sure why they call this a donburi since this isn't really one), they give a good amount of short grain rice, filling half the bowl. It's cooked to a good consistency, allowing a chewy al dente bite, and each individual grain to be felt on the tongue. I think they might let it sit out too long (maybe they leave their rice cooker lid open?), though, because while the grains themselves are good, between the grains is a little on the drier side. The curry has a nice strong curry flavor, with a bit of sweetness and quite a bit of salt added (too salty). It doesn't taste like Golden Curry, perhaps the flavor profile resembles more of a Java Curry with added ingredients? They have quite a bit of sliced onion, small potato chunks, and a small amount of tender diced beef mixed in. The curry doesn't come with any fukujinzuke (daikon pickles) which is strange - I guess a sign that's it's not a true Japanese curry. Lastly, the start of the show here is the tonkatsu. It's relatively lean piece of pork, seasoned simply with a bit of salt and black pepper, then breaded with a light, crispy, kind of jagged mixture of home-made bread crumbs. If you fixate on the texture, it reminds me of the landscape in "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog". The texture is pretty similar to tempura but the breadcrumbs gives a slight extra crunch. Even after sitting out for a bit, the pork still retains a crunch, even the side touching the rice. The tonkatsu is easily a 5/5, but unfortunately the saltiness of the curry and the less-than-ideal dryness of the rice brings my rating down just a tad. (4/5)
Tonkotsu Ramen ($14.95) - The ramen first comes with a side salad that consists of predominantly shredded green cabbage with a few shreds of red cabbage. It's mixed with a dressing that's quite nutty from sesame, and sweet and tangy. The cabbage imparts a good crispness. The ramen they use is of a thinner, paler variety, but it's cooked well, giving a bit of a bounciness in the chew. The broth here is a bit better than the typical ramen shop in Metro Detroit - you can tell that there's a bit more richness than the powder broth base some of the other shops around use. They honestly might still use a powder base, but it's enhanced a bit by a nice porkiness from pork broth and the strong taste of aromatics (garlic in particular). It is on the saltier side. The toppings on this ramen includes corn, a half soft boiled egg with a somewhat jammy center, a pile of sliced scallions, marinated shiitake mushrooms, a slice of naruto, and a rectangular slice of their chashu. The chashu here isn't the best; it could stand to be more tender, as the fat layer isn't rendered all the well and still has a distinctive fatty chew. The slice is generous, and maybe could have been sliced in half thickness wise to make it more tender. They torch one side of the chashu so that it imparts another layer of flavor to the meat. The shiitake is marinated in a heavily sweet and salty broth. Some slices are thicker cut than the others. It's a welcome departure from the normal kikurage (wood ear fungus) that a lot of other places use in ramen. (4/5)
Ginza Ramen is a solid Japanese-ish restaurant. Their ramen is honestly better than much of the ramen you can find around Metro Detroit - even better than some of the more lauded places in Novi. The katsu here is top tier for the region and is a draw just by itself.
Bathrooms - Two individual rooms, one for men, one for women.
Overall rating of the food this visit: 4/5 read more