Midtown Sushi and Ramen

I ate at Midtown Sushi for a Saturday night dinner this past weekend with The Boyfriend. We each got a hot green tea, which was refilled once while we were eating. I got the kimchi ramen, he got the seaweed salad, and we ordered 3 sushi rolls to share. My ramen was good. He had no complaints about seaweed salad.
After we got the ramen and the seaweed salad we waited another 20+ minutes for the sushi. This seemed odd to us since the restaurant wasn’t busy and there were 8 people working, most of whom were just were just standing around the kitchen. When the waitress brought the sushi out she apologized and said the chef didn’t see the order when she put it in. It tasted fine, but the rolls were a bit sloppy.
I was really not impressed with the building. Boyfriend had to move seats because the pipe above him was sweating and dripping on him. You could see a wet line across the floor of the whole restaurant because of this pipe, which was also in dangerously close proximity to some electrical wires. The more we looked around us the more we saw evidence of cut corners. Not that perfectly done flooring is necessary for an enjoyable dining experience, but things like dripping pipes and obvious fire hazards do make it harder to enjoy a night out.
So overall, the food is fine and well-​priced, but in the future I’d pick somewhere else where I can expect a better dining experience for the same quality food.

Great food! Ramen was big and filling! Sushi was spot on as well. Good prices and service was great

I have eaten ramen before, I have had sushi before, this, this is next level. I will never be able to eat ramen anywhere else again and you have earned a repeat customer for years.
Welcome to STL Midtown Sushi and Ramen
The newest stop on the must eat places in STL.

So far out of all the restaurants I’ve been to that serve ‘ramen’ this is the best so far. Appetizers and sushi were decent too. Sushi would be better if they didn’t douse everything in eel sauce, but you can ask for it on the side. I’d like to go back and try an entrée. The good thing about the Ramen is that you can build your own. My mother is Japanese and she even approved!

Best ramen in St Louis. Get the original. They are one of two places here to get the egg just right and the only place to get the broth flavorful and the pork belly to melt in your mouth. Most other places here also use the wrong type of noodle somehow (udon or random egg noodle), which this place doesn’t do. Also much cheaper than any other place in stl with $ 12 bowls vs. $ 16+ everywhere else. Here’s my ranking of stl ramen places: 1. Midtown sushi and ramen 2. Robata in Maplewood 3. Nami in Clayton 4. Hiro 5. Death in the Afternoon 6. Central Table. I know there are 2 or 3 I havent tried yet, but Midtown is on top so far!

3 stars for an average place. The sushi wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly GOOD — maybe one step up from grocery store sushi. Same with the gyoza… tasted like it was probably frozen. Not bad, but I can make it at home.
Service was on the low side of average, we had to call our waitress over to take our order and to get the check. It wasn’t busy, she just was more engrossed in casual conversation than her job.
The atmosphere is very college; the few filled tables there were SLU students. I’m sure this will do fine with the college crowd, but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way for this place.

One of my fav ramen places in St. Louis… Must try the spicy chicken karage… The chicken was spicy crunchy and tender…

2 for being a potentially sustainable business in a prime location offering something new to the area but I’m holding on to my other 3 stars until this place gets their broth game up and I’m actually able to try the food quality. Traditionally there are four types of broth bases for ramen dishes:
1. Shio
2. Miso
3. Shoyu
4. Tonkotsu (pork)
Riddle me this… how can a restaurant specializing in Ramen only serve ramen dishes in pork & chicken base broth? This is one-​track minded and should’ve been throughout prior to opening.
~Christy 3÷12÷16

My meal: KIMCHI Ramen — $ 10-​$ 11 — *** stars
Stole some: HAKATA Ramen (from a friend’s bowl) — **** stars
Ramen-​eating background: Studied abroad in Asia for a semester. Tasted the entire spectrum of ramen in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. Also, my mom makes some dope miso ramen.
Food Review: Wasn’t blown away by either of the soup bases for the two ramen bowls. They were good but not great. However, the real jewel of the two dishes was the SEARED PORK BELLY — absolutely flavorful and the fat just melts in your mouth. Adds another dimension of flavor to the medley of noodles and okay broth. I was a little disappointed by the kimchi ramen. The only «kimchi» thing about it was the few slices of Napa in the bowl. Was expecting either spicier or tangier broth.
Place Review: Not exactly Japanese, but that’s okay. An art student’s apartment, complete with bare brick walls and urban, Japanese-​themed street art, turned kitchen. Small seating area allows for casual dining with friends and family.
Bonus: Cool owner. The guy walked up and personally asked if I enjoyed the meal.
Would I Return? Mhmm, for that pork belly, I would.

Midtown sushi was AMAZING
wonderful food and service with a great ambiance.
Highly recommend it, make sure you try the crunch rolls.
Pretty affordable too!
Love this place, so quaint and I loved everything overall.

Aghhh I really wanted to give one star just based on the service but I felt bad because I think they were short employees. Being a restaurant baby myself, I understand.
I made reservations for 6 for a 7pm dinner. We all arrived at 7:05pmish and there were no open tables. Pretty sure that when a reservation is made, there should be a table waiting when you arrive?
We waited around because we really wanted to try the ramen. A four top opened up, they sat a couple there. The couple left. So I suggested we move a table from one side to the other. The server agreed. I then proceeded to gather 4 more chairs for my party with no help. I guess it’s a work-​aurant now? No big. I still understand they are short staffed.
Ordered the hakata ramen and Mr. Miyagi roll. Took forever for food to come. HOWEVER, both were delicious. The broth of the ramen was flavorful, the noodles were cooked well. I wish they had seaweed as a side so I could add that into my ramen. The roll had a pop of spice that I loved.
I feel like it will take some time for this place to become a well-​oiled machine. Once the efficiency of this place improves and they are better staffed, the service issues will go away. Server was a noob too. It takes time to become an excellent server, I understand. But I totally believe in this place because the food is on point!

My friend and I studied abroad in Asia last semester, so lately we have been craving a good bowl of noodles. A couple days ago we had phở and today we wanted to go check out the STL ramen scene.
I had seen Midtown Sushi and Ramen pop up on my feed as «hot and new», so I decided to check it out.
I ordered the Hakata ramen and my friend ordered the kimchi ramen.
The hakata ramen overall was pretty good and decently priced. It was a little different than other bowls of tonkotsu ramen I have had, but it was like a St. Louis version of the traditional Japanese dish.
Broth: I think the broth was just okay tbh. It wasn’t too salty, but it could’ve had a stronger pork flavour. I also think since there was so much stuff in the bowl, there should’ve been more broth because it seemed like there was a lot more noodles than broth.
Noodles: The consistency of the noodles was on point. They were pretty chewy and good. I just wish they had more flavor.
Egg: The egg was perfectly cooked and I appreciated how it was just a little runny.
Toppings: Yup, all the usual toppings were here: ginger, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and green onions. They were presented well in the bowl too.
Pork belly: Damn, this stuff is so good and they give you a generous portion (unlike most ramen shops). The pork belly was different from traditional chashu because it has more fat and it was a thick slice, but it was so flavorful and delicious. This was the star of the show.
For my first bowl of ramen, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s really hard to find good Japanese food around here, especially since I am a Japanese American from SoCal and I crave Japanese food all the time. I’ve only found one Japanese restaurant that’s authentic but still within my price range. I think this might be the second one.
I would definitely come back to Midtown Sushi and Ramen. The service was great and the owner even came up to ask us how our meal was. I think next time I want to try some of the sushi too!

My husband and I decided to go to Midtown ramen and sushi for lunch. Our order consisted of the Hakata ramen and Nagasaki champon. My husband and I also ordered a simple spicy yellowtail roll to share.
Pros: The noodles had good texture. Good selection of toppings on top of the ramen. Waitress was nice and attentive. Ambience was trendy, and environment was clean.
Cons: Both bowls of broth had no flavor. I do sometimes like my food a little blander than normal people, but even my husband was surprised when I told him my soup needed more salt. My husband described his meal as noodles soaked in water. Sushi was meh. The sushi rice was dry and chewy. Very little yellowtail inside the roll. Too much sauce on top. And the crunchies on top tasted super processed.
From reading previous reviews, the saltiness/​flavor of their broth seems to be inconsistent from day to day. I am not sure if I will be back to give this place another shot.

This was the first ramen place we actually enjoyed. We tried 3 other locations and this was by far the better one. Owners and staff were very friendly and very clean inside. I got the Kim chi ramen with extra pork. They were out of brisket at the time. But that didn’t matter… we will be back cause it was good. We also enjoyed the sushi.

Ordered the Hakata ramen. Yummy in my tummy
! Just right amount of pork belly and mushrooms. Marinated boiled eggs were perfect with the ramen broth.
Calamari delicious!
If you like spicy rolls, recommend the Mr. Miyagi roll.
Another plus: They have an outlet at every table attached to wall so you can bring your laptop to study while you eat. :)
Definitely coming back!

The pork is nicely smoked and the soft boiled egg was well prepared. Don’t know why, but the «ramen egg» is a big deal to me. It takes a lot more care to get that nice custardy yolk with the first layer of egg white marinated in soy sauce. I’ve had ramen at another place in town and got less meat and a hard boiled egg. So glad that Midtown didn’t do this to me.

Whew! I had almost given up hope on a good ramen shop in St Louis until I came here. Midtown ramen, you guys currently hold my favorite ramen place in st louis.
First off, this place is extremely comfortable. It is a big space that isn’t jammed /​cramped with tables close to each other, unlike some other ramen shops in town. The interior looks nice and clean, not rundown or cheap.
The food is great. They have 4 ramens, a bunch of sushi and appetizers on the menu. I got to try the Kimchi Ramen, Hokada (pork base) Ramen, Dumplings (gyoza), and some sushi.
This is is definitely the best ramen place I’ve tried so far in St Louis, the broth was rich and flavorful, maybe the hokada was a bit salty, but other than that it had a great taste. It came out hot, not lukewarm like another ramen place I went to around here. They give you 3 good sized slices of pork belly, which was really really good, tender and flavorful. And then the associated vegetables /​ingredients per each ramen.
I personally liked the Hokada ramen more than the kimchi ramen but both were great, especially for the price of 10.95. It isn’t that pricey, and the portions are very solid. You won’t come out hungry eating just one of their ramen bowls.
They are also nice in letting you switch out things that you don’t like in each ramen for other things on the list of things you can add assuming the pricing in similar.
I’m definitely coming back to try one of their other ramens or going more in the sushi route.

Ordered the Kimchi Ramen. Definitely the best I’ve had in STL. Reasonably priced with make-​your-​own ramen available.
Kimchi was tangy, broth was spicy, noodles just the right amount of chewy. Eggs were creamy and the pork was a little smoky and properly fatty.
Highly recommended for those in the area.

I misspelled Kimchi, not on purpose either…
If I were a college student maybe even a rich one, i’d probably camp out at this place; but I’m not. The location close to SLU’s campus will most definitely win over the undergrad that has graduated from bags of Maruchan at 3AM in their dorm room microwave.
If you have an extra $ 45 + to spend on two bowls of Ramen, a roll, and a tea; this place is for you. As referenced in the photo, the meals very much look inviting but the appeal is somewhat short lived. There’s plenty of noodles, veggies, broth, a decent sized egg, and pork belly but honestly the spice and flavor seemingly sank to the bottom of the Kimchi ramen. My fiancé had a different ramen dish which she described as «just ok» bordering on the fringes of bland. The same went for our rainbow roll as well, packed with avocado, shrimp, and some pieces of tuna; I enjoyed it but left somewhat to be desired.
Perusing the menu I couldn’t help but notice the $ 5 seaweed salad and other pricey items on the menu, I mean for a dish that prides itself on being inexpensive i noticed relatively high costs. Not complaining but I’ve had cheaper ramen that wasn’t sold in stores.
The server was friendly and helpful, she did a great job; the owner (I think) stopped by to chat us up as well. I like the place and its atmosphere and the closeness to my house but I was expecting a cheaper alternative to a meal on a Friday night, I didn’t find it here. We easily could have racked up $ 65 bill.

I ordered the Kimchi Ramen and that spicy bowl of Ramen is the best Ramen in St Louis.
My wife ordered the Hakata Ramen and she said it is about 3 stars, missing fat. She is Japanese and have been eating Ramen all her life, so she knows what she is talking about.
The kimchi appetizer was really good. Also the Tempura was great, light batter and fresh firm shrimp.
No complaints here at all, I am just super happy that I have a place to go for legit Ramen (not like that bowl of _​_​_​_​_​_​_​Death in the Afternoon calls Ramen).
Continue on the good Ramen work, I shall return shortly for that great, spicy bowl of Kimchi Ramen.

This is a great find! My wife and I were looking for our Ramen fix for lunch and discovered this restaurant through Feast Magazine. So far, the best ramen we had in the growing number of ramen houses in St. Louis.
Pros:
Very good Ramen, Full Japanese Menu, Fast Service, Nice hip décor, Personable Owner
Cons:
Location is a bit tricky to find, but it is close to SLU and Ikea
Tip:
Your GPS will tell you to turn right on Spring Avenue (this will lead you to the back of the store), go straight on Forest Park Avenue instead — there will be metered parking and free parking at the corner of the restuarant