Rob Tallon has high hopes for Mighty Ramen, premiering at this week’s Broadway Farmer’s Market.
This Sunday at Broadway and Pine, a new food stand will be popping up next to the tamales, the veggie quesadillas and the gluten-free quinoa bowls: Mighty Ramen hopes to bring authentic Japanese flavor to the Broadway Farmers Market.
Mighty Ramen is the brainchild of chef Rob Tallon, whose passion for ramen started with a childhood instant noodle obsession and grew with a trip to Japan two years ago.
“Probably the closest thing I’ve had to a religious experience in my life was at a couple ramen shops in Japan,” he said.
After hosting ramen-making classes for Ballard’s Pantry at Delancey, Tallon started to think about opening a shop of some sort.
“Last Fall we started with two classes,” he said. “We sold out within an hour or so.”
Tallon said his experience preparing ingredients for that class convinced him that a farmers market stand would be feasible.
“I realized it was definitely something I could handle, and something people were clamoring for,” he said.
Mighty Ramen will offer a menu that includes three food options and rotating special drinks.
“Tosho” ramen — which blends the soy base of Shoyu ramen with the beef-bone broth of Tonkatsu ramen— will be served with a slice of hazelnut finished pork cheek from Portland’s Tails and Trotters. The vegan miso and kelp Kombu-broth ramen will feature sautéed shitake mushrooms and onions. Both ramens will include house-made, cooked-to-order noodles made with Shepherd’s Grain flour.
Tallon said the ramen will likely be priced at $8, and a noodle salad with spring mix, carrots, cabbage, peanuts and sesame-ginger dressing will cost $6.
Eventually, Tallon said he hopes to transition Mighty Ramen to a brick-and-mortar location, just like former Broadway Farmers Market staple Kedai Makan and Columbia City’s Little Uncle.
In Japan, he said, ramen is traditionally a late night food.
“Almost every night we would get ramen at 2-3 in the morning,” he said. “It’s the perfect end-cap to a night.”
But in Seattle, most ramen places hold regular restaurant hours — for example, Seattle ramen staple Samurai Noodle is only open until 10:30 on Friday and Saturday nights.
“My end goal for this project is to offer ramen the way it’s supposed to be served,” he said.
Tallon will make the noodle dough on Saturday. On Sunday morning, he’ll cut the fresh noodles and get his other ingredients ready. And his plans for Sunday afternoon, when the farmers market opens up and Mighty Ramen gets unleashed to the public?
“My main goal is not to have a heart attack,” he said.
This is easily the most exciting story I’ve read on CHS blog.
We are so excited to debut this Sunday! Come check us out!
You got it all wrong.
“Shoyu” is the soy-based broth.
“Tonkotsu” is the pork-bone (not beef) broth.
I hope it was the writer’s error and not the chef’s.
And, ramen is not ‘traditionally’ a late night food. People mostly eat it for lunch, though some do enjoy the after-drinks bowl of noodle just like people here go eat breakfast @ 2am after a night of drinking. Do not just quote a gringo who visited Japan once to only witness a fraction of the massive food culture.
Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with fusion ramen shops popping up. I don’t believe that you have to be of the nationality to understand and cook a great meal (I’ve had the most amazing plate of spaghetti in a Tokyo restaurant). And, I do believe that some cultural appropriation may be necessary to suit the palates of those new type of residents that have moved into CH in the recent years, but “authentic?” Come on. Let’s just not even dare to call it what it isn’t. How authentic can it be if they can’t even get the menu item names right. (Stir fried noodle dish with egg noodle is called Yaki Soba. You just don’t call it Yaki Ramen.)
Then again most people on the hill probably could care less. Good luck.
Yep, the Shoyu-Tonkatsu switch was a typo, updated accordingly.
Cool that you made the edit.
Since you are making it right… It’s Tonkotsu (pork bone) and not Tonkatsu (deep fried breaded pork cutlet). It’s a very common spelling error;)