We are lucky to have friends in the restaurant
business, because neither of us like to wait in line. When we found out a
friend could get us in to TOKI UNDERGROUND
(1234 H St, NE,
Washington), we grabbed the chance, and were happy as when we left the
place people were waiting over 20 minutes for seats. It was not easy to
find TOKI UNDERGROUND (http://tokiunderground.com)
as it is only marked with their Chinese symbol on the small door. You
ascend a narrow stairway to the upper floor where high chairs faces all
the walls and the bar and open kitchen.
There can't be more
than 40 seats and while the music level is not high, three people
probably could not converse well as you are all lined up facing forward.
Indeed, obtaining seating for more than two could probably
be an even longer wait.
But it is worth the wait, as you will find the best ramen in town for sure.
Our
super friendly and helpful server, Sam, explained that Taiwanese ramen
is thicker and richer in its broth, and wow what a treat and taste it
has.
Will ordered up a Sorachi Ace Draft Beer while I savored a
fabulous small bottle of DASSAI Otter Fest 50 Dunmai Daiginjo Sake with
honey overtones and a smoothness that is like the rice it is made from!
Our
starters were delicious SEAFOOD DUMPLINGS (there are also pork, beef or
veggie) and we chose steamed as opposed to fried (gotta keep that slim
look!). They are cooked to order and are full of flavor with only a
little soy dashed on top. The GALBI WAGYI BEEF Lettuce Wraps are as
tender as they should be with a hint of spice, but not a lot and a light
hoisin-like sauce. I took some of the Kalbi off the PICKLES PLATE we
ordered to give it a kick. The pickles packed a punch and really had
lots of flavor.
We started to discuss the décor which is
stickers or pop-art on peeling wallpaper and more (ok, nobody can
describe this for sure) and above is a shelf running around the walls
with Pokeman-like Asian rabbit-eared dolls (I have no clue what they
are....) which are indeed oh-so-cute and seem to be the Toki mascot.
Indeed, I am unsure why the name "underground" as it is one flight up.
No matter.
If you like to dine slowly, this is not the place
to come. They want your seats cleared and I think we finished in about
75 minutes total from arrival time....we should have told Sam to hold
our ramen when we ordered,
but it didn't occur to me.
The
bowls arrived and Will had the TOKI CLASSIC of pulled pork, greens, egg
& pickled ginger. He ordered and add-on of Pressure-cooked pork
Cheek in a 5-Spice Marinade. There are many add-ons and they are indeed
worth the thought as the huge bowls of heavy tasty broth and noodles do
not have a lot of meat. At $12 this makes sense, so a side or two is a
good idea. I had the KIMCHI RAMEN with kimchi infusion, pulled pork,
greens, egg, kimchi, pickled ginger and an add-on or Berkshire PORK
BELLY. I had more meat than Will did and my soup really had an edge and
super-spiciness that we both loved (we switched halfway).
The
eggs come cold to the table soft boiled in shell in a small bowl. Sam
instructed us to crack it open and let it slide (like a poached egg)
into the broth and then heat up for a bit. It's great. If I go back, I
will do a Nitamago (extra egg) add-on for sure for $1.50! We savored the
broths and yummy noodles for a long time and then realized we were way
over-stuffed. YUM!
No way could we order the only dessert
choice of Chocolate Chip Cookies (Red Miso Buttercream, Trickling
Springs Milk), but we loved the small chewy Walnut Candies that came
with the check. The labels were in Chinese (except for the words "chewy
walnut candy") so I assume they are not easy to buy in the USA!
Next
time we will have to try the Red Miso Ramen or maybe the Taipei Curry
Chicken. Sam said the Fried Chicken BAO starter is great, but we were
glad we didn't do that high starch-hi carb dish as it truly would have
filled us up! Next time.
