Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Daruma Ramen

A couple of weekends ago, we attended an open house at Canopy, an artist compound on the east side. Besides a number of interesting little galleries, the compound is home to several artists' studios, which were open to the public on this afternoon. I was happy for our whole family to have the opportunity to chat with professional artists and hear about their creative process.


Afterwards we had lunch at Daruma Ramen, which needs to win some kind of award for being the tiniest restaurant in Texas. Get ready to dine communally because that's all there is room for! And once you have a big bowl of hot ramen in front of you, you will stop obsessing over whether you just accidentally grazed this stranger's elbow and how awkward it is that you can hear every word of their conversation while you peruse the menu.


Daruma offers two different vegan bowls. I went with the regular veggie ramen, which came loaded with greens, avocado, tomato, carrots, and onions, atop a glorious pile of perfectly al dente ramen noodles. I asked for a bowl of chile paste on the side, to make it just as spicy as I wanted. This is the best ramen I have had in Austin.


So good, in fact, that we came back the next week. Cedar fever was killing me, and a bowl of hot, spicy broth was calling my name. This time I had the veggie miso ramen, with bok choy, fried tofu, and scallions. Just as good, and my sinuses were cleared up for at least a good hour afterwards. 


On neither visit were any of us brave enough to try the soy sauce-flavored soft serve. Doesn't the cone look like he is just taunting you, daring you to try it? Maybe next time, cone. Maybe next time.



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