Yona, Japanese-Korean Ramen and Small-Plates, Wilson Boulevard and North Quincy Street in Ballston - Chef Jonah Kim Has Departed

[sunshine]

From Wednesdays through Saturdays until May 2, from 6-10, Mike Isabell's G sandwich place is Yona, a Japanese-Korean noodle and small plates pop-up that is the precursor to Yona's brick and mortar opening in Arlington later this year. We recently went and enjoyed it. The menu is comprised of three kinds or ramen, a miso ("Miso Porky") that lives up to its name, a tonkotsu-style heavily shoyu ramen, and a vegetarian ramen, and then a larger selection of 8-10 small plate/appetizers. There is a decent drink menu featuring house-made cocktails, Japanese beers, and whiskey.

I had the Hak cocktail to start - a shochu, Asian pear vermouth, lime and shiso leaf concoction that was very refreshing. The herby taste of the shiso actually worked well with the sweet and sour elements of this drink. For apps, we had the Brussels sprouts - deep-fried Brussels sprout flowerettes that were slightly charred and crispy on the outer parts and tender within, dressed with a chili-mayonnaise and these little crunchy pearls of I don't know what, but the overall flavors reminded me of Japanese okonomiyaki. Really delicious. We also had the dry-fried wings (4 per order). They were crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside, medium spicy with flecks of chili, and finished with a vinegar sauce. Simple, yet flavorful and finger-licking good. We ordered one of each of the ramens, and the best is the miso. Decent-sized portion served with two giant pieces of chashu pork, bamboo sprouts, a soft-cooked egg (still runny, such that it dissolved into the broth), kimchi and topped with shredded seaweed. Really good, with the strong, earthy flavor of the miso dominating. The noodles were good, cooked just right, and the toppings did not overwhelm the main ingredients. The tonkotsu ramen had a really dark broth that also rendered the noodles darker. The broth was very different from other tonkotsu broths I have tried, less porky and fatty, and predominantly tasting more of soy sauce and some fish. The tonkotsu also comes with chashu and soft egg, but also had red pickled ginger slivers which may be an unwelcome surprise for those who aren't fans of ginger in ramen. The vegetarian was the least interesting, and the broth tasted predominantly of edamame and snow peas, which is great if you like these flavors, but I don't usually associate them with ramen. At least there was a vegetarian version.

Overall, an enjoyable experience, and wish we had had the appetites to try more of the small plates, especially the Korean style tartare and some of the fish. The chef, Jonah Kim, could be seen working away in the open kitchen, and he definitely has some skills mixing things up and giving the Korean/Japanese spin to the dishes we tried. Interestingly, two of the featured special sandwiches on G's sandwich menu this month are also Chef Kim creations, the Kim-Fil-A, which sounds like a Korean spin on the breaded chicken sandwich, and the Bangkok, a pork curry sandwich. Kudos to Mike Isabella for sharing the G space for an up and coming new chef. This is what I love about DC and America-- that a Korean American chef can open a Japanese Pan Asian noodle place in a Greek-Italian American sandwich shop serving a multicultural crowd on a previously devastated strip of 14th Street, with a hip hop soundtrack as inspiration.

[eatruneat]

I stopped by Yona last night with a friend. The menu we received last night was shorter than the one posted online, which was a bit of a bummer but we managed to order well. Between the two of us, my friend and I ordered three appetizers to share and we each had our own bowl of ramen.

Our first dish was the smoked hamachi. The fish was clean and fresh, but I felt as though it needed a little acid and/or salt to bring out the fish more. There was some chojang (chili sauce) on the plate for which to dip the fish in. The chojang added a nice hint of spice but otherwise completely overwhelmed the fish. This was probably the least successful dish of the evening.

The yook hwe (veal heart tartare) came out next. This was my favorite dish of the evening. The veal heart was smooth and cool and I really enjoyed the addition of the sunchoke chips and asian pear.

Our last appetizer was the brussels sprouts as described above by sunshine. This was my friend's favorite dish. I thought it was very good and it reminded me of the Okonomiyaki-style brussels sprouts at Daikaya, minus the pork.

My friend ordered the "Miso Porky" ramen which he thought was fantastic. I had a spoonful of broth and agreed that it was very good. I had the Tonkotsu-Shoyu Tare ramen. The broth was very rich and tasted more of soy than of pork. I would have preferred a little more pork flavors as the broth got a little tiresome towards the end. It was still good though. Although good, the ramen was not great and, to be honest, a bit disappointing. The noodles were more like the egg noodles served with wonton noodle soup rather than the springier ramen noodles at places like Daikaya and Toki. I love those egg noodles so it wasn't so terrible for me, but I still had the feeling that the noodle did not match the soup. Additionally, the soft egg was ice cold, indicating that it had been poached beforehand and was sitting in an ice bath. It was not pleasant to eat. If I went back, I would try to miso ramen.

Overall, this was a nice experience. I am glad I was able to check out the restaurant here in DC but it is unlikely that I will head out to Ballston to try it once it opens in its permanent space.

[ktmoomau]

And I am unlikely to go into DC for it, but can't wait to have a ramen joint by my house!!!!!

[cheezepowder]

Opening for lunch on Nov 30 and dinner on Dec, 4 (via Washington Post).

[cheezepowder]

Pictures of menu

[astrid]

Had dinner at Yona.  Will not go back, ever, for the really salty and badly cooked noodles.  The small plates were quite good though, with the uni waffles and the fluke crudo being particular delights.  The prices are high and portions rather small, but offset somewhat by the high quality of the ingredients and prep for the small plates.  We might come back here for 2-3 small plates, then go top off elsewhere.

[DonRocks]

Eight years ago, 2 Amys had become entrenched with a reputation as Best Pizza in DC, and I went out on a limb in saying that Comet Ping Pong had surpassed it (inspired by JeffC and Waitman) - Carole Greenwood was making extraordinary pizzas, and I wrote that post with a great degree of trepidation, knowing that I was essentially kneecapping a legend in Peter Pastan, long-overlooked for a James Beard Award. This was confirmed, about as objectively as it could be confirmed, by the Fab Forno Smackdown.

Comet's reign was short-lived, as Carole left the restaurant - at various times, the unofficial crown went to Ghibellina, the original RedRocks, Local 16 (really, Local 16), Pizzeria Orso, possibly Seventh Hill Pizza, and for quite awhile, Pupatella. If you asked me right now who had the best pizza in the DC area, I don't think I could tell you. Nevertheless, even though Pupatella clearly had the best pizza in the area for quite some time (and still might), I just couldn't bring myself to place it above Willow in the Ballston Dining Guide, because Willow - even though it didn't necessarily make any individual item better than Pupatella's pizza - was just a more "complete" restaurant, and the guideline for rankings is exquisitely simple: "If someone was taking me out to dinner, and paying for it, where would I want to go?" This is why The Inn at Little Washington is ranked in Bold despite not having the absolute best food in the area, and despite costing between $158-248 just for the food. Would I want to go there, as much as any single restaurant in the area, if someone else was paying? *Yes!*

"Where in the hell are you going with this, Don?"

Bear with me. Over the past ten years, U Street started becoming surpassed by the up-and-coming 14th Street, and a new restaurant strip had been born. The name "U Street" didn't accurately describe where these new restaurants were sprouting up. "Midcity" was an ancient name, but had lost its meaning over the decades, and was just too big to describe this one strip - I decided that a search for a new name was in order, just to delineate the restaurants on 14th Street from those on U Street - after tossing the idea around for awhile, I decided on 14UP, because the new 14th Street restaurants were concentrated between U and P streets - anything south of P was generally considered Logan Circle (even though it's Thomas Circle). Nobody uses this name but me, but people at least know what I'm referring to when I use it.

"Great. Now would you please tell us what you're babbling about?"

Patience. In Sacramento, CA, people get into boats, and take a series of canals and bays, all the way down to San Francisco, where they just sit there, in McCovey Cove, waiting for a home run to come sailing out of AT&T Park, after which people dive into the bay, fighting each other like NBA players jostling for a rebound - it's hard to justify, but suffice it to say it's kind of a "social thing," sort of like tailgating, but when you say "McCovey Cove" in San Francisco, people know *exactly* where you're talking about - there's absolutely no doubt.

"And, of course you realize you're writing a post about Yona, right?"

I'm getting there. I went to Yona the other evening, and began my meal with what is apparently their most popular drink, the Lucy ($10), a delicious aperitif made with shochu, cardamaro, Asian pear, and a shiso leaf (which demonstrates the limitations of the coat-closet bar that Yona has - it's actually pretty funny seeing a bartender shaking a drink inside the tiny little cubbyhole bar inside the door on the left, but Yona just has no room for a bar in the dining area - my recommendation to diners is to self-muddle their shoulda-been-muddled shiso leaf as best they can with their straw immediately upon receiving the drink - it really does add some nuance instead of just being decorative).

By looking at Yona's fairly sophisticated drinks menu, you would have no idea about the bar, but take a look next time you go, and remember - it doesn't really matter if a drink is shaken behind a $20,000 zinc bar, or inside a coat closet - the bartender was shaking just fine, and I liked the Lucy enough to have a second.

Yona is getting a lot of publicity for its small plates, and deservedly so (sitting by the pass, you can notice a *lot* of things, including the owner walking in to a hushed reverence among his staff and clientele). But I wanted some ramen on a clean palate, so, daring to be different, I went with a bowl Tonkotsu-Shoyu Tare ($15) with chashu, kikurage, menma, beni shoga (which grows on a hill: the Beni Hill), negi, sesame seeds, nori, soft egg, and I just set a record for most hyperlinks in a dish description. All three ramens here are undoubtedly worth your attention, so I'll just tell you that, stylistically, this bowl carries its supposedly ample fattiness with dexterity and finesse, and has a fairly deep, penetrating redolence of soy sauce - if that appeals to you (it absolutely appealed to me on this evening), don't hesitate to try it. I very much look forward to trying the other two ramens as well.

Knowing I'd want a snack later, I got an order of Steamed Buns ($10) to take home, made with delicious, novel, oxtail katsu as their centerpiece, a fascinating fennel kimchi. and roasted garlic purée, these buns were wonderful, and left me searching for anything to quibble about (the price is on the upper end of the dial, but not off the dial).

"Well, this all sounds wonderful, but why all the feinting?"

Because Wilson Blvd. and N. Quincy Street is Nowhere-Land in terms of restaurants, or at least it was until recently; now, however, it's a magnet and a mecca, and can no longer be considered simply "Ballston" (Ballston is the Metro stop and the mall). No, the southwest corner of this intersection has become more specific, just like 14th Street did over the past decade, and should be known as "Isabella Cove." (*) And, for the same reasons that I had Willow ranked so highly in Ballston despite the obvious greatness of Pupatella, coverage for Yona in the Virginia Dining Guide is initiated in Italic, and based on the totality and completeness of the restaurant, I have ranked Yona as the #1 restaurant in Ballston. Congratulations to Yona's opening team - you're off to a fine start.

If you didn't recognize me, you will soon enough, because I'm going to be a regular.

(*) "But why 'Isabella Cove?'"

Because Isabella rows Salini. And don't forget his scull and crew.

[Kanishka]

Popped in for lunch two days ago.  Party of 4, no reservations, walked in at 1230 and we were seated by 1245.

Three of us had the Miso Porky with napamu, AKA chili paste.  My wife had the tonkatsu, with extra noodles.

We all found our ramens good, but not great.  I was disappointed by the texture of the noodles, but the broth was nice and rich, the egg was just soft enough.  The napamu was very disappointing, with almost no spice or additional flavor at all.  I would have preferred sriracha.  The portion wasn't huge, but was adequate for a quick lunch.  The complimentary sparkling water was a nice touch.

Beyond the food: this place is LOUD.  And we had the misfortune of having a soft-talker as a waitress.  That was a bad combination.  The pacing was also strange, with my wife's ramen coming out a good five minutes before the rest of our food.  I understand the kitchen is small, and the place was definitely slammed, so I'll cut them some slack for now.

Yona is quite near where we're going to school at the moment, so I suspect we'll be back soon to check out the small plates.

[ktmoomau]

We went yesterday.  Husband had Miso Porky, I had tonkatsu, we shared an order of buns.  The small plates looked very good, I will definitely try others on the menu.  The buns, as Don described were not traditional, but very good.  I really enjoyed the sauce that accompanied them and the crunch on the outside, but soft texture inside the meat, Hubby does not like traditional style buns, but loved these.  The ramen had very good flavor, a really rich broth, I thought the noodles were good, light but also very nicely flavored.  The egg issue seems to be resolved as I had a very nicely soft poached egg in mine, as did Hubby.  I couldn't finish the broth I should have taken it home for Max, but I didn't think about it, I would be like dog mom of the year for that one.  

[ktmoomau]

I went to Yona today with my cousin, who is 17. We will be going to Japan, so I wanted to get her more used to eating Japanese food, eating with chopsticks, being a bit adventurous. We had the Japanese sodas melon was delightful, it tasted very much like a creamy honeydew. We got the steamed buns which she loved (how can you not it's kind of like a crispy bbq sandwich), and the uni waffle, which I loved and she tried, not sure if she loved that. It was a very neutral waffle topped with uni, salmon roe, caviar and something else. I didn't think it was fishy, but a little briny and just a really good combination, and it tasted like what I hope Japan tastes like.

Then she got the squid and pork belly noodles which she really liked. I got the king crab ramen. The broth was very buttery and rich, but hit the spot completely as I had been craving a butter poached lobster like nobody's business. Because of that I didn't think it was over the top. Both my cousin and I commented that the music selections was great, it had a 90s grunge theme we both enjoyed. It was more crowded for lunch than normal. Selfishly, I don't want this to be a need to make reservations to get in kind of place. Anyway it was really fun and certainly got us in the mood for our trip. Although I am going to send her home with some chopsticks to practice

Here are the pictures of my crab ramen and the soda I had (I mainly took a picture of the soda so I could remember it for Japan this summer).

[goodeats]

I went to Yona today with my cousin, who is 17.  We will be going to Japan, so I wanted to get her more used to eating Japanese food, eating with chopsticks, being a bit adventurous.  We had the Japanese sodas melon was delightful, it tasted very much like a creamy honeydew.  We got the steamed buns which she loved (how can you not it's kind of like a crispy bbq sandwich), and the uni waffle, which I loved and she tried, not sure if she loved that.  It was a very neutral waffle topped with uni, salmon roe, caviar and something else.  I didn't think it was fishy, but a little briny and just a really good combination, and it tasted like what I hope Japan tastes like.

Then she got the squid and pork belly noodles which she really liked.  I got the king crab ramen.  The broth was very buttery and rich, but hit the spot completely as I had been craving a butter poached lobster like nobody's business.  Because of that I didn't think it was over the top.  Both my cousin and I commented that the music selections was great, it had a 90s grunge theme we both enjoyed.  It was more crowded for lunch than normal.  Selfishly, I don't want this to be a need to make reservations to get in kind of place.  Anyway it was really fun and certainly got us in the mood for our trip.  Although I am going to send her home with some chopsticks to practice

We missed each other by a day!

I didn't have the same experience as your first time, kt, as my shoyu ramen broth lacked depth AND was salty. The uni waffle was good, but I haven't seen anything like it in Japan. I did find my uni finishing a little fishy, which I disliked. But it was the better dish between the shoyu ramen and the waffle.

If you do have a chance to visit a Hello Kitty Cafe in Japan, I highly recommend it for afternoon tea/coffee time, as the desserts and coffee was all kitty motif, which was fun.

It's okay if your cousin hasn't mastered chopsticks; plenty of restaurants provide silverware if needed. Plus, if she wants to try, plenty of restaurants had kid-friendly-practice chopsticks, iirc. Something like a tonkatsu don is more fun using a spoon than chopsticks. I think little man was automatically provided kid-sized chopsticks or a fork at some of the restaurants.

Have fun!!!

[malokd]

I meant to write about my recent lunch here but forgot.  We got a number of the raw fish apps---smoked hamachi, and the tuna and the fluke.  These were probably the highlights of the meal.  The tonkatsu ramen was not great.  Was not a true tonkatsu broth, and there were some slivers of ginger that somehow imparted a bitter note to the broth.  The noodles were good.  Would return to try more raw fish items( definitely the fluke), but not likely to revisit the ramen

[Ericandblueboy]

Is there free or paid parking nearby?

ETA: found parking directions on Kapnos' website.

[Ericandblueboy]

I recently had the uni waffle. Even before I had it, I thought it was weird to have sea urchin, salmon roe, caviar, and taramasalata on top of a waffle. Now that I've had it, I think it would be better if made into a onigiri! i.e., a rice ball. At least I wouldn't have to worry about reproductive materials falling off the waffle. In any case, I didn't particularly like the combo of nads and eggs.

[hapatite]

I went here with a group of friends and had the following:

• Lucy Cocktail
• Sparking Sake
• Pork Buns
• Fried Chicken
• Tuna Poke
• Uni Waffle
• Venison Heart Tartare
• Tonkotsu Ramen
• Miso Apple Panna Cotta
• Yona Puffs

I echo the sentiment others have shared here that the small plates are much better than the ramen. The ramen (I tried the Miso Porky and had the Tonkotsu myself) was incredibly salty. At other ramen places I can't finish the whole bowl and I was able to finish this one after having several small plates so the portion size is also smaller. I couldn't drink too much of the broth after the noodles had been finished because of the salinity.

The drinks were nothing special, even though they sounded great on paper. The pork buns and fried chicken were typical menu items that you could find other alternatives for at places like Dak Chicken or Bon Chon. Tuna Poke was plain and underseasoned; I know they can season food because the Venison Heart Tartare was seasoned the way a poke should be! In fact, the venison heart was my favorite savory item of the night.

I don't care for uni, but the waffle helped to soak up the strong flavors of the sea urchin and the salted fish spread and make the bite more balanced. Miso Apple panna cotta was forget-able but the yona puffs filled with yuzu cream were absolutely delicious. Tart, crunchy, creamy, and just the right amount of sweetness to end the meal.

Because of the price and underwhelming ramen, I'll probably just go there for small bites to start off an evening of eating or drinking elsewhere. Bummer, because I live across the street!

[lotus125]

The raw fish items are amazing.  And the apple/radish/miso-butter dish is an excellent hybrid of radishes with butter and apples with peanut butter.  If Yona were in DC, it would be packed every night.  For those close by, take advantage.   

[zurich]

After noticing that Yona opened up I finally made it over for my first meal.  Unfortunately as others have mentioned their Ramen is quite disappointing compared to other options in DC.  I had the miso porky and found that it was really salty and lacked any depth in flavor.

I'll probably give it one last try, but stick to non ramen dishes.

[NolaCaine]

It has been quite awhile since I have had a plate-licking worthy experience but I had one last night.

We started with cold plate snap peas goma-e (7).

This was a bit sweet but I liked it. For those with small children, it's kid friendly. My ramen-hating son told me last night "Ive changed" and wants to try ramen again. If I take him here, I will get this starter.

Second, and the plate-licking experience, was crab on asparagus (13). It was the perfect combination of creamy, salty (fish eggs), acid (lemon) and crabyness. Furthermore, the asparagus was grilled giving the dish a nice smoky undertone and the veg a crisp bite.  It was perfect.  We asked for something to clean the plate and got un-stuffed bun bread.  They really should put a little slice on that plate.

Although I risk being declared redundant, I'd agree the small plates are better than the noodles.

I like salt so the saltyness of the Miso Porky did not bother me. I loved the broth and finished every drop. The noodles were springy, as desired by noodle-eaters but I didn't finish them.  I'm going to test them out a day later on that little ramen hater who's changed.

My dining companion opted for:
fried chicken tsukemen (15)

Shit, I just realized this is a Mike Isabella concept. Dammit! I was trying to avoid his places based on my love-loss with his other two.

ANyway, it was great. The broth was very fatty or at least tasted very fatty. I liked it and I have a couple of friends who particularly like fatty meat so they would love this. However, if you are watching your waist line or cholesterol level, this might not be the right choice for you. The fried chicken was really nicely done and perfectly accompanied the broth bath.

Finally, allergens:  Shocker here: not a lot of milk protein or nuts to avoid on this menu.

Happy dining.

[ArlFred]

I had the Miso Porky the other night, and maybe I have a higher salt tolerance, but I didn't find it too salty. If anything, it was quite rich once the soft-boiled egg god mixed in to the broth. Had the celebrated Uni Waffle, and while the waffle was light and fluffy I thought that the salmon roe and (what's the dark roe) competing with the uni for attention. 

[malokd]

I really want to like this place bc the raw fish apps are universally good.  I just don't understand how no one is telling the chef that the ramen blows.  We had a sashimi plate--excellent raw fish assortment, cut nicely, good flavor. Cured salmon roe with uni was part of it and was excellent.  The koji marinated asparagus with king crab was a mixed bag--the asparagus was excellent--could eat that all day long--- the part that sucked was the dumped what seemed like a bowl of mayonnaise on top and the king crab lacked any sweetness for some reason.

Had the fried chicken tsukemen and it failed on multiple levels. I am by no means a ramen expert but from the tsukemen I have had here and in Japan, the dipping sauce is usually a really concentrated salty rich broth--this tasted like mildly concentrated chicken corn soup from the local Chinese restaurant.  The fried chicken was a thigh that seemed liked it was sous-vide before it was fried--the crust was this pale blond color, and while crunchy it lacked any flavor. 

My wife got the goma snap peas which were very good and refreshing.  She got the veggie ramen to follow.  She liked it, but I found it oddly sweet.  Was served in a soymilk broth.

I hope the ramen criticism makes it back to Chef kim but he is clearly talented with the rest of the menu

 

[Jessica Strelitz]

Update, and a juicy one ..... Jonah Kim is out, and so is the uni ....

"Chef Jonah Kim Splits with Mike Isabella and Yona" by Jessica Sidman and Anna Spiegel on washingtonian.com

"Jonah Kim and Mike Isabella Part Ways" by Laura Hayes on washingtoncitypaper.com

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Jessica Strelitz said:

Update, and a juicy one ..... Jonah Kim is out, and so is the uni ....

This is a major downgrade - I had Yona as the #1 restaurant in Ballston.

[ktmoomau]

This is sad, sad news for me.  

[Ericandblueboy]

To me Yona was trying to fuse Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Greek.  It was probably a disaster financially.  They need a concept that works and much better execution.

[stupidusername]

17 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

To me Yona was trying to fuse Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Greek.  It was probably a disaster financially.  They need a concept that works and much better execution.

Obviously tastes differ.  I very much enjoyed my meals at Yona and hope that they will continue with high quality even with different kitchen leadership. I don't see how it could have been a "disaster" financially as it was always pretty full.  But I do think that trying to serve a super limited menu (small plates and bowl of ramen) is tough.  It certainly seems that people were coming in and didn't want a bowl of heavy and hot ramen when it is 100 degrees out.  So I could imagine a business-minded Isabella wanting to move in a culinary direction that is less pure to a vision but more profitable.  I think you lose some of the diversity of places when this happens but restaurants aren't going to stay open just to serve me and people like me.  

[ktmoomau]

I walked by last night and they have soba on the menu!  I am going to go in and try it, despite the sad news of Jonah Kim's departure.  I am not sure when the menu was tweaked a bit, but it appears to have gotten a few more items and maybe a bit more Japanese to me.

[DPop]

Ouch, does not sound like a good split.  From vacationing together in November to total dissolution in August. 

[ktmoomau]

Well I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.  We went last night.  The melon soda has changed slightly and I don't like it as much.  The menu has yet again changed from the online menu, they are obviously dumbing it down a bit, as they have expanded the buns section, added sandwiches and they have added sushi to the menu.  This ticks me off, can't we have good noodles without sushi?  Not that I wouldn't mind a good sushi place, it's just they are both very tough skills and I think it's hard to master both well.  

The soba said it came with seasonal vegetables.  I should have known when I asked the waitress, what came with the soba she asked what I meant.  I asked what vegetables came with it, and she then said it was all mixed together (still no answer on what the vegetables were).  Well I had gone there just for soba so I couldn't change my mind now despite knowing, it wasn't the soba I was craving.  Anyway it was a very "California" version of soba.  I say California because it was the way in which you modernize food by adding lots of veggies in the dish and toss it up.  Anyway, it wasn't bad.  I thought the soba noodles themselves were fairly inferior, but the sauce and veggies were good.  It just wasn't what I had been crazing.  The shrimp tempura appetizer had really good veggies- avocado, asparagus, mushrooms, but the shrimp were small and butterflied in a way I thought they were a little overdone.  Anyway, I saw that some of the more creative dishes were already off the menu.  I hope they get a real chef in here soon who is serious about the food.  If you are going to be a noodle joint, you can't have inferior soba noodles (I am not expecting them to be made in house, but at least buy good ones).  Anyway, I am sure the server who obviously has never been to Japan didn't understand my soba disappointment, it's fine, I knew I likely needed to just make what I wanted at home.  

[saxdrop]

On 8/25/2016 at 0:02 PM, ktmoomau said:

they are obviously dumbing it down a bit, as they have expanded the buns section, added sandwiches and they have added sushi to the menu.

I think this is a fair assessment. They deliver now (not a great sign) -- so of course we tried it last night. A couple buns, a heavily brined chicken sandwich w/ fries (!) and ramen. Everything was pretty good for delivery, not that any ramen can or should hold after that kind of delay. I guess I'm glad to have another delivery option in my neighborhood, but sad to lose what seemed like a shining star. Overall impression is they're definitely changing the brand - from chef-driven, meticulous, idiosyncratic to crowd-pleaser, larger volume, everything to everyone type place. 

[DonRocks]

16 minutes ago, saxdrop said:

I think this is a fair assessment. They deliver now (not a great sign) -- so of course we tried it last night. A couple buns, a heavily brined chicken sandwich w/ fries (!) and ramen. Everything was pretty good for delivery, not that any ramen can or should hold after that kind of delay. I guess I'm glad to have another delivery option in my neighborhood, but sad to lose what seemed like a shining star. Overall impression is they're definitely changing the brand - from chef-driven, meticulous, idiosyncratic to crowd-pleaser, larger volume, everything to everyone type place. 

Building an empire is one hell of a lot easier than maintaining one.

[ktmoomau]

And the decline continues, from their Twitter:   Introducing the YONA roll ~ tempura fried with spicy salmon, cream cheese, avocado, jalapeño,… https://www.instagram.com/p/BLO2961DENA/ 

How exciting and creative...

[cheezepowder]

Washington City Paper reports that Jonah Kim is going to Miami to work for a Stephen Starr restaurant.

 

[DonRocks]

On 10/12/2016 at 7:51 PM, cheezepowder said:

Washington City Paper reports that Jonah Kim is going to Miami to work for a Stephen Starr restaurant.

Does anyone know who the chef is here now?

I suspect there's a clause in Kim's contract which prohibits him from talking about the reasons for his departure. He was getting very good press - people don't just up-and-leave.