Kimen Ramen & Izakaya - Owner Tae Kim on John Marr Drive in Annandale

[TheMatt]

In an update, I went to Kimen Ramen this afternoon for dinner. I had their mazemen ramen (ETA: from the menu: soupless ramen, spicy hot minced pork / egg yolk / fish powder / minced garlic / green onion / chives / dried seaweed -- note, wasn't that spicy) and it was good! I'll be back.

That said, I'm not sure the music they were playing was of this world. Or I'm getting old.

[DonRocks]

Kimen Ramen is the best I've yet found in Virginia - on back-to-back evenings, I had Boru and Kimen, and there's no comparison between the two (except in terms of quantity - you actually get more at Boru, but so what).

Echigo Koshihikari Rice Lager ($8) and Kikusui Junmai Ginjo ($19, and highly recommended):

Chashu Bun ($4) - They look too sauced, and perhaps are a bit, but they work, and the pork is quite good:

Original Ramen and Miso Ramen, both with Pork ($12 each) - Choose your style, and go with it - both were very fine, better than anything I've yet found in NoVA. All ramens are easily customized with a la carte extras or substitutions:

Plus, there's this next door at The Block Bar before dinner:

[DIShGo]

On 5/17/2019 at 7:40 PM, TheMatt said:

That said, I'm not sure the music they were playing was of this world. Or I'm getting old.

I must be getting old, too. Every song sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks on speed.

[DonRocks]

Echigo beers are expensive, but they’re also perfectly suited to my palate - they’re flavorful, but on the elegant side, without any intrusive hopping or silly flavors. Plus, their Koshihikari (rice lager, $9) has one of the nicest looking labels I’ve seen.

The Miso Ramen ($12) was just as I remember it from a couple years ago, with the tofu and bok choi ($2-3 each) not necessarily complementing the ramen, but good on their own (“Your eyes are bigger than your stomach!” as my mom always used to say).

There was about a thirty-minute wait last night, but with The Block next door, that’s not a problem. I hadn’t been deep into Annandale in awhile now, and the drive down Little River Turnpike jolted me a little bit (e.g., the original area BonChon Chicken is now an Ethiopian restaurant).