Content and picture by Ilona Kinnear
After the bloodshed of my previous article reached the eyes of top Lancer officials, the cook supposedly fixed some mistakes and contacted my boss, begging me to have another bowl of ramen.
I was hesitant at first. Their ramen had me regretting my purchases before. Even with the few bowls I had, I felt like I had to choke down the last few bites to avoid starving later. But since they claimed to have made changes, I decided, out of the generosity of my stomach, to give them a second chance at pleasing me, the greatest undercover ramen critic in all the Ebbtide.
When I entered the establishment, the chefs were confused. Since I normally grab a burrito, that’s where they expect me to go. But I went against their preconceived notions and stood to order.
This time, I had the spicy white miso broth, the marinated chicken (which I failed to try last time) and all the toppings except the mixed salad greens and spinach, which, as I said before, were not made for ramen.
They accepted my challenge and gave me a bowl, though without the greens I had previously disliked, the dish looked more than half empty. Begrudgingly I handed over the seven bucks and sat down at a nearby table, giving the bowl a look of suspicion at whether or not anything had really been changed, because it sure didn’t look like it.
I sat for around five minutes staring at the soup as if we were about to have a western-style duel, but really it was because I didn’t want any of the ingredients to be as dry as last time.
I finally took my first bite and was a bit surprised. It wasn’t lukewarm or cold. It was still hot. At least they solved that problem.
The noodles themselves still sucked. They were still using the same awful dry noodles as last time. But apparently they used to buy them pre-cooked and now cook the noodles themselves.
Letting them soak was still necessary to make them bearable, though.
But I was a bit more pleased that the spicy white miso broth was more spicy, as I like it. It is the only aspect of my life where I want to be a masochist.
Finally, the marinated chicken. To think that the one protein I missed out on last time was the one I ended up liking the most. I wish it was more moist and “melt-in-the-mouth-y,” but it was still less dry than the pork and less salty than the tofu.
Other than that, it was okay. My previous bowls of ramen were cold and dry and either too salty or too bland. I would have rated them a three or four out of ten.
This new version receives about a six or low seven. They took care of the heat thing, but that’s about it. I’d still rather have one of their burritos instead.