By Ellen Bhang, Boston Globe
Ki Bistro, an Asian fusion eatery near Boston University, hopes to lure you in with a ramen burger. It’s a beef patty nestled between two noodle cakes shaped and grilled to resemble a traditional bun. The owners insist it’s their own special version — not a copycat of the dish that kicked off a craze last summer in New York.
Banh mi burger on ramen noodle bun. (PHOTO: MICHELE MCDONALD FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
Co-owner An Nguyen says her business partner, Ling Tam, has been aware of this novelty sandwich for years; it’s popular in Japan. So when the two opened up their first restaurant in January, with Tam’s husband, Sam Liao, heading up the kitchen, they put their version of the dish front and center. Ki Bistro’s ramen buns start off as fresh egg noodles, tossed with a bit of egg, and grilled in metal rings to set their shape.
The banh mi burger ($5.95) is a riff on the popular Vietnamese baguette sandwich. This features a beef patty seasoned with tangy sweet Asian fish sauce, topped with cilantro and pickled slivers of carrot and daikon turnip. The noodle cakes, lightly fried and golden on the outside, hold together, but they taste a bit under-done inside, and don’t capture the drippy juices like a traditional bread bun. The messy splatter demands many napkins. The flavors of the meat and condiments are bright and delicious — but my dining companion and I wonder if the brioche bun (also on offer) might be more successful with this particular burger. French fries ($2.25) are only passably crisp, no match for the fresh-cut, double-fried russets at a burger joint down the street.
Stir-fried yakisoba noodles ($7.50), featuring the same pasta used to make buns, are cooked with carrot, zucchini, and onion, plus a choice of chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. The beef version comes thinly sliced and well-seasoned on its own; but the special Ki sauce, made with soy sauce and sake, is ladled on too liberally, rendering the dish nearly unpalatably salty. Ask for only a little of the sauce. Fans of Chinese five-spice (a blend of cloves, cinnamon, and star anise) will like the meltingly tender beef short ribs ($9.99) which are braised in soy.
Read the full article by Ellen Bhang from Boston Globe.
