Ramen Shinchan in Palatine

Ramen Shinchan opened toward the beginning of the year, and as a Palatine resident, I am so happy. Wait times in their first couple months were heavy, but now things have calmed down and there was no wait for our party today at noon. I really enjoyed one of their daily specials, the Tomago Taiwan ramen:



Taiwan ramen is one of their regular menu items, but this version put the noodles and spicy ground pork against an "egg drop soup" setting. It was delicious.

The specials board at Shinchan continues to morph on every visit with new (to me) dishes. So far, the Miso Katsu and Buta Kimuchi Don have been great. This restaurant, open late with karaage and Japanese beer, has drastically improved the local dining situation.




Ramen Shinchan
http://www.ramen-shinchan.com/
1939 S Plum Grove Rd
Palatine, IL 60067

Can you translate what some of those specials are? I'm not sure I know what Buta (pork), Kimuchi (kimchi?), Itame (Fried?), Dote-Ni (two banks?) or Tebasaki (wing tips?), and I wasn't aware that Taiwan had its own styles of ramen.

I'm afraid I can't help out a ton, personally, with the translation. But from ordering them before, the tebasaki are chicken wings, and the Miso Katsu are fried pork cutlets with a thick miso sauce on top. Dote-Ni is a slow-simmered beef dish, but I just gleaned that from googling. I definitely want to try that soon.

Their facebook page is actually pretty helpful, here's a picture of the Buta Kimuchi Don, which is a stir-fried pork/kimchi over rice: https://www.facebook.com/14018874000695 ... =1&theater

Tried it today for lunch. It was a packed crowd and despite being told there was a 20 minute wait, we were seated within 5 minutes. The staff was friendly and service was extremely quick. Good thing, as the aromas were driving us crazy. The flavors lived up to the anticipation. Both dishes we tried were delicious (the Taiwan Ramen special was nice and spicy; the Tonkotsu Ramen - without chili sauce - was bland only by comparison but still very tasty). We'll go back in a heartbeat to try their other dishes!

Is this the guy who used to make the ramen at Sushi Kushi Too in Highland Park?

For folks who live up that way: has there been a noticeable increase in Japanese immigration to the area of late? Obviously it's long been the neighborhood for Japanese ex pats and businesses, but it just feels as if there's been growth in mom and pop shops and modest restaurants catering to Japanese speakers (as opposed to ramen and izakaya bandwagoning) recently.

Yes, there is a large Japanese population in the area. There is a Japanese school minutes from my house.

Chicago Futabakai Japanese School
2550 North Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60004

Things are still bustling at lunchtime:



Still working through the specials board, so today I tried the Curry Udon. After a minute I remembered that I don't especially like curry udon; something to do with the way the thinned-down sauce coats the tongue. But I give credit for the firm-enough texture in both the udon and the slices of carrot and onion. Also, whatever curry mix they're using was particularly fragrant.

Miso Ramen

Not a bad miso pork broth but flat and a bit lifeless. The chashu was outright chewy while the standard nama noodle also commonly found at many other respectable operations simply kept things moving along.

Tiwan Ramen

This was a well-enough constructed bowl of ramen. But, unfortunately, the sum of its respectable parts added up to something less than inspiring. The chicken-based broth leaned toward the sweeter side while the other additives - sprouts, ground pork, scallion, and roasted garlic, and nama noodles - didn't elevate the experience whatsoever.

I'd have to say that, in theory, if you'd never eaten ramen before and started with either of the bowls that I tried here, you wouldn't hate the stuff but would hardly feel motivated to seek out truly great bowls elsewhere.

I am definitely interested, though, in checking out their other non-ramen offerings someday.

We're no ramen experts by any means, but my sister, my mom, and I really enjoyed our meal here. We ordered the Shio ramen, Champon ramen, and Best Condition ramen. We also got an order of Tebasaki.

I really liked the Best Condition ramen. It's not the most exciting thing, but it was completely overloaded with vegetables which is what I was hoping for. I liked the the chicken-based broth, and it was super garlicky. Be warned, if you get this, you're basically just get a pound of bean sprouts and cabbage piled on top of your ramen.

Ramen is such a heavy meal, and I know some people like to just embrace that and get the heaviest thing, but I wanted something lighter. For ramen, the Best Condition it was pretty light, and dare I say refreshing?

Still felt super super full of course. I am also a garlic fiend, and I think I found a dozen huge chunks of fried garlic in my ramen. Probably overkill for most people, but I scarfed them down. Not the best Tonkotsu ramen I've ever tried, but more than serviceable. Noodles were springy. I didn't try the Shio ramen, but my mom seemed to really enjoy it.

I actually was a little disappointed with the Tebasaki. Skewed a tiny bit too sweet for me. I didn't think it was crispy enough. And the wings were puny. All that being said, my sister loved them.

I am eager to come back and try the Tantanmen and the Tamago Taiwan Ramen.

Ramen Shinchan made it on the list of "The Midwest’s 38 Essential Restaurants"

https://www.eater.com/2017/10/4/16380218/best-restaurants-midwest-bill-addison-eater-38

Congrats to them!

How does this place compare to Santouka at Mitsuwa?

I saw that list on Midwest Restaurants and decided to give it a try. I had the Taiwan Ramen. It was a lot spicer than I expected. Once I got used to it, I really liked it.

This was my first time and I will be going back. I went for lunch today and it was pretty crowded.

I was surprised how much tax they charged. It was 12%, seemed high.

D.

I've been here a few times in recent weeks and loved the experience. The "best condition ramen" (#3 on the menu) is probably the best bowl I've had anywhere in Chicago. Good service, fair prices, and massive portions.