Evanston Lunch Group, Th. 1/14/16, 12:30-Table to Stix Ramen

For the first lunch of the new year, the Evanston Lunch Group will try Table to Stix, Evanston's first ramen restaurant. Small and eager to please, Table to Stix will be able to accommodate our group, although not all at the same table.

Please join us for some warming ramen soup and tasty small plates.

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016
12:30 pm
1007 Davis Street
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 859-6847
http://www.tabletostix.com/

I'll be there, even though I'm not particularly small, and only occasionally eager to please.

I'm in.

Oh, and Gypsy Boy just posted a review of the place, here.

I'll be there. Although I will need to leave early. I'll slurp quickly.

Tarte Tatin is hoping to join us. Fingers crossed!

We will be happy to join you.
Robert and Catherine

We have a reservation, but I expect it to be two tables for the seven of us. Reservation is under "Evelyn." See you tomorrow.
--Evy

SO? What did y'all think?

Very impressed. Flavorful broths with well-chosen ingredients (although - heresy - I ordered the miso vegetarian ramen, and asked them to add pork belly). Only criticisms - the English language sign in the window is so small it makes the place easy to overlook, and for those of us of a certain age (I think we agreed that age was 35 years old), the descriptions of the ramen varieties on the menu, in dark grey type against a black background, were a bit tough to read.
If I get around to it, I'll post photos.

Yes, I was impressed too. The ramens were very good. Unlike some hot pot places, the ramen dishes (there are three on the menu) already come with plenty of ingredients in them in addition to the broth and noodles. I had the shoyu ramen as is (nothing added) and I liked it a lot. I also enjoyed the three appetizers we had - fried brussels sprouts with a light mustard sauce (these were really good), calamari (these were good not great, my least favorite of the three), and the gyoza (an excellent rendition of pot stickers). I'd go back.

We stopped in a couple of weeks ago and both had the Tonkatsu ramen. There seemed to be coconut milk in the broth and after the meal there was a bit of a coconut aftertaste. Is that typical for this type of ramen?

We enjoyed the roasted brussels sprouts. At first I thought the sprouts would be overwhelmed by the large amount of Bonito flakes covering them, but it worked well.

bw77 wrote:We stopped in a couple of weeks ago and both had the Tonkatsu ramen. There seemed to be coconut milk in the broth and after the meal there was a bit of a coconut aftertaste. Is that typical for this type of ramen?

That's not consistent with the description of tonkotsu ramen on their menu, which mentions the fact that the broth is white and cloudy but attributes it to other ingredients:

Table to Stix menu wrote:TONKOTSU RAMEN 13.00

creamy pork broth with soy brasied pork belly, ajitama egg, sweet corn, bean sprouts,menma, naruto fish cake and scallions

Tonkotsu ramen usually has a cloudy white colored broth. It is similar to the Chinese baitang and has a thick broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency that rivals milk, melted butter or gravy . Most shops blend this pork broth with a small amount of chicken and vegetable stock and/or soy sauce.

Of course, it's also possible there was coconut despite it not being mentioned in the description. Perhaps those of us who ordered the tonkotsu ramen can respond?