Nama Ramen

Food was great! Counter service was really friendly but the music that was blasting out of the kitchen did not give me the ramen shop vibes I was looking for and plus it’s way too loud.

The vegan ramen from here is some of the best in Portland.

Really great food. One of the better tasting ramen in the Portland area.

First thing I noticed when I walked in was a hand-drawn sign that read, "protect kids, not guns", which I found incredibly offensive, especially as a person who carries a gun daily specifically to protect myself and people around me, to include kids. I get that you care a lot about kids, but this is a blatantly thoughtless and insensitive comment to make towards a group of people you've likely never met, especially in an otherwise inclusive city like Portland. I felt fellow gun owners would like to know how the owners felt about our rights, to best choose where to spend their money. I went here with my partner; she ordered the shoyu ramen, and I got the spicy miso ramen. We both noticed that the bamboo shoots in both our bowls tasted very odd, a bit like how a wet dog smells almost, so we sorted them from our bowls. Mine was pretty decent other than this, and enjoyed the rest of it. However, my partner still ended up with her entire bowl of ramen tasting a little like wet dog, so decided to leave most of it. I liked the counter service style, the friendly staff, and the environment was very cozy.

Chill vibe, friendly service, solid ramen. The eggs are a bit overcooked and could stand to be marinated in something to add flavor. Vegetarian options: Vegetarian ramen has a nice veggie broth and tofu with good flavor. Comes with an egg, so vegans, be warned.

The service and atmosphere of this place is great, but unfortunately the food I got was not so good. I got the shoyu ramen and it was beautiful, but smelled of... something it's hard to describe. Maybe wet dog, or wet chicken feathers? I've had shoyu ramen other places which did not have this smell, so I don't think it's how the type of ramen I got is supposed to be. At first I thought it was the bamboo shoots, but even with the shoots removed the whole dish smelled like this. Maybe if there had been a lot of other flavors to the dish it wouldn't have been so bad, but it was otherwise pretty bland so had nothing to hide it. I tried adding more soy sauce and spicy seasoning they had available, but it didn't make much of a difference. I ended up eating about a quarter of it. The soft boiled egg was done perfectly, though it was unseasoned (I'm used to them being marinated). It was tasty with spicy seasoning added. After some googling, it sounds like it may have been alkali from the noodles, or old broth, creating a sort of ammonia smell. My partner had the spicy miso ramen which didn't have this smell, so I'm guessing it was the broth. I didn't make a big deal about it while I was there because it's not the person's fault who would be dealing with the issue, and I felt weird making it their problem. They were very sweet and the service was super fast! I do think other dishes on the menu must have been delicious, because everyone else seemed to be enjoying what they got (they all had rice dishes, poke, or fried chicken etc.).

Love this place, always a solid go to! Fantastic ramen!