Chicago Ramen has officially opened in Mundelein.
The spacious layout of the restaurant has a red-and-white theme of Japanese decorations, such as lanterns, that adorn windows and hang from the ceiling. It’s located at 404 N. Lake St.
The menu includes ramen bowls, curry rice and Japanese hotdogs. Ice cream for dessert; teas, Japanese beer and wine, to name some.
Also, there are crepes named after anime characters, such as the Dragon Ball, which has vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and bananas.
“It adds to the diverse set of restaurants and choices we have here,” Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz said.
The brain behind the chain restaurant is Japanese chef and restaurateur Kenta Ikehata, a Tokyo native, who will be opening another Chicago Ramen in Palatine in April.
Ikehata’s protégé, Ty Toney, is chef and manager of the Mundelein locale. He also manages the Wheeling location, he said.
There are others in Rolling Meadows, Algonquin, Park Ridge and Des Plaines. But each spot has its own specialty. At the Mundelein Chicago Ramen, it’s Japanese curry ramen.
“You would think it’s just noodles, but there’s so much work that goes into it,” Toney said. “It’s not like what people eat in college out of cups.
“Each segment that goes into the ramen has its own distinctive taste, but what’s hard is blending all of that together to create one flavor; not too strong of a flavor of meat or fat or garlic,” he said.
For people who may be new to this type of food, Toney recommends ordering the chicken ramen.
“Ramen has a lot of variations. This is miso,” he said, adding that miso is a paste and shouldn’t be confused with miso soup you might get at a sushi restaurant.
During their first visit, friends Ariana Ocampo and Fiona Campbell of Round Lake, said they had a good first impression.
“The flavor is amazing,” Ocampo said of her bowl of chicken ramen.
For Campbell, the hot and spicy chicken ramen is something she’ll be back for again.
“Everything is made from scratch,” Toney said. From the pork bases, which take 60 to 120 hours to make, to the chicken, which he said takes a lot less time.
Toney learned what he knows from Ikehata, whom he’s worked with for 12 years, he said.
The 32-year-old finds it comical that before he began his training, he didn’t really enjoy being in the kitchen, even though he comes from a long line of chefs. But once he started learning about the craft, he fell in love with it.
Toney hopes families give Chicago Ramen a chance to become one of their regular spots to enjoy good food, and where perhaps their children can try to win Japanese-style toys from the large and colorful claw machines.
He said his staff is always happy to explain everything on the menu.
