Silverlake Ramen

Silverlake Ramen is an essential restaurant to stop by when exploring The Annex. Their diverse menu, ranging from sushi, appetizers and ramen, lures in guests with inviting smells as soon as you walk through the doors of The Annex. When ordering, the staff is welcoming and kind, making small talk and suggesting different additions to each and every dish. As one could imagine, sometimes The Annex can get too crowded, making it difficult to find a table to enjoy your food. Silverlake Ramen cleverly avoids this problem by providing reserved seating for their customers. While the seating may be more accessible, the pricing is not, with their ramen bowls starting around $15 — we found ourselves wincing at the receipt after ordering only two bowls. While the price may be slightly higher than one may expect, Silverlake Ramen’s carefully crafted flavors deliver.

Camilla: When first served, the appetizing presentation and the rich smell alone of The Classic Ramen is enough to paint a mouthwatering picture for the taste buds. Upon dissecting the construction of this ramen, it starts off with a base of creamy pork broth, black garlic oil, spinach, seasoned egg, green onion, bean sprouts and seaweed. Last but not least, customers get to choose either the addition of chicken, pork or tofu to their ramen. I went with tofu because the ramen’s creamy pork broth is so rich and heavy, that a lighter choice of toppings is beneficial for the stomach in order to enjoy the ramen to the fullest extent. With that being said, the combination of the creamy pork broth and the soft tofu chunks brought heaven to my mouth. The tofu was cooked to perfection, as its texture reminded me of a cloud and practically disintegrated in my mouth, releasing any broth that it had absorbed. I also loved the crunch of the bean sprouts, as they brought a good balance of texture to the meal. All together, I would rate this dish a 9/10, as it is great to get on a cold and foggy day to warm the soul.

Amber: I chose to order the Shoyu Ramen with Pork, and this delicious Ramen Bowl is the perfect thing to soothe your hunger during the rainy season. It was a little pricey at $15.75, but it went beyond just satisfying hunger. The pork was tender and flavorful, providing the perfect balance to the warm and rich soup broth the noodles sat in. Presentation-wise, this was aesthetically pleasing and looked almost as delicious as it tasted. Planted on top of the soup were scallions, spinach, a soft boiled egg and a piece of seaweed. The egg was jammy and complimentary to the spinach, which was earthy and slightly sweet. While the seaweed provided mostly aesthetic appeal, it was pleasant nonetheless. The scallions, piled into the side of the bowl, were then mixed into every bite to provide a slightly spicy flavor. Overall, this dish was delightful, supplying enjoyable flavors with every bite which complimented each other in a flawless way. I give it a rating of 9/10.