Monday Munchies: Theatrical ramen
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Karaka Spicy at Bentoville. Photo: Alex Golden/Axios
One of Northwest Arkansas' most novel food experiences opened this year, and I got a ticket for some ramen.
🍱 Catch up quick: After offering bento boxes without a brick-and-mortar restaurant for a few years, Bentoville Food Theater now shares a space with a newly expanded Onyx Coffee Lab in the spot formerly home to Pressroom in downtown Bentonville.
🎬 The intrigue: The food "theater" is one big, mostly open space that essentially has three different restaurants at three separate "stages," leaving room for rotating menus, chefs and sometimes limited experiences like an upcoming Korean barbecue offering for two nights only. You'll find sushi, ramen and more.
- The restaurant has movie theater-like posters to show diners what's playing, if you will.
🧑🍳 State of play: I went to Ippudo at the Chef's stage, which was serving up ramen and highlighting the Mt. Ide clear ramen dish that's available until Oct. 12.
- My date and I started off with the "Grand Set" starter ($20), which turned out to be a great way to get a little taste of several appetizers plus a bite-size dessert without spoiling our appetites. I am particularly still reminiscing about the gyoza, classic pork dumplings.
🍜 Zoom in: But, of course, the ramen was the main event. And for good reason.
- The Karaka Spicy ($23) — spicy tonkotsu with pork chashu, scallion, bamboo shoots, spicy niku-miso paste — was so flavorful. While spice will get your attention, it isn't the kind of hot that feels like a challenge or is overpowering.
- The Karaka is made with a thinner noodle, while the Mt. Iide Clear Ramen ($25) had thicker, flat noodles. This dish — made with a pork, sardine and mackerel broth plus pork chashu, scallion, bamboo shoots and narutomaki — is "gentle and comforting" as advertised. It's a much milder, homestyle-ish dish but by no means bland.
- The ramen dishes, at least when I went, were all either vegetarian or had pork.
📍 Stop by: 11am-2pm and 5-9pm Sunday through Thursday and 11am-2pm and 5-10pm Friday and Saturday at 100 NW 2nd St. Suite 100 in Bentonville.