Slurping Turtle
An employee will come out from behind the glass door in the basement and cut your ramen on an imported multi-step machine.1
Why go
Takashi Yagihashi opened the concept in Chicago in 2011 and brought it to Ann Arbor in 2014, and Metro Times reviewed it that June as his venture.1 The operator's own page now describes the restaurant without naming him or any chef, so read Jeff's note below as a record of who started the place and not of who cooks now.2 The noodles are still the argument. Metro Times found the tonkotsu a pale yellow pork broth dotted with intensely orange fat globules, with three big pieces of unfatty pork belly (chashu), mushrooms, and greens,
with chili oil you squirt yourself.1 The shio broth on the chicken bowl came back equally strong and intensely chickeny,
with a poached egg and kamaboko.1 Go downstairs to see the machine, and look for the photograph of Yagihashi's grandfather as a child.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the tonkotsu, and squirt your own chili oil.1
- Ask about the hamachi tacos before you plan around them. Metro Times called them
best from the tapas list and one of the very best dishes overall,
1 and the Observer reported them pulled from the menu when the room reopened, with the operator hoping to bring them back.3 - Avoid: the duck-fat fried chicken. The reviewer tested it against regular fried chicken and reported the greasy taste lingered, and
The chicken itself, however, was too dry.
1
What locals & experts say
- Detroit Metro Times, on the kitchen:
What executive chef Tadashi Nagura knows about presentation is exceeded only by his knowledge of how to combine ingredients.
1 - Metro Times, on the salmon donburi:
warm sticky rice surrounded with cucumber slices, topped with gorgeous, cool orange salmon, lots of it, flying fish roe, a white tangle of shredded daikon.
1
Good to know
- The record is old here. The Metro Times review ran in June 2014, weeks after opening, and the operator's Ann Arbor page still posts a 2018 lettuce recall notice. Treat the dish notes as history and check the current menu when you go.2
- It was rebuilt once. The room shut for its first major renovation since 2014 and took seven months to come back, and the Observer reported the hours cut to dinner on weekdays with lunch at weekends. Check the hours before a lunch.3
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "A renowned Michelin starred chef brings French-Japanese food -- ramen, sushi, and sake." That was Yagihashi, who opened it and is no longer named anywhere on the restaurant's own page.
Verdict
could-visit — Metro Times watched the noodles get cut in the basement and named the hamachi tacos the best thing on the table, which is a real critic doing real work on the food. Everything else about this room has aged. That review ran in June 2014, the executive chef it praised may be long gone, the operator's page names no chef at all, and the tacos themselves came off the menu when the room reopened from a seven-month renovation. The house-made ramen is still a good reason to walk in and the newest evidence for it is four years old. Somebody needs to eat there and write it down before this moves.