Not Your College Ramen

The Gankara Miso bowl is a typhoon of flavors: sliced Chashu and Tan-Tan pork, a five-minute egg, sautéed bean sprouts, Nappa cabbage, Wakame seaweed, scallions, corn, and sesame seeds, all floating in a bronze-colored broth. But the main ingredient is ramen, that special brand of Japanese noodle that nearly every college student has at some point stockpiled. As fans of East Asian cuisine now know, ramen isn’t just a microwavable packet you buy at 7-Eleven; the versatile pasta has garnered gourmet attention.

In Massachusetts, Ganko Ittetsu Ramen is a staple of the Brookline dining scene, ladling high-end noodle bowls for hungry Bostonians. But Ganko isn’t just popular - Boston Magazine named it one of their Top 25 New Restaurants in 2016, and Improper Bostonian called Ganko one of Boston’s Best.

Most Providence foodies would blanch at the idea of fighting through Boston traffic for an hour and half for a taste of Hokkaido goodness, but luckily for East Siders, Ganko is opening a second location on Thayer Street, nestled between the brand-new by Chloe and Pokéworks. Ganko’s menu has roots in Sapporo, one of the northernmost cities in Japan, where the cool and rainy climate is very similar to New England’s. Ramen is pretty much always a hit, but when the weather turns autumnal, there’s nothing like a steaming bowl of miso-flavored consommé. 215 Thayer Street