Casa Ramen Super

Chef Luca Catalfamo left Milan pleasantly surprised with his awesome ramen bar in Isola area. He is a young man with very clear ideas, passion and a great talent in the kitchen. Casa Ramen Super is his second opening in the city, where, the menu formula is simple and straightforward: you can choose combinations of three dishes and a ramen (mini or large) or change and try some extra on the side, excluded from the fixed price.

Few drinks are available, featuring Japanese beer and a small wine list. There’s a visible kitchen, a few small tables, and a large one for groups or for sharing it with other clients. The decor is minimal, cut to the bone, a real pure normcore jewel which is quite relaxing considered how over-decored are some of the restaurants in this city.

In any case, our attention is all about the menu. Besides the ramen, the true protagonist of the kitchen, there’s really a lot of choice among meat, fish and vegetables, both fried and grilled. From classic pork ribs with mizuna and mustard, to crispy quail fried with Chinese cabbage and onion, baked aubergine with miso teriaki (you also eat the peel because it’s been fried prior), roasted octopus with shrimp and watercress served inside a beignet, beef sashimi that becomes a tartare when seasoned, to mussels smoked with saké.

Photo credit © Casa Ramen Super

Here you have to let go and experiment, without being intimidated by the complicated names of the dishes. Let yourself be guided on a path of new flavors, sometimes unexpected, sometimes delicate, sometimes sharp. The chef cares a lot about his relationship with the clientele and always he tries to offer some little delicacy not included in the menu to each table, also to teach even to the first-timers that gastronomic tradition he loves so.

Photo credit cover picture © Casa Ramen Super