Misoya

When it’s Saturday, you’re with friends and you’re looking for an informal but not obvious place, which is different from the usual sushi, Misoya, in Brera, could be the perfect place for you. Misoya is a renowned Japanese chain that boasts numerous restaurants in America, Canada, Thailand and Brazil, two of which (Montreal and New York) have been constantly included in the Michelin Guide for a few years now. The brand has chosen Milan to inaugurate its first restaurant in Europe, in a cool area like the one halfway between Brera and Moscova.

As the name suggests, miso, highly selected and always imported from Japan, is the ingredient at the base of ramen, which requires, for the preparation of the broth, a full four hours of cooking. All dishes, therefore, remain faithful in their preparation to the Japanese tradition and are supervised by chef Kenji Kouno, from Tokyo. The interior decor is modern, with light wooden tables and chairs, elegant and essential together.

While waiting for the soup, we decide to order classic Japanese appetizers: gyoza, grilled meat ravioli, and takoyaki, fried octopus rissoles stuffed with fried tuna. Both very good. Along with appetizers we also ask some croutons to accompany the appetizers that come with three different sauces: miso and cheese, the one with pesto, the spicy one.

Then comes the moment of the main courses. The ramen are offered either in the Hokkaido version, with fried potatoes, or in the Tokyo version, with nori seaweed, two versions that also differ for the level of flavor intensity of the broth. In the menu you will also find two vegetarian ramen options. The one with vegetables, in Tokyo version, with seaweed broth soup, soy and bamboo sprouts, green onion, cabbage, carrot, corn and nori seaweed, together to which, if you want, you can add the marinated egg, a really good combination. Despite the absence of meat, this ramen is still very tasty, a pleasant discovery.

The noodles are soft and quite thick: in a word, perfect. The portions are plentiful, so if you want to enjoy the soup to the full, it is better not to order too many appetizers. To all ramen dishes you can add the ingredients you wish, including spicy miso pasta, grilled bacon slices and many other specialties. There is also a selection of desserts on the menu, all typically Japanese, such as dorayaki, yuzu sorbet and green tea ice cream that complete an offer that delights the palate, is honest in price and doesn’t neglect quality.

Oriental icon, tasty and nutritious, ramen is also called “the treasure of Japan“, a riot of colors, aromas and flavors. And you, what are you waiting for?