I met a friend for lunch the other day at Yujo. I am always game for a new ramen place. This is more of your quick service type of place where you order up front and then pay and they bring it to you. The interior is pretty simple and straightforward.
So their main thing is ramen and boba tea but they also offer a few other things like Japanese fried chicken and gyoza. However, we just tried the ramen. They had some interesting varieties of ramen, but we both ended up going with the spicy ramen ($13.50)—it is sort of the classic ramen that you think of—a miso and pepper-based sauce with wavy noodles, a slice of pork, a marinated egg, corn, fermented bamboo shoots, sliced scallions and charred beansprouts. There was also a garnish type piece of nori but I popped it out because I don’t like it when it starts to get kind of fishy tasting, but that’s just me. They also use some spicy chili oil on top.
This was a very solid bowl of ramen. I added an extra egg (+$1.50) because that’s just what I do. The broth was extremely flavorful and the eggs were cooked just right. I really liked the crunch from the charred bean sprouts as well. Now I know that the big slab of pork is traditional, but I had a bowl in Rhode Island that had little bits of ground pork and that was so much better to me. I hate using chopsticks to try and bite off pieces of the pork.
However, overall, a very good bowl of ramen. Plenty of noodles, plenty of flavor and some unique takes—like the bean sprouts. There are also several other options that are a little more unique—one ramen that was yuzu-infused. Another is topped with black garlic oil. There’s also a veggie ramen. All sound very worth trying.
One thing I would change/add is to offer a smaller size option for lunch and maybe make a combo like some of the other places do with a couple of gyoza or a couple of pieces of fried chicken perhaps? Because I try to eat somewhat light for lunch, and I don’t know that this place has a real going out to dinner vibe for me. Speaking of which, there’s no alcohol. Like I said, lots of boba tea if that’s your thing though.
Let me know if you’ve tried this place—especially if you have tried some of these other items. I’m intrigued!
Yujo Ramen and Boba Tea
9431 N. Meridian Street
Indy 46260
317/669-0315
My family absolutely loves Yujo. I typically get their miso ramen which I find to be a bit more refined and elegant than some other places in town, while my wife and our daughters love their house Yuzu Signature ramen, which has a light, fresh, citrus broth. Their chicken karaage and gyoza are also very good as well. However, the surprise standout so far has been their chashu rice bowls. The wife goes crazy for it; simple, nourishing, and full of pork flavor. Perhaps the best thing so far about Yujo is that it appears the owner/chef is there every time we go, and that tends to make a huge difference in new, small restaurants when it comes to consistency and quality control. It's too bad that they have closed down during this crisis, because the way they prepare, portion, and package their carryout orders is second to none. Really, more restaurants need to learn that putting effort and quality into how they package their to-go orders makes a huge difference for many customer, especially with large family-sized orders.
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