The signs may not obvious yet, but they are there. The gradual greying of the sky and shifting winds means the coming of fall - and more importantly, soup season - in St. Louis. Soup to warm the body from the inside out, a shield against the colder temperatures lurking just around the corner. It was soup - and a timely tip from a friend - that led us to Sekisui on Grand Avenue in Tower Grove South, spoon and sticks in hand as we dug into a bowl of tonkotsu ramen.
For the uninitiated, if the ramen of your youth was a Daewoo, actual tonkotsu would be a Bugatti. Where the first is built upon layers of salt for flavor, the latter is built over time, starting with the boiling of pork bones for well over a half day to produce a broth unlike any other in the culinary world. Tonkotsu is buttery rich, a milky white, dreamy liquid that can only come from bombarding bones with heat and water until they give up the building blocks of their construction: marrow, pork fat, gelatin, and calcium suspended in what ultimately becomes an opaque broth for noodles.
So just where does the tonkotsu at Sekisui sit on the automotive analogy scale? We'd say it's an entry-level Chevy Camaro: sporty looking, wide in stance, but a shadow of its 6-liter, V8-powered, fire-breathing big brother. Here is why. The broth leans towards the thin and flat side, missing out on the fullness that should envelop your mouth and tongue when digging into tonkotsu. It's also missing the layering of flavors one would expect: tonkotsu should be salty (not like the packaged variety, but aggressively seasoned), additively porky, rich from glistening bubbles of pork or chicken fat that rest on the broth's surface, mingling with oil that has been infused with garlic or chili. Indeed, our server indicated that the broth was made with pork broth base, potentially explaining why it approached tonkotsu in appearance but not as much in taste.
This sounds negative, but it's not, because this is a solid bowl of ramen that sets the bar for a St. Louis market where there are only three restaurants (at last count) serving the dish. A reasonable $8.95 buys you the broth, noodles, several sections of thinly sliced pork, a bit of nori, bamboo shoots, and a small nest of scallion. An à la carte menu of extras revs things up, with items like extra noodles, vegetables, dumplings, meat, and seafood. Conspicuously missing is the option to add a soft boiled or poached egg, which is a shame. We opted for sliced duck breast (and could have done without it as the dish already has pork in it), and cabbage - a pleasing, crunchy addition - with our bowl. All in all the extra ramen adornments are abundant enough that it could take several visits to dial in a favorite combination.
Lastly, a note on the noodles, which are the highlight of the dish. We won't assume that they are made in house, but they are quite good, especially for folks used to the packaged variety. Long and chewy, they are perfect for unabashedly slurping on a cool fall day. In that regard, we found exactly what we were looking for.
Sekisui
3024 S. Grand
314-772-0002
Lunch, Mon-Sat; dinner daily.
