Nudo House STL succeeds on all levels

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

The O’Miso Spicy Ramen: pork broth with miso, pork belly, chili paste, and more

"Asian fusion”—the cliché is as annoying as it is overworked—rarely scores. It is so consistently clumsy in execution, in fact (kimchi quesadillas, anyone?), that one is surprised and delighted when things actually, well, fuse.

When it opened last summer, Nudo House STL almost instantly became one of the top ramen restaurants around, combining hip with sophistication, fun with a serious approach to the art of noodle noshing. So there’s Voltron-themed décor (a nod to owner Qui Tran's childhood), a fast food soda dispenser (along with a selection of bottled Japanese beers), and an informal plastic chair–and–Ikea table kind of company cafeteria atmosphere. You’ll also find some exceptionally fine ramen and other edibles that reflect a rewarding merger of Asian foods.

Ramen, of course, is a current culinary craze, but almost universally its presentation in the U.S. is compromised, lackluster at best. Most cooks lack the expertise for great noodles; word has it that Nudo’s owner went on a ramen pilgrimage to be tutored by the masters. If so, he was an apt student.

Here, the tonkotsu—that unctuous collagen-slick pork bone broth that defines the perfect ramen—is creamy and supple. Ladled over a generous tangle of springy noodles, it’s a deep bowl of milky ecru surrounding an island of fat-rimmed pork, fermented bamboo shoots, and soft-boiled ajitsuke egg that’s steeped in soy sauce and rice wine, with a little mossy green sail of nori seaweed hoisted on the side. When this basic ramen is on a menu, it’s a benchmark. Nothing will compensate for a kitchen that can’t turn out a credible tonkotsu broth. When it’s done well, as at Nudo, the results are alone worth the visit.

Nudo excels too, however, in that equally challenging arena in which a variety of Asian ingredients are masterfully blended. A crusty banh mi sandwich comprises crispy tamarind-flavored chicken, cilantro, sour pickled carrots, crisp cucumbers, and a piquant mayonnaise. A ramen bowl loaded with meaty sliced oyster mushrooms is equally unusual. A luscious oily-rich chicken broth flavors the Hebrew Hammer ramen. An oddball version of pho, with chicken, beef, and shrimp, defies expectations of this iconic stew. Any of these could have turned out silly or, worse, a gastronomic mutant. Here, though, they all work beautifully.

Why are such Asian amalgamations so successful at Nudo when they’re often rendered clumsily in other places? It has much to do with the kitchen’s considerable talents. Instead of tossing disparate foods into the pot in hopes of animating something edible (or at least self-consciously “unconventional”), Nudo demonstrates what happens when a chef’s grasp of fundamentals is so solid, it serves as a reliable foundation for adventures to new dining destinations.

“I make my own,” the chef says when we ask about the pao cai, the pickled-vegetable relish that spikes the spicy ramen. Most Chinese eateries buy this ready-made. Nudo’s kimchi is also made on site, something few local Korean restaurants can claim. Attention to such details permits the creative riffs that characterize the place.

Red miso, wine-redolent and bearing a salty smack, flavors the O’Miso Spicy ramen with a pungent saltiness beneath the considerable fire of the broth’s chili-hot spice. (Nudo’s version—which relies on the miso’s salt, with no extra salt added to the broth—avoids the excessive salinity of so many miso-based ramens.) Studded with onions and jalapeño slices, the beef broth makes a luxuriant French dip for a banh mi.

We mentioned those Japanese beers. Nudo carries Hitachino, a quirky brew made from wheat malt, red rice, and other offbeat ingredients that provides some interesting tastes. (The house selection seems to change; if a Hitachino stout is available, try it—a stout complements ramen’s hearty broths better than any other beer.) And dessert? Soft-serve ice cream regularly rotates with tropical flavors.

Nudo also offers kae-dama, a tradition at some ramen eateries. For a couple bucks, you can get another serving of noodles, which is nice when you’re really hungry and have broth left in your bowl.

You’d assume correctly that Nudo House STL, located in a bustling Creve Coeur shopping mall surrounded by various office buildings, is packed at lunchtime. On a weeknight, however, we found the place full as well. It was filled with families and couples enjoying a fast-casual dinner.

It’s proof that “pan Asian” needn’t be a tiresome culinary buzzword. At Nudo, it’s deliciously the opposite.

The Bottom Line: First-class ramen and Asian fusion are served up in a fun, informal setting.