Fou Fow Ramen
Amsterdam's first ramen bar, a 2011 Chinatown pop-up that has held its corner of the Elandsgracht since 2015.
Every city with a ramen scene has the shop that started it, and in Amsterdam that shop is Fou Fow. Filmmaker Fow Pyng Hu, whose childhood nickname means crazy Fow in French, began ladling bowls in 2011 at a pop-up above toko Dun Yong on the Zeedijk, then took this corner of the Elandsgracht in early 2015. Parool's Hiske Versprille came by that January and gave it an 8, mostly for the way the noodles snap. A decade on the formula has not moved: broths simmered in-house for hours, noodles produced in Japan and shipped over, a short list of bowls that ends the discussion. The tonkotsu is the reference, pork bone cooked down to something silky rather than heavy. The tantanmen runs on Sichuan pepper and star anise under minced pork, with a fully vegan version nobody feels shortchanged by. The room is small and white, hung with Chinese lanterns, and takes no reservations. Half the city learned what ramen was here.
Closed Monday, lunch 12:00-15:00, dinner 17:00-21:00, walk-in only. Doors at 17:00 or the tail end of lunch beat the queue; the two window tables on the corner are the seats to wait out.
What to order
Full menu- Tonkotsu RamenClassic €16.40
Pork bone broth simmered in-house until silky; the Classic with cha siu, half egg and kombu is the order
- Tan Tan MenClassic €17.40
Sichuan pepper and star anise in the broth, minced pork on top; a fully vegan version exists and holds up
- Gyoza€7.50
Pan fried pork and vegetable dumplings, the standing side order since the pop-up days
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