Smaak Ramen

Chef Shige's pop-up gone permanent on the Ruysdaelkade, and the only ramen in town that lets dashi do the talking.

Chef Shigeyuki Awazu, Shige to everyone at the counter, cooked through Utage Sake Bar, Bar Theo and KU Kitchen Bar while running ramen pop-ups on his days off. In August 2025 the pop-up became a permanent shop on the Ruysdaelkade, and Amsterdam got its only truly dashi-led ramen since Fujitora closed. The broth is the whole argument: clams, niboshi, sababushi and kombu layered into something clear, light and quietly intense, finished with shoyu, shio or miso tare and a slick of ginger leek oil. Noodles are made in house, medium thick for shoyu and miso, thin for shio, and the topping set runs from aburi pork belly chashu to a proper shrimp wonton. Ramenko, the Japanese blogger who ranks every bowl in the city, ate here three days in a row the week it opened. A vegan shoyu built on kombu, shiitake and porcini keeps mixed tables happy, and the yuzu panna cotta is the rare ramen-shop dessert worth ordering. The room is small and calm, the kind of place where the loudest sound is slurping.

Wed-Mon 17:00-22:00, closed Tuesday. No website, no booking, just turn up on the early side; the €8 saba tatsuta, deep fried mackerel with curry salt and lemon, is the sleeper side order.

Photo: Komareats