Slurp culture meets tavern tradition at Super Kyuramen in Chinatown Vegas.
The restaurant, a sibling of the Kyuramen shop in Henderson and shops in 20 other states, recently opened on Spring Mountain Road, in the same complex as Chubby Cattle BBQ. The new spot is the second Super Kyuramen to open in the U.S., following the spring debut of the Herndon, Virginia, location.
Why the superlative?
“The Super Kyuramen concept is an evolution of the original Kyuramen concept, which centered primarily around ramen and a selection of appetizers,” the restaurant said in a statement for Neon. The new concept expands beyond ramen bowls to incorporate an izakaya-inspired menu of sushi, shareable small plates, craft cocktails and late-night dining, according to the statement. (Izakaya is the term for a casual Japanese pub or tavern.)
Ramen and sushi
The menu encompasses about a dozen styles of ramen, from vegetable miso to seafood, from Sapporo miso ramen to shoyu beef to a street-style cup of ramen. Sashimi arrives in flights, as cakes of sweet shrimp or salmon, on a platter serving one or two, and as an omakase boat for three or four.
Sushi features hako versions molded in wood boxes, a meter-long table provisioned with selections, and almost 20 long rolls like Kyoto vegetable tempura, avocado cucumber, spicy tuna, a Velvet Heart (tempura shrimp and spicy tuna in soy paper shaped into a heart) and a Super Kyuramen Dragon Roll stuffed with tempura shrimp and cucumber, topped with shrimp and avocado and finished with sweet soy glaze.
Shareable plates
About 20 yakitori skewers, an izakaya mainstay, populate that side of the menu: fried tofu and zucchini, ebi shrimp, chicken skin dumpling and momo chicken thigh, kashira pork jowl and butabara pork belly, gyu harami beef skirt steak, a yakitori platter and more.
Shareable plates run hot and cold: chili garlic edamame, spicy chili dumplings, takoyaki octopus balls and karaage fried chicken, but also salmon avocado salad, spicy chili smashed cucumber, lobster chashu salad balls and a sampler of cold items.
Super Kyuramen offers several dishes new to the Kyuramen family, among them the cup of ramen and the dragon roll, as well as toro uni crisp monaka (bluefin and uni in a toasted mochi wafer) and jumbo lump crab maruyaki (crab meat served hot inside a decorative shell).
Design highlights
The new restaurant encompasses almost 5,200 square feet, with honeycomb-enclosure booths, warm woods, noren fabric curtains and ambient lighting. Super Kyuramen builds on these signature Kyuramen design elements with a lantern-lined passage inspired by yokocho Japanese dining alleys. The passage leads to themed dining rooms that nod to ramen shops, izakayas and manga cafés. There’s also a wishing tree where diners may leave handwritten messages.
Super Kyuramen, 4525 Spring Mountain Road, Suite 101, is open daily from 11:30 to 2 a.m. daily. Visit kyuramen.com or follow @superkyuramen on Instagram and TikTok.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.