One of the biggest food sensations of last year was the ramen burger, created by Keizo Shimamoto.
During my trip to NY last year, I had hoped to check it out, but the 2-3 hour lines kept me away.
Last week though, Goldbely (an online retailer that ships popular gourmet goods across the nation) had a two day special flash sale where it sold Keizo Shimamoto’s original ramen burger. As you may recall, I was able to try the original Cronut via Goldbely’s special sale too.
Much like that sale, Goldbely only charged customers for what the burger would cost in-store ($8 each; 2 orders per person) and covered the cost of expedited shipping. As you can imagine, the website was flooded with people trying to get one of the coveted orders. I tried my best to stay away, reasoning that I might try for an entire day and not even get one. And yet, I found myself going back to the sale page every 15 minutes, checking Goldbely’s twitter page for the next batch release announcements, and before I knew it, the entire day had gone by.
I still feel the sale was a better way to try the burger than waiting in long lines in NY or the long lines in LA when the original ramen burger made a brief weekend appearance. At least I could be productive at my desk while trying to click through.
But finally, I was one of the lucky ones and I was extremely ecstatic.
On Friday, my ramen burgers were delivered! They came neatly packed with ice packs. Inside were the individually wrapped ramen buns, meat patties, secret sauce, and instructions on how to cook it.
The burgers were smaller than I anticipated, more like mini burgers.
The ramen buns were tightly compact. They stayed completely intact while cooking. They also browned and crisped nicely.
Verdict? These burgers were pretty tasty. I’ve had two other version of the ramen burger: the one served at Raki Raki and the homemade one I made. The Original Ramen Burger was definitely much better.
What was most impressive for me was the ramen bun. The other buns I’ve had started to fall apart when cooking and eating. But these were perfectly round and stayed so during cooking. The exterior is crisp and the interior is soft. The noodles cut through quite easily when you bite in. The buns were light, yet sturdy, and they really did take the place of normal bread buns quite well. The patty was very juicy as well, and the secret sauce added that extra flair.
Writing this post makes me wish I had another one to eat right now…Thanks Goldbely for this great opportunity to get the original ramen burger shipped right to my door. I hope Goldbely continues to partner with creators of other food sensations and offer these special sales.
That’s so cool you were able to try this one, too! The ramen burger sounded pretty weird to me from the beginning. I wonder what they do to the ramen to keep it together? I was surprised to hear it was also mini burger sized, but maybe a smaller ramen “bun” also helps it to keep it’s shape.
I think the smaller bun does make it easier to stick together. I’m not sure how he gets it to stick together so perfectly either, but it was definitely fun to eat!
I actually had no idea who made the original ramen burger until now! Also never heard of Goldbely so it’s an interesting site idea. This makes me think of the korean restaurants where you cook your own meat like you do here, so any cooking mistakes are on your part! The ramen bun looks sooooo interesting!
the instructions are pretty easy to follow!
Ooh those look quite good. I get the Goldbely emails and I’ve been waiting for a good sale on something I really want to try. The free shipping is definitely a great deal, shipping can be so expensive :/ If the Jeni’s Ice cream flavors I’ve been eyeing ever have free shipping I would be all over it!
the free shipping is def a great deal! It doesnt happen often, but it does happen. I’d be all over the Jeni’s ice creams too if they had free shipping