There is no shortage of ramen noodles in Madison these days. The latest entry in this craze is Ramen Station, located in the former Cousins Subs building on South Park Street.
Another patron said exactly what I was thinking–it’s a cute place. The layout and Japanese decor present a cozy feeling. If you sit at the bar, you can watch the kitchen team cook all the dishes.
Obviously, I need to talk about the ramen first. In fact, half the menu is dedicated to it. All of the ramen bowls use either a chicken broth or pork broth for the base and come with a generous helping of egg noodles topped with braised pork, a soft-boiled egg, fish cake, one large piece of dried seaweed and bamboo shoots. Thus, differences are subtle.
For example, the Gyuniku ramen ($10.99) leans on the spicy side and comes with ground beef, while the Sesame ramen ($10.99) adds the anticipated sesame flavor to the broth. Also in the noodles section of the menu is Yaki Soba, which is pan-fried buckwheat noodles with vegetables ($10.95; $12.95 with chicken or beef).
Japanese curry isn’t heavy on the spices, and Ramen Station follows that style exactly. You may choose from beef, chicken kastu or pork kastu ($12.95) as well as vegetable ($9.95). The beef was tasty but chewy. At least the carrots, onions and potatoes were super soft.
Eating with a small group is fun because you can order and share the appetizers and skewers. The former includes konoge (fluid potato cake for $4.50) and seaweed salad ($5).
Fifteen items comprise the latter. I enjoyed the tender and lightly seasoned lamb ($2.99). The bony mackerel pike ($2.99), aka Pacific saury, was a bit bitter as expected and picked up the flavor of the grill on which it was cooked. Next time I may get the curry chicken wing ($2.75) or the bacon enoki mushroom ($2.50).
Ramen Station is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout.
I’m glad we have finally have a restaurant to take over the space long abandoned by I’m Here. That restaurant would be 
Nachos, quesadillas and tortas comprise the rest of the menu. Get a beverage with the torta ($7.50). Meat (in this case, the very tender pulled pork), black beans and Mexican rice centering a large bun–while tasty and filling–will make you pretty thirsty.
The south end of Park Street has been seeing some new businesses sprout up recently, including 
The catfish fillets ($9.99), found on the dinner menu, were crispy yet moist. They were good straight up, though I added some hot sauce. The accompanying cornbread was disappointing, however, as it was dry and didn’t taste like or resemble cornbread.
