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 really digging 
The ground beef in the samosas (3 for $5.99) was a bit bland, but no matter, you’re going to taste primarily the perfectly fried shell. Unlike most meat-based samosas, Madistan’s version was 90 percent meat and 10 percent filler (e.g. potatoes, peas) instead of the other way around. Nice.
Recently, I happily accepted an invitation to try Qdoba’s new Loaded Tortilla Soup ($7.80-$8.40). Here’s the formula: Take a naked burrito, stick it into an edible tortilla bowl and add soup.
I have to agree. In one version I had steak, pinto beans, sauteed peppers and (free) guacamole. In the other, I had chicken, black beans, cheese and sour cream. The soup binds these toppings and takes the dish to another level. In fact, I plan on ordering this instead of the naked burritos from now on.
Let’s take a look at two new items from Burger King. A few months ago, the burger chain introduced the Flame Grilled Chicken Burger ($3.79). The tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles and onions make this sandwich mimic the flavor of a Whopper to some extent (though this is not the old Chicken Whopper).
