Milwaukee’s Best Ramen Brings You In, but Stay For the Rest [REVIEW]

Red Light Ramen

Cuisine Type: Japanese

Price per entrée: $13-16

Attire: As you please

Reservations: No

Payment: Credit Cards Accepted

4/5 empty dishes

It’s 1 a.m., and the line wraps around the block. It’s freezing, and there are only two heat lamps consoling patiently waiting drunk patrons. The real surprise is, this isn’t a bar. There is an eclectic and entertaining drink menu, but the reason you’re here is the ramen.

Tucked into the pseudo-subterranean level of an apartment building on Farwell is Ardent – Justin Carlisle’s tasting menu driven concept for finer dining. Ardent isn’t what I’m here to talk about (although the experience is phenomenal). Instead, I’m here to share what should be equally exciting and more accessible. Red Light Ramen, described by the home page on their website as:

“Red Light Ramen started as a way for the fine people over at Ardent to relax with friends and family at the end of the week.”

Milwaukee has a blooming food scene, and anyone who works within it can quickly find themselves with a social circle comprised of other service professionals around the city. The hardest part about that is you end up working at the same time as everyone else is. When your shift is over, so are the restaurants that you worked in – so what’s left for dinner? Carlisle and co. decided that Tonkotsu Ramen and boozy slushies were on the menu. Open late, dimly lit, and found by the red sign, Red Light Ramen came into existence with those two things. One of Milwaukee’s more unique food destinations at the time, it also boasted a menu and space smaller than almost anywhere else. For the first few years of its existence, Red Light Ramen was only open from 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. on the weekends, inside Ardent after it closed. I frequented those almost pop-up hours more than I care to admit.

Milwaukee needs more Asian food, a fact I’ll lament while many people call the sushi found in grocery stores their foray into an incredibly broad cuisine. While that is the unfortunate truth, I’ll enjoy the hidden gem of Red Light Ramen. Many of their dishes wouldn’t be suitable for those not excited by the concept or ready to push their boundaries. I took a friend who found out they vehemently dislike canned razor clams on our most recent visit. There aren’t many places to compare it to, as far as cuisine and concept, and maybe that helps them – but I think they stand tall on their own.

That small menu, as well as the quality of cooking from Carlisle and co. seemed to really help them dial in their dishes. Even with a menu where the industrious eater could easily order one of everything, the food itself is intensely satisfying. You try eating more than two bowls of Ramen, stuffed with pork belly, a six-minute soy egg, noodles, fish cakes, mushrooms, greens, and that deeply flavorful broth and say that your night hasn’t gotten palpably better. There is a level of care that makes waiting in line for 30+ minutes usually, always worth it. For only $14 a bowl, you’d leave about $30 lighter after a few drinks and pricelessly satisfied.

Everything grows, though, and Red Light Ramen thankfully did. I always loved the exclusivity of waiting in line and walking past the jealous people on your way out, but I also love getting my favorite ramen six days a week, and not just near bar close. Now open Tuesday through Sunday, 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays and Sundays, 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, Red Light Ramen is a place that I can recommend to everyone and not just those out for the evening. With the expansion in hours and the expansion in space as it moved next door to its old home came an expansion of their menu as well.

Now serving the cold canned seafood tins [$12] with delicately pickled vegetables and hand-made crackers, or the whipped spam “snack pack” [$7] as deliciously shareable bites that grace your table with haste after you order them. Even more fun to share is the DIY cured sting ray dish [$13], it’s on fire. It’s not literally on fire, but the earthenware dish has a lit flame and a grate for you to “grill” the stingray. Without the application of heat, the fish can be tougher than overdone jerky. A minute on heat, and then a quick dunk into the ponzu sauce and masago mayo and the stingray has relaxed into an easily eaten bite full of flavor. The chawan mushi [$12], or aerated egg mixed with crab is one of the more obviously Ardent technique dishes on Red Light Ramen’s menu. The impossibly light egg still supports the smattering of crab, and the richness of the dish offsets that salty-sweet crab meat. Candidly, this is my least favorite dish on their menu as the light and soft texture of the dish seems to contradict with how heavy it settles as I eat it. On the other end is the takoyaki waffle [$8]. Normally served as a fried ball, takoyaki is seafood and/or meat, onion, and nori appetizer that is absolutely delicious to pop into your mouth This reworked concept also shared the food stylings of a dish being served in a restaurant punching far above Red Light Ramen’s casual scene. The dish is full of rich elements, but the savory flavors all melt in your mouth and delight. Just more proof for my hypothesis that the best way to eat breakfast foods is with dinner accents. If you’re with pickier eaters, the rice bowl [$7] is a good way to go. Still, a touch above the norm, topped with bonito, trout roe, and scallions this is a staple and gets ordered every time I visit.

Ramen is the star of the show here, and the menu hasn’t changed much in this department, ever. That’s a good thing. The tonkotsu ramen [$14] is where they started, and it remains as good as ever. Perfectly proportioned, and full of flavors, this is the one thing you have to order when you visit. Everything else is negotiable. They’ve rotated through several kinds of alternate dishes as a second kind of ramen, and right now it’s my favorite so far – chicken paitan [$14]. Sweeter and lighter, but the same DNA that makes the Tonkotsu so successful the chicken paitan is for those that don’t eat pork but still want to savor a sip-to-the-last drop bowl. Lastly is what I consider as one of Milwaukee’s best vegetarian dishes, the mushroom miso ramen [$13]. Enoki mushrooms take the place of the pork, and the addition of miso adds this savory punch of umami that adds enough heft back into the dish, so it holds its own against the meat-laden options.

One can’t be blamed for not making it farther down the menu than the ramen. If you do, you’ll see the donabe and dessert sections. Donabe [$16] is a dish made entirely in one earthenware dish. From my small kitchen cooking, I relish in relatability to this concept. The only issue I have is I often have my heart set on ramen, but if you’re one of the crazy few who aren’t in the mood for a delicious bowl of noodles, the rotating donabe is assured to hit the spot.

I talked about Ardent’s influence (after all, the staff started there) and one of the most direct ways to see it is on the dessert menu. Ariel Welch is the pastry chef for both locations. Young, yet inventive, she brings a symphony of textures and flavors to desserts that might seem simple in idea, and rarely found in the $5-$7 price range.

Service is less important to me when it comes to a very casual sit-down spot, staffed by five people – which is the most I’ve ever seen working at one time. It’s evidently not less important to them. My dishes are delivered graciously, and often with a brief explanation by the person who made them. Stephen, who I’d assume was born smiling treats everyone in the living room-sized space like they’re all guests in his living room. That small space is dimly lit, warm, and often they alternate between top rap hits and deep cuts, usually by west coast rappers.

Admittedly, I’ve been going long enough that when I walk in, I’m greeted by name and conversation comes comfortably between me and the staff. I’m not the only one though, each visit I see other guests get along with the staff with familiarity. The conspiratorial feeling of sharing a meal is alive within Red Light Ramen.

Slightly nontraditional, Red Light Ramen is hard to rank among other restaurants or ramen places, but if I were to I would easily tell anyone that it’s the best ramen to be found in the city, and the midnight bowl after you’ve had one or two too many drinks is a near-perfect experience. On one or two occasions I’ve had pork that can be too chewy or a few noodles that aren’t entirely cooked. Overall, I’d really struggle to find a place I’ve been to as often and felt the same amount of satisfaction each visit. Even on the few where they miss the mark, I know I’ll be back – because just like the rest of us, an off night is inevitable.

Service, quality, quantity, and cost can’t be beat. I would just be so sad if one of their off nights was a night that someone I sent for a night-making meal.