Steve's Restaurant

From my Yelp review (check Yelp for photos!): Legend has it that once every century, a brave and talented ramen master is born, rising up the ranks of the common noodle chefs, serving one bowl of ramen at a time, on an endless quest to reach the top. Tenka... Alright, fine, maybe there aren't any legends that say that, but Tenka Ramen is the real deal. When I lived in Japan I ate ramen at least once a week and when chef Ted Nogami did pop-up Sunday Lunch Ramen specials at Kabuto in West Broad, my fiancee and I went I believe 20 out of 22 weeks, skipping out only because of illness. So we knew what we were getting into when we went to Tenka on opening night. What makes Tenka different than other ramen places in Richmond is that Tenka's ramen doesn't focus on a heavily salted broth, but instead features other flavors. They offer 6 types of broths / styles, including their signature Tenka (signature pork bone), Miso, Spicy, Veggie, Shio (sea salt), and Shoyu (soy sauce). If you're used to something like Shoryuken ramen's saltiness, you may be a bit surprised at Tenka. --Food: When we went on opening night, we both got the Shio. The noodles were cooked well, the ajitama (seasoned softboiled eggs) were amazing, the pork tender and flavorful, and the broth was tasty. (I'm so glad my fiancee doesn't like eggs because I always get her's!) I also had the pork buns and fiancee had the edamame. She loved them and the pork buns were satisfying. The noodles themselves and the eggs are what shined to me. I actually came today as well for lunch with a coworker and tried more of the menu, this time trying the aji fry (fried Japanese horse mackerel) and takoyaki (octopus dumplings). Both of these were really good and I can see myself ordering them again. For ramen I went with my all time favorite, the spicy ramen, and it didn't disappoint. The spicy ramen features spicy red pepper shavings and a spicy paste that you mix in to spice up the broth. It's spicy enough to be called spicy but not too hot to enjoy. Even though the pork is the same, I found it extremely satisfying with the Spicy. All in all, I love it and I know that once I try the rest of the menu, I'm almost sure it'll be my favorite. Speaking of the rest of the menu, besides ramen and appetizers, there are also a couple rice dishes, including Chashu Donburi (pork rice bowl) and Curry Rice (Japanese curried rice style with breaded pork cutlets). I've been on a Curry crush the last few months and have made some at home (to moderate success), so I'm excited to try Tenka's. I plan on trying every single item on the menu, so it's just a matter of time until that happens, but so far, everything is really good. --Cost: Bowl of ramen is about $10, appetizers about $3 - $5, Rice Dishes about $9. Affordable, given the area, and the portions are very fair. --Service: There were a couple small hiccups at lunch, but everyone is cheerful and keeps the environment friendly and inviting. Ted Nogami, the head chef and owner, is an amazing guy who I've had the chance to talk to briefly on a handful of occasions. He moved from Kyoto and has worked on opening a couple restaurants in Virginia, which I believe have all been successful. I was an uber-regular at his Sunday popup location, and he occasionally had me try spicy ramen variations not on the menu, so that was fun! (There was one truly spicy experience, haha.) You can tell he's super passionate about his food, and in my opinion the best chefs are the ones that love what they do. You can tell that he does, and he's an all around awesome guy. He actually came over and talked to me a bit at lunch today apologized if things were hectic and sloppy, telling me that they're still working on getting everyone trained to the quality that he's happy with, but I haven't had any problems at all so far. He was genuine about it all, and yeah, like I said, great guy. --Atmosphere: I had never been to whatever the place was before Tenka opened, but the new remodeled decor is simple with metal panels, booths, and tables. There's a couple bars as well (one for drinks, one for groups), and all around it feels pretty similar to what you can find in Japan. Very comfortable and if you come off hours, it's a nice place to enjoy a lunch break. --Overall: I love Tenka and given that I work 10 minutes away, it will absolutely become part of my lunch rotation. I may have some bias based on some great past restaurant experiences with the owner, but I've been very pleased with both meals I've had so far at Tenka and look forward to many, many more. Definitely check it out. Gochisousama deshita!