Chicago Chefs Battle Over Ramen At Yusho
By Melissa McEwen in Food on Mar 12, 2014 3:10PM
Yusho is hosting their second Ramen Battle this Sunday March 16 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. or whenever the ramen runs out. Yusho's Ramen battles feature two guest chefs who create their own specialty ramen. This battle will pit two Logan Square chefs against each other—Abe Conlon of Fat Rice versus Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe.
The first Ramen Battle was held in February and set Publican Quality Meat's Cosmo Goss against Blackbird's David Posey, both from the One Off Hospitality restaurant group.
Guests voted on the winner with special ballots, rating each on a scale of one (“try again”) to five(“Love + Love”). Ultimately Goss was crowned the winner for a ramen with a very flavorful broth that combined several rich and delicious accents from across Asia including a rich Vietnamese-influenced pork belly and a Thai sausage that was laced with aromatic kaffir lime leaves. But Posey's take on the classic Japanese tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen topped with crispy potato cake and savory miso pork put up an admirable fight.
Each ramen came with their daily on-draft cocktail or house-made soda, as well as a dessert. At the first battle the dessert was Yusho's famous soft serve drizzled with an aggressively weird combination of espresso, fernet, vanilla pop rocks and nori that tasted a bit like cigar smoke. For exceptionally hungry diners, they also had a few snack options such as their addictive crispy chicken skins dosed in a tangy mustard.
As for who will win this upcoming Sunday, it's going to be a tough competition. Both are extremely popular Logan Square restaurants, but the similarities end there. Conlon's food is known for showcasing the abundantly spiced flavors from the island of Macau. Hammel's typically does classic farm to table that . But they certainly aren't limited to their restaurant's style, so there is no predicting exactly what type of ramen they will make.
Yusho takes reservations for the battles, but they are already full for this upcoming Sunday. However a >waiting list for tables is available. Yusho also holds bar seating for walk-ins and tables may be available in the event of a cancellation.