[Review] Gohan Bistro: Ramen!

So, anyone who knows me knows that I love a good ramen. Besides that, I'm still suffering through the flu and even with all the medicine, I'm looking for a little bit of comfort.

Google Maps has been recommending this place to me for a little bit, so we figured what the heck. We'll give it a shot.

The Walk-in:

First impressions were pretty standard. The spot is small and parking was not fun. Still, the inside was clean and welcoming. The set up is actually not that much different from most of the ramen places we've been to in Fayetteville, right down to the chalked pictures on the walls.

What did stand out, though, was the food!

Orders:

Dusty (previously known as Chazz Dad) and I both got the Gohan Special Combination Ramen. It's a little on the expensive side, at $16.50 per, but it came with chashu pork, shitake mushrooms, bok choy, sprouts, half a shoyu egg, corn, crispy onions, green onion, and a naruto cake. I was pretty much sold on the use of bok choy, so that happened.

We both went for the paitan soup base because neither of us wanted to deal with spice with our coughing.

Matt Dad, our resident spice addict, got Tucker's Baja Style Sriracha Ramen. That came with chicken, a heaping amount of cilantro, jalapeno slices, corn, a lime slice, crispy garlic chips, green onion, a naruto cake, and a swirl of sriracha for good measure.

We all stuck with water, though I lamented the lack of a milk tea without standard milk. Not something I expect, but lactose intolerance and the flu don't mix, so I had to pass on the boba for today.

The Service:

The service here was great. When we saw how small the place was, we decided not to take the stroller in and were intent on keeping Chazzie on our laps for the meal. Nope. We were offered a high chair immediately (a small, but much appreciated thing) and we had two waiters consistently circling to offer us refills on water. They were friendly, but not hoovering, something my boys from the North like to see.

The Food:

Now, I don't love spicy food and have only really been able to handle even the lightest of spice since the baby, but Matt's bowl came out and my stomach growled. Presentation matters here, folks, and the bowl looked as good as it smelled.

After eating it, Matt proclaimed this ramen place to be his new favorite. Even with the spicy miso base for his soup, he said that the heat-to-flavor ration was fantastic. That's high praise, coming from him.

As for Dusty's opinion, he loved the mushrooms and the egg. He's a bit harder to please than Matt and I, so we took that as a win.

For me, the ramen was some of the best I've had in Fayetteville, but I wish there'd been some difference. The high-quality toppings were phenomenal and the broth was salty and rich. However, I was disappointed by the lack of udon options and I would have liked a non-spicy miso base. The chasu pork wasn't the softest I'd every had, but the flavoring wasn't overwhelming and the slices were generous.

Ratings:
Dusty: 6.7/10
Matt:  8/10
Nina:  7.5/10

Cost Verdict: $50.22; 20% tip.

Was this place a good bang for the buck? 
Matt and I really dug this place and we're willing to go again. There are other ramen shops in town and this one is definitely on the upper end of the price spectrum, but we think it was worth it. Obviously, not an everyday kind of thing (and we should really work on making our own ramen spectacular), but for a date night, this could definitely work.

Again, Dusty is much much harder to sell for expensive food. He's the kind of guy who gives $6 burgers the side eye. Even though he liked the food, he pointed out that for $50 we could have gone somewhere else.