The only overtly decorative element in the otherwise taut, tailored and blond wood-wrapped interior of San Antonio ramen spot Kaedama Battleship is a poster for the 1985 film Tampopo.
Often referred to as a “noodle western” for its almost mythic ride-in-on-a-white-horse aspects and as an avatar of “food porn,” the charming Japanese comedy depicts, among other scenes both nostalgic and erotic, an old master trying to educate an impatient young acolyte in the proper etiquette of ramen appreciation. Many moments of contemplation are required before one can even begin to think of eating.
I confess that my sympathies once lay with Tampopo’s apprentice. With dorm food firmly in mind, how much attention need be paid to a bowl of noodle soup?
But it’s bowls such as Kaedama Battleship’s smoked pork ramen that served to change my mind. It’s worth observing the beauty of the elements before tucking in. Sheets of green-bronze nori and a semi-submerged soft-cooked egg hint at sensual pleasures to come. Bobbing halves of cherry tomato add both color and levity, while sliced rounds of rolled pork belly suggest decadence. And that’s before we even get to the tangle of kinky noodles.
OK, now we can eat. Chopsticks will be required.
The dish’s lightly smoked belly is just assertive enough to add umami without coming across as fatty. Both the meat and the broth it influences serve as the anchor for the dish. Early on, you may want to prod the egg with your chopsticks to release its golden yolk into the broth.
Dole out the feathery shreds of green onion so they can serve as a counterpoint to the deeper flavors. You can decide whether to do the same with the chopped, leafy “flagship” greens. And you also can ponder just how much slurping is appropriate to your state of mind.
Kaedama Battleship offers five types of ramen plus a variant, tsukemen, in which the noodles are served separately for dipping in broth. There are also numerous add-ins, including an order of extra noodles, or kaedama.
I’m of the opinion that more garlic can improve almost any savory dish, so I ordered the black garlic bomb. If you’re patient, you can add the entire ball of spiced black garlic all at once so its sweet pungency slowly perfumes the broth all the more as you get to the bottom of the bowl.
It’s harder to rhapsodize about a bowl of ramen stir-fried with a simple blend of oyster, soy, and Worcestershire sauces. And sometimes ketchup. The dish is often served with cabbage and pork belly.
Here it’s graced instead with griddled coins of carrot, slivers of onion and shaved Brussels sprouts. It’s all winningly hearty and undeniably good, and it might be made even more luxurious with the nesting of a soft egg in the bed of noodles. Still, it’s better saved for a day when contemplation is not on the mental menu.
Noodles are even involved, stealthily, in the restaurant’s beef dumplings with tomato ponzu and charred onion “salad.” Little actual char was apparent in the fried onion, though shredded green onion added a bright and colorful note.
But the subtle tomato ponzu, modest in its own right, was beautifully calibrated to enhance, not overwhelm, the plump packets fat with a mixture of finely ground beef, shredded carrot and chopped noodle. There’s not much poetic to be pondered here, but the whole package is an exercise in the beauty of simplicity.
No noodles at all were harmed in the making of the crispy tofu buns. Slabs of fried tofu are armored in an ultra-crisp and crunchy coating of panko plus both black and white sesame seeds, bedded in cottony bao buns and lightly lubricated with a miso-based garlic and chili sauce.
Coconut yogurt would provide a cooling counterpoint if there were enough to matter. However, a single minty shiso leaf steps up to complete the task in this mini master class in contrasting flavors and textures.
Don’t spend too much time trying to parse the layers of the matcha tiramisu, Kaedama Battleship’s sole dessert. However, do slow down to at least observe the color contrast between the pale green matcha cream and the even paler strawberry “milk.”
If the participating coconut cake has surrendered to its milky bath, well, that’s perhaps its role. The house’s large soup spoons are a little indelicate for the purpose, but try scooping down to the bottom each time. Once again, that’s where the good stuff is.
Kaedama Battleship
122 E. Houston St., (210) 361-7574, kaedamabattleship.com.
Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight daily
Entree prices: $10-$18
The lowdown: Kaedama Battleship is swathed in blond birch plywood and dedicated to the art of ramen — emphasis on “art.” A diner might choose to start with crunchy fried tofu in a cottony bun and finish with subtly seductive matcha tiramisu. But the real action is in the noodles bathed in savory broth and accompanied by the likes of rolled pork belly, marinated shiitakes, bamboo shoots and bok choy — all of which can be accessorized with soft egg or a black garlic “bomb.” The small list of drinks includes a frozen “billion dollar” cocktail for a mere $10.
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