Dining in Naples: What we love about Namba Ramen & Sushi

These are the things I loved most about Namba Ramen & Sushi:

Its simplicity. There are only 30 seats inside the tiny restaurant that opened three months ago. It has the same minimalist vibes of a hip ramen and sushi bar in a major metropolitan city, with its bamboo accents and clean wooden decor, yet Namba is tucked into the Publix-anchored Marketplace at Pelican Bay on the southwest corner of Vanderbilt Beach Road and U.S. 41 North.

And those pork belly buns. Braised for eight hours and sandwiched between squishy-soft steamed bao buns, the pork is made all the more flavorful with the help of a hoisin sauce — a little spicy, a little sweet.

Lastly, that 17-hour signature broth and those handmade noodles imported straight from Japan make Chef Koko a ramen-making legend in my books.

These are the things I didn't love about Namba Ramen & Sushi:

When I had to leave, and my pants felt like bursting under the weight of all that broth and all those noodles.

Chef Koko, the nickname for Pitak Hermkhunthod, grew up cooking in his family’s restaurant in Thailand before spending five years training in Japan. He then spent two years in New York City. He headed up kitchens in Miami before coming to Naples, where he operated Zen Asian BBQ in nearby Naples Park until about a year ago.

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At Namba, though, his signature is the personal-sized ramen, and he does it really, really well.

All table manners and soup-eating etiquette were thrown out the window as soon I cozied up to a steaming bowl of beef hayashi ramen ($14). That tonkotsu broth — meaning "pork bones" in Japanese — was milky smooth thanks to that 17-hour cook. There were so many goodies in there: spicy bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms and corn for a little sweetness. Thinly sliced black Angus sirloin shavings were so incredibly tender.

And if that broth was the superstar of the dish, then the halved seasoned Jidori egg was the backup singer on the verge of a breakout career. Jidori is a fancy way of saying these eggs are top-notch; they come from specially bred, free-range chickens off small farms in California. They're antibiotic-free and non-GMO, too.

But all you really need to know is that the yolk was creamy and delicate, and the white deliciously springy.

The vegan ramen ($12), too, was just as slurp-worthy, with its four-hour vegetable- and soy-milk-based broth. Housemade spicy cashew nuts, slices of crisp tofu skin, spicy bean sprouts, corn, wood ear mushrooms and fresh cilantro bobbed along at the top. The ribbons of tangled noodles, which sent a splattering of brothy goodness in every direction, owed their pale green color to kale.

Most importantly, I felt no shame tipping the bowl back to slurp every last drop, and you shouldn't either.

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But there's more than just ramen to gush about at Namba.

Take the grilled octopus ($15) braised for five hours and lightly charred. A Japanese Worcestershire-style sauce added to the crisp meat giving it a delicious smoky flavor. The pre-cut tentacle bits went so well dipped in a charcoal smoke-infused Asian citrus aioli. 

I'm also crushing on the pan-fried Wagyu beef gyoza ($12). The dumplings — with seared and blistered skins — lovingly cradled their stuffing of finely chopped sirloin, cabbage and scallions. Citrusy yuzu tahoon sauce dotted the top of each bite-sized gyoza, and I delightfully swirled them around in a double-tiered dipping sauce of black truffle paste on bottom, and ponzu sauce on top.

There's so much to love about the Brussels sprouts ($9), too. They were halved and lightly deep-fried (holy smokes). Asian citrus miso dressing coated the leafy orbs with a sweet glaze, and I crunched on bacon pieces and candied walnuts on top (holy smokes again).

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Namba rolled out its sushi menu only recently. The restaurant, which opened at the height of the winter season, first introduced an abbreviated version of its menu to work out kinks and allow the staff more time to serve a packed dining room. 

And so there was Chef Koko on a recent Friday, dressed in a navy chef's jacket behind the sushi bar, hand-rolling nigiri, sashimi and maki rolls.

Namba gets back to the sushi basics; the menu of maki or specials rolls wasn't as extensive as many other Thai and Japanese restaurants in the area, but these were just as fresh and well-crafted. 

The spicy salmon roll ($9) was made with the spicy mayo inside the roll, and had the perfect ratio of spice per piece. The nigiri — I ordered the freshwater eel and hamachi yellowtail, both $7 — was mouthwatering, the perfect consistency and ratio of rice.

Some things I didn't love as much: the miso soup was fairly standard and the Namba house salad was fresh but nothing special. That's probably only because everything else was so packed with flavor.

Still, I was impressed by Namba's service. When I ordered the green tea crème brûlée for dessert, my waiter returned with news that they had ran out the night before, and a new batch hadn't set just right. I was dessert-less, but who can feel upset with such honesty?

And so there I rolled, belly full of broth and noodles and sirloin-stuffed dumplings, out into the hectic Publix parking lot.

Curse you, Chef Koko, and your addictive, coma-inducing Jidori eggs.

The Naples Daily News pays for all meals for dining reviews. We do not solicit or accept free meals.

Namba Ramen & Sushi

• Where: 8847 U.S. 41 N., North Naples
• Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 5 to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 5 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays
• Prices: Small plates $5-$18; maki roll $8-$12; nigiri and sashimi $6-$16; arubi sushi $9-$15; ramen $12-$16; salads and sides $2-$8; dessert $6
• More information: 239-592-4992; nambanaples.com
• Forks: 4½ out of 5