No Curveballs Here: Jobu Ramen

People in the know can tell you that Jobu is a reference to the movie Major League. Specifically, Jobu was the god of voodoo whom Cleveland Indians' slugger Pedro Cerrano constantly prayed to for help with everything, including that almost impossible task of hitting the curveball.

At Jobu Ramen, the still relatively new restaurant located in the Grandview Heights neighborhood of Columbus, you really won't find too much that resembles a curveball. The menu here is fairly concise, built around (what else) ramen and a few select related appetizers and entrees.

As someone who came from the Northern California Bay Area, it might be surprising to hear that I have had no real prior experience with traditional ramen (the cheapo, instant ramen you find in stores at four for a dollar, on the other hand...) Most of the best examples of this Japanese classic in the area were on the far opposite side of the bay for me. When  I was in a soup mood, I generally stuck with Chinese or Vietnamese takes on this standard. However, Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I are making it a long-term goal to get more acquainted with the dish and discover what makes one ramen standout over another.

The interior of Jobu is as concise as its menu: an intimate, dimly lighted space that might make you think you've stumbled into some back alley ramen joint somewhere in Tokyo itself, with a little bit of hipster vibe thrown in. Due to this limited space, I can imagine wait times could be an issue at busier times, though we have not experienced that issue yet.

As neophytes, we asked quite a few questions and our server proved up to the task in explaining their menu quite well. My spouse was bound and determined regardless to sample the ramen and went straight for the pork miso ($13.) On the other hand, I was not fully into a big bowl of soup, so I ordered some of the most intriguing items to me: the steam buns (two for $9, with one each of the chicken and pork) and the chicken wings with five spice rub (five for $7.)

The steamed buns were served in novel manner, resembling a puffy street taco with slabs of chicken and pork belly underneath a big pile of microgreens. While we thought they were both excellent, the pork belly turned out to be our favorite with its lusciously fatty slabs of pork belly. The pork miso ramen also was a hit, as the same pork belly added a richness to the broth that proved satisfying despite our laughable attempts to gather the entire sensory experience via slurping.

The five-spice wings were decent fare, well-fried and juicy but probably something I'd only order in the future if I was in a wing mood.

My spouse got to return a second time (no, I'm not jealous) with a sibling in tow and gave her hearty approval for the Yakisoba (offered as a special for $10.)  The noodles were fried up well, and the mix of that with vegetables and pork made for a satisfying dinner.

With this being our first real ramen experience, we won't proclaim this the best ramen ever (though, by default, it is the best we have eaten.) What we can say with certainty is that has magnified our interest in this culinary staple, and that we personally have enjoyed our experiences here. We look forward to more visits both here and other area purveyors, perfecting our slurping techniques with every savory mouthful.

08/27/2015 - Update: Jobu Ramen was forced to close January of this year, but in its place, owner John Franke has successfully relaunched his Mashita Noodles pop-up ramen cart. For the latest updates on Mashita, please consult their Facebook page.

Jobu Ramen
1439 Grandview Avenue (Fifth by Northwest)
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 481-5480
Website

Downtown Mashup: MEATBar and Mashita Noodles

The MEATbar has hung in there at its South High Downtown Columbus
location since its soft-opening in October 2014.

Certain locations seem to evolve into erstwhile "Bermuda Triangles" in terms of restaurants. No matter what eatery goes into the building, they go missing after a few short months. On my commute to work in San Francisco, I drove by such a restaurant location that saw numerous iterations that never seemed to last more than a few months at a time, sandwiched between long periods of vacancy.

I've noticed a couple of spots in Downtown Columbus that have gained at least a hint of that notoriety. The space at 12 E. Broad Street had been home to Cafe Lola since 2008 before they branched out and later contracted to their current location (at the 1 Columbus Center building at the northwest corner of Broad & High.) Since Cafe Lola's departure, the fast casual sushi-oriented Maki Go and the very short-lived Yuan Ye Kitchen gave it a go and were unsuccessful (the property currently remains without a tenant.)

122 South High has a similar history. with Wendy's/Tim Horton's abandoning shop from that location (Tim Horton's later came back to the area at the northeast corner of Broad & High in 2011, replacing a Dunkin' Donuts.) Since then, Chez du Bon and Fin tried and failed to get a foothold there. That has not stopped others from giving it the good old college try, including the space's two current residents.

The currently longest-standing member of this twosome is MEATBar. Starting off as a test concept of Yavonne Sarber's FAB Dining Group (whose currently operating restaurants include Oliver's, Manifesto and De-Novo; they also were behind the previously mentioned Chez du Bon and Fin) with a soft opening in October 2014, MEATBar has more or less settled in as the space's main tenant.

MEATBar has an expansive space and a sleek, unifying motif

Similar to other locally-based bowl-style-meal purveyors like Bibibop and Acre Farm-to-Table, MEATBar offers the diner a variety of food items (Mac and Cheese, Spaetzle Noodle, Quinoa, etc.) and, befitting the restaurant name, gives the diner a fancier-than-normal protein add-in, including pork belly, ahi tuna, and duck) to add into their bowl.

This eatery also offers daily specials, including shrimp and grits (I am not generally a seafood person, but I found the latter to be one of the best things I've had there) as well as tacos, plus some not-so-typical embellishments such as beer, wine and what look to be better than average desserts (including a bacon cheesecake.)

I found that MEATBar's serving containers (which resemble large-diameter cake pans) really dampens the ooh-look-how-appetizing-this-food-is-in-this-photo factor, and thus no food pictures here. With that said, I will say that I've found their bowl combos to be generally tasty and a fairly interesting counter-point of sorts to nearby Market 65's fresh produce-oriented bowls.

The return of Mashita Noodles was the result of too much success

Interestingly, MEATBar's new dance partner inside the space arrived there because of TOO much success. Mashita Noodles was reawakened because, as owner John Franke explained in this interview for the WOSU All Sides radio program, his Jobu Ramen venture in Grandview Heights (my previous post on which can be found here) turned out to be more popular than he ever imagined. Franke revealed in the interview they were caught off guard by the overwhelming response on their opening day late May of 2014, ending up in what turned up to be an non-winnable game of catch up all the way until their announced closing the first week of 2015.

It hasn't taken too long for Franke to get back on his feet, however, as he has revived the concept he started in his Mashita Noodles food cart as a brick-and-mortar pop-up within MEATBar's space.

Clockwise from top left: Fried Chicken Steam Bun, Spicy Kimchi Ramen,
Karaage Venison Steam Bun, and Kimchijeon (Kimchi Pancakes)

One will find one big change in relation to the pricing: with lesser overhead costs, Mashita can now charge one or two bucks less for each item than they could at Jobu's Grandview location. Otherwise, the food quality and menu options have more or less remained the same with a couple slight tweaks. Unlike Jobu (which had four set ramen items,) Mashita offers a standard Spicy Kimchi Ramen ($9; a very nice pleasant experience, especially during these colder days) as well as a build your own bowl option ($8 or $9, depending on your add-ons.) Special spicy noodles can be also used for your ramen order for $1.

Steamed buns ($4 or two for $7) come with a rotating selection of proteins (I had an very tasty venison steam bun; a fried chicken version was just slightly salty but otherwise fine) and wings now come with three variations instead of Jobu's regular five-spice dry rub option. Kimchi Pancakes (Kimchijeon; $5) had a less fermented tang than what you might get elsewhere (perhaps a concession to the predominantly downtown worker clientele?) but were otherwise pretty flavorful.

This MEATBar mashup is apparently just the starting point for the resurrected Mashita; per this Columbus Alive article, dinner-time offerings can be found at the Brewery District's Double Happiness, and the food cart is slated to reappear during the warmer months later this year.

Mashita Noodles
122 South High St (Downtown)
(dinner service also at
Double Happiness
482 S Front St (Brewery District))
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 450-2259
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The MEATBar
122 South High St (Downtown)
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 357-7874
Facebook

08/17/2015 Update: The MEATBar has closed. However, Mashita continues its mobile operations and can be found numerous regular locations like Tri-Village's Tree Bar and 1064 North High Street in the Short North. The latest location updates for Mashita can be found on their Facebook page.