I've skirted around Boom Noodle since it opened, getting excited about it, then having my excitement dampened by all of the fish used in the broth. Recently another vegetarian friend recommended that I give it a shot because she thought it was good, and I was really happy to go and find that she was totally right.
Boom Noodles has an airy, clean, bright, modern feel and has rows of communal tables inside. I am not necessarily a fan of communal tables in the sense that I sometimes don't even want to talk to my dining companions, much less to strangers, but the wait staff were seating people a respectful distance apart. So no problems there.
It is true that the menu has more non-vegetarian options than vegetarian ones, but they've done something AWESOME that makes up for it: They have two little symbols, a V to indicate vegetarian items, and a little fish icon to indicate items made with fish stock/bonito/whatever. I was so appreciative of the little fish icon- whether there is something fishy in Japanese food is always the trick to eating it as a vegetarian and I was so appreciative of this measure they've taken to make it easier.
We started with an appetizer that exceeded both of our expectations: The miso broiled rice cakes.
They weren't rice cakes in the crunchy styrofoamy sense, rather they were little cakes of regular rice that had been compacted and broiled to get a slight crust just on the outside, covered with carmalized miso and Asian slaw, and then placed in a pile of creamy garlicky tofu sauce. The plate had a miso sauce and a spicy sauce drizzled onto it.
For the main entree, I got a really wonderful surprise: The roasted beet ramen, which I had both admired and loathed from a distance due to its contents of fish stock, now came with the choice of being vegan. I couldn't believe my luck. Ordering was a no brainer.
The soup came and was gorgeously red in an off kilter white bowl.
The broth was fantastic. It was everything I could ever want in a broth... it was rich and complex and vegan and beautiful (and salty, perhaps a bit too salty, but not sweet). It had bits of delicious, salty, vinegary pickled umeboshi plum, and savory, herby shiso. It also had some wakame, which I let float around and flavour the broth but didn't eat.
Also in the broth was a pile of sliced roasted beets, which tasted excellent and were surprisingly not too sweet.
The soba noodles were a lovely shade of smoky pink, but were a little bit too gritty in texture for my preference. I realize this is often just the nature of soba noodles.
I could have enjoyed some tofu cubes for a little variety and added nutrition, but it was pretty darn tasty as it was. I did enhance the broth with some spices, which they had present on the table.
My little friends
One disadvantage was a friendly but pushy waiter who was hell bent on selling us drinks and desserts, two items that we didn't indulge in. I generally don't have a problem saying no to waiters trying to do this, but he was so persistent it was starting to feel like we weren't being good patrons or were too nerdy to be there just because we were in the market for just dinner (and heck, an appetizer!).
We had many interactions along these lines:
Him: Are you guys going to just drink water or get something more exciting?
Me: We're just going to to drink water
Him: (sarcastic) Uh, yeah. It is Friday night, you better take it easy.
etc.
Not a big deal in the scope of things. Just be prepared to potentially put up a guard if you don't want to end up with an "all the expensive extras" type of meal.
Thanks E for the suggestion!
(206) 701-9130
1121 E Pike St
Seattle, WA
98122 www.boomnoodle.com
Photo courtesy: http://livinginseattle.wordpress.com
It was way more interestingly flavored than the "Veggie Ramen" I ordered last time. Vegetarians and vegans take note, you have options!
The Veggie bento box came with spinach filled potstickers and veggie croquettes on a bed of mixed greens, fried tofu with pickled sprouts, salad with miso dressing, rice, and a couple slices of tough pickled vegetable. All of the main items were deep fried, which was tasty but not sustainable. I was pretty excited as I munched my way around the little compartments.
While the rest of the table ordered platter after platter of creature based sushi, I secured myself a nice little supply of vegetarian goodies: Tofu Dengaku: tofu in a (surprisingly sweet) red miso sauce, a $1.50 Kobachi salad with a scoop of mashed potatoes, and a beautiful Devil's vegetarian role that had an outer skin of marinated, fried eggplant.
It can be tricky with Japanese food to get seemingly meat free options truly free of fish products, but these all seemed to be genuinely vegan (with the exception of the mashed potatoes, which might have had some mayonnaise in them). It was nice to have some unusual options!
I also ordered my Japanese restaurant standby: Agedashi tofu. If you are a regular reader, you may have noticed that I tend to special order my tofu non-fried. This is because I generally find fried tofu to be a less delicious, unpleasing textured, excessively greasy version of what it could be fresh or steamed, not because I have an aversion to eating fried things. Agedashi tofu is an exception to my general tofu rule in that good agedashi tofu (and I've never had it bad) involves all the best of both worlds: fresh, custardy, smooth tofu on the inside with a delicate but crispy, salty, crunchy crust on the outside. It is an example of deep frying done with a a concerted culinary aesthetic rather than as a default, and it is exquisite.
I also ordered a plate of Yakiudon with tofu. The price for this plate was $6.50, and at that price I wasn't sure if it was going to be a tiny sampling, consistant with what $6.50 tends to get you at expensive sushi restaurants, or a full meal. I was extremely pleased to receive a huge plate of steaming noodles. It is unusual to feel that a sushi restaurant delivers good quantity value for the price (no doubt because all of the non-vegetarian items are so precious), but Aoki absolutely did. Nice.
It was a lovely evening out, just what I needed. Thanks P & B!
Next, I ate Agedashi Tofu, special ordered vegetarian (menu indicates that it can be made veggie upon request). The order included a hefty quantity of fresh tofu in a surprisingly thick, deep-fried crust bathed in some delicious savory broth.
As the meal continued and more details emerged, the restaurant revealed itself to be even more awesome. I found our waitress to be especially wonderful. For starters, she acted neither bitchy nor judgemental about having a vegetarian to wait on (not always the case at sushi restaurants). Second, she seemed to really know her sushi and used an impressive array of descriptors (including swimming speed) when describing what a certain fish might be like.
Sam's didn't seem to have a tofu roll, so I ordered agedashi tofu for a little protein. I specified that I wanted it without bonito, and they were happily able to prepare the meal vegan. Woohoo!
The gently fried tofu with the smoky delicious dipping sauce came with a couple of exciting bonuses: a little pile of finely shredded radish, and a large piece of fully battered and fried broccoli. Yum.
Overall, I could have used a little more excitement in the bowl... some ginger or garlic, or spice, and the tofu had the rough texture of raw extra firm tofu, instead of the lovely slippery texture of poached tofu that I prefer.
I love a good bowl of tofu noodle soup, and this was not disappointing. The tofu was in a glossy, spicy tasty sauce and the noodles were hearty and perfectly cooked. I added some spiced oil, some nanami togarashi (mixed ground chili peppers), and some white pepper from the condiment tray and I was in heaven. The bowl cost a little under $9 without tip or tax.
My friends and saviors
The veggie roll was nice enough. It was a large roll (a challenge for the one bite per slice routine) full of green beans, steamed carrot, sprouts and miso. No complaints.
As a vegetarian eating sushi, it is hard to get into the "OMG, this is AMAZING" mindset that fish eaters can get into when eating a piece of really exquisite sushi. I think this is because the qualify and freshness of vegetables and tofu isn't quite so varied as the quality and freshness of fish. Sometimes veggie rolls are better or worse in one place over another, but it is hard for me to declare that one place has AMAZING sushi the way that fish eaters can when they come upon something really spectacular.
Sanraku
While it is nice to know that this place has a tofu option, I wouldn't choose to eat it again unless circumstances were really dire.
They weren't rice cakes in the crunchy styrofoamy sense, rather they were little cakes of regular rice that had been compacted and broiled to get a slight crust just on the outside, covered with carmalized miso and Asian slaw, and then placed in a pile of creamy garlicky tofu sauce. The plate had a miso sauce and a spicy sauce drizzled onto it.
For the main entree, I got a really wonderful surprise: The roasted beet ramen, which I had both admired and loathed from a distance due to its contents of fish stock, now came with the choice of being vegan. I couldn't believe my luck. Ordering was a no brainer.
The broth was fantastic. It was everything I could ever want in a broth... it was rich and complex and vegan and beautiful (and salty, perhaps a bit too salty, but not sweet). It had bits of delicious, salty, vinegary pickled umeboshi plum, and savory, herby shiso. It also had some wakame, which I let float around and flavour the broth but didn't eat.
The soba noodles were a lovely shade of smoky pink, but were a little bit too gritty in texture for my preference. I realize this is often just the nature of soba noodles.
My little friends
I appreciated the un-dyed ginger
Mmm... Dry Soda. So much tastier than regular soda, and with such classy marketing.
We really put the camera phone to the test. 
Next we ate bean curd paste soup, which was essentially a spicy, hearty miso broth with hot cubes of soft tofu, potato chunks, cabbage, and other vegetables. It also tasted vegetarian.
I didn't have the chance to talk to our waiter about what was truly vegetarian, as he was entirely unfamiliar with the menu and disinterested in checking with anybody who knew. For example:
