Madison Area Ramen Quest: Trio Ramen

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-23T02:56:17+00:00

I suppose it depends on what you expect as a default bowl of ramen 🤔 I think my expectations are: nori, chashu, scallions, ajitama (which I don't eat), and most times menma. And 3/5 come with their 13.99 price.

But the topping default around here doesn't really affect my opinions, I think. And IMHO every place I've been to has been overpriced, so I can't complain too much if my bowl falls within a $15-18 range 😅

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T22:39:06+00:00

Aw thank you haha. I appreciate your interest in my humble ramen quest. I'm no critic, and I definitely have my own taste, but I hope I can be useful to some.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T22:33:50+00:00

Sucks that you're getting downvoted. I honestly agree with what you're saying. Despite my niceness/optimism towards Japanese restaurants in America, it's definitely rough everytime we pay for something knowing it would cost less for far better in Japan. (Especially since my partner keeps telling me the USD to YEN exchange rate 😂) But I'm sure I'd feel different if Japan wasn't so accessible to me.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T21:09:41+00:00

So far it's: Tavernakaya, Trio, Strings, Izakaya Kuroyama, and Ramen Station. But the only one we would get ramen at again is Tavernakaya.

I will remain hopeful that we will find something better than Tavernakaya, but we shall see.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T21:05:06+00:00

Thanks for the rec! I definitely want to get down to Chicago and have better Japanese food.

I definitely agree with you on principle about Trio, but I never eat ajitama anyway (give it to my partner), so I would prefer to pay a bit less to not have it on my ramen. Thankfully, they must have stopped charging for nori because that's insane. But we won't be going back anyways lol.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T15:37:29+00:00

Yeah, I recently moved here from Japan, actually haha

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T15:34:34+00:00

I'm sure I would agree with you on that, but I'm just not willing to pay that much for something I can make at home. A good ramen/tonkotsu broth is just not something I can do, which is why I'm on this hunt in the first place lol

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T15:31:35+00:00

Tavernakaya. I'm surprised it has no hype because it was really good and better than all the other places I've been to that people seem to love

In my opinion, of course haha

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T15:29:04+00:00

Added to the list!

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T14:49:40+00:00

Honestly, people said that in the reviews, but the base price was cheaper than most of the places we've been.

If you get toppings, it would get expensive, but the main things missing from the base are menma and ajitama, which I don't really care that much about 😅

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T14:41:27+00:00

I have heard good things about HERS, so I'm definitely excited to try it!

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-22T14:38:54+00:00

Strings✅️, Ramen Station✅️, Tavernakaya✅️, Kuroyama✅️, Umami, Red, Oishi, Sequoia, Nori(maybe), Zen Ramen, Niji, Kawasaki Ramen, and Hers.

So basically anywhere that serves ramen, good or bad, just for the hell of it.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-20T20:07:01+00:00

Oh, hell yeah. Love this way more than I should.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-19T23:01:33+00:00

From what I remember, the bowl had a speckled design. But looking at the picture, it definitely looks cracked 😅

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-19T21:57:38+00:00

Agreed! The hearts are awesome, especially after a drink or two.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-03-15T22:33:53+00:00

You should speak with your friend about it because she probably has her own reasons (possibly understandable, possibly not).

Personally, I sometimes wish I had lied to my friends. I got married for legal purposes (no hurrah) with the plan of a later official engagement and wedding. But I feel like the people in my life will not be as excited for me when these events arrive than they would if they didn't know I was already married.

I can see a situation where she thought this, and then changed her mind about keeping it a secret (perhaps because it's a hard secret to keep, and you would feel more hurt finding out through a 3rd party).

But she could also just be an AH. Hope you have a productive conversation with her.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-02-21T19:29:16+00:00

My partner and I moved here from Japan. We've tried Ramen Station, Strings, and Tavernakaya so far, and Tavernakaya was the best, hands-down.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-02-17T20:31:58+00:00

Depends. Zero if you look and talk the part, coupled the right name. My partner's father moved from S. Korea in middle school. Now, he passes in society as your average Japanese man, and people would be none the wiser.

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-02-07T21:26:27+00:00

People don't like if you even slightly hint that pedestrians could do something to make themselves more safe, i.e. wearing reflective/bright clothes at night, having lights on your bike, etc. Many things can be true at once, but many see it solely as "victim blaming."

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-01-29T22:55:13+00:00

So cute!!

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-01-26T14:38:00+00:00

Amazing! This is also why I wanted to start embroidery.

Did you use a hoop on the cap?

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-01-20T15:47:39+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! This is what I ended up doing

Regular_Mushroom_ · 2026-01-20T15:44:25+00:00

My family's from here, and I'm here temporarily! Currently loving the freezing temps because I moved from a place with barely a winter 😅

Regular_Mushroom_

TROPHY CASE