The 32 Essential St. Louis Restaurants

"At Mai Lee, the beloved Vietnamese institution, Qui Tran makes pho so stunning it landed on the cover of Food and Wine. So what happens when a master of pho wants to open a ramen restaurant to rival the best in the world? He gets help. Tran and executive chef/partner Marie-Anne Velasco hired Shigetoshi Nakamura, one of the world’s four “ramen gods,” as a consultant and worked with the legendary Sun Noodle to develop their noodle recipe. After years of R&D and planning, Nudo opened its doors in Creve Coeur in 2017 with a menu of seven different ramen styles, along with a small sampling of pho. Start with the Classic Nudo, a traditional tonkotsu ramen. The broth is clabbered and rich, the color of the inside of a cloud, while the noodles are cooked to retain their firm center, a key to traditional tonkotsu. Beyond ramen, the diverse menu includes a selection of cold Asian salads, including a lotus root and shrimp salad, and a Vietnamese shredded chicken number. Fresh spring rolls and the city’s most delicious crab rangoon are made daily, and there are four different banh mis that are great for dunking into Nudo’s broths — as long as you don’t mind stinkeye from fussbudget foodies. Like elements coming together in a good bowl of soup, the immense work, collaboration, and study that went into opening Nudo make it all that more delicious." - Holly Fann