Mike M.
Yelp
We wanted to grab some early ramen dinner before a Bulls game but, not shocking, almost no ramen place takes reservations except for Ramen-San (which I'm not a huge fan of). While it was hard to justify not going to Wasabi since it was only a few blocks away, we ultimately settled on Furious Spoon because Wasabi is closed 3:30-5 in between meals and Furious conveniently took reservations on Tock.
Inside: I'm not even sure why they even bother listing reservations on Tock. When we got there it was pretty much open seating, so there was basically no difference between a walk-in and someone with a reservation. Even when I said I had a reservation, they never even asked for my name so I'm not sure if they even checked anything. The majority of the seats were either along the wall or the bar. Since we were a bigger group, we were lucky enough to snag one of the only two normal tables near the kitchen so we didn't have to all sit in a huge single-file line. I loved the laid back vibe of the place with all the street art on the wall and the hip-hop music blasting. I know a lot of the negative reviews mentioned the music being too loud, but it didn't bother us too much. In fact we were really diggin the playlist. If you're familiar a bar environment you wouldn't find the volume too out of the ordinary.
Drinks: We don't go out too much in this area, so I found the pricing very reasonable. Japanese beers on tap for $4.50. Definitely better than the West Loop / River North drink prices. They also had a nice set of craft cocktails as well.
Food: The menu obviously focused on ramen, but they also had a decent selection of appetizers and other entrees.
Chicken and Pork Fried Dumplings: Usually the generic gyoza appetizer is pretty underwhelming at Japanese restaurants, but these fried dumplings were great. Really crispy wrapper that's still slightly thick enough to have a nice chew to it. The meat inside was overflowing with juices and had a great flavor. Orders come in sets of 3 or 6.
Karaage: Super juicy and well breaded. There were about 8 pieces in an order. Very solid appetizer.
Furious Ramen: First of all, take all the negative reviews that involved takeout or food delivery with a grain of salt because ramen isn't one of those foods that travels well. There's a night and day difference between a fresh bowl of ramen and assembling it at home after it's been sitting in plastic containers for 30 minutes.
I like to judge my ramen based on noodles, broth and toppings.
Noodles - The noodles were thin, but not really firm and al-dente. I personally prefer the noodles a bit firmer, but I still thought they were pretty good. Furious Spoon served up probably the most noodles I've ever seen in a bowl of ramen. It was a struggle to finish this bowl, and it was sitting pretty heavy in my stomach afterward haha. Definitely no need for kaedama here.
Broth - I'm definitely a broth guy and judge most of the ramen I eat solely on how I like the broth. I thought Furious had a solid tasting pork broth. It was salty, garlicky, rich, and meaty. Every sip was just so flavorful and the spicy paste in there gave it more than just a little kick. The spicy from the fury sauce could creep on you though if you're not tolerant to spicy. It was good flavored spice though, and not just pure heat.
Toppings - The Furious ramen had a lot going on in terms of toppings. The chashu pork was pretty standard. It was tender but a little light on the seasoning and texture, just tasting like plain pork with a hint of sweetness. However, I think the pork from High Five and the aburi kakuni from Wasabi are more of the exceptions to the rule when it comes to super flavorful pork in ramen, so Furious was pretty much on par with everyone else. They also threw in some steamed pork dumplings in there too for good measure haha. I added crispy shallots and roasted garlic to mine, and it was definitely worth it. The egg was a little different than most places. It was a poached egg rather than soft boiled. While I do like runny yolk, I kinda like a solid egg white to hold it so I can take bites of the egg. Usually it also comes with sliced wood ear mushrooms, but I opted out this time.
Overall, Furious Spoon is a great casual ramen spot for eating and hanging out. Solid food, great drinks, super chill vibe.