“The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.”
You know that saying, “You only get one chance to make a first impression”? That holds true for almost every restaurant experience. And I’m calling it an experience because that’s what it is—it’s not merely the meal itself or the particular day you went to eat there or how the service was or how hungover you were feeling that day—it’s all of those things.
Back in the summer of 2017 when my good friend Emily and I were scoping out all of the sushi restaurants in Berks County, we (well I) left one restaurant with a particularly bad taste in my mouth. It wasn’t just that the sushi was lackluster. Let’s face it: I’ve had that pre-packaged, grey, overwhelmingly sad crap that my college used to sell to unassuming freshmen. So I can handle a bad roll of sushi. But that time with Emily, everything else kind of fell apart. I’ll spare you the details, because friends, this is a story of redemption.
The place? Terakawa Ramen. Chinatown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North America, Planet Earth.
I had gone here with Becca just over a year ago. It’s one of her favorite restaurants in Philly. I have come to respect and appreciate her taste—it’s very similar to mine.
Taste Buds. 👭
That experience—much like Emily and my sushi snafu—left an unpleasant taste in my mouth and in my mind. I remember us splitting the crispy Pork Buns, which, to quote my Yelp review were “just kind of boring.” I subsequently went for their signature bowl of ramen and accidentally dumped way too many toasted garlic flakes in. My palate was not pleased.
So while it wasn’t necessarily the food that went wrong during that first visit, it was a combination of everything. The hype just didn’t match up to the ensuing experience.
Fast-forward 1 year later and Becca and I found ourselves back here again, with Becca’s boyfriend Bryan along for the ride.
It was a cold and dreary night in the city. We’ve been having a lot of those lately.
The perfect weather for a big, cozy bowl of noodles.
We started off with some appetizers, deftly avoiding the aforementioned Pork Buns. We instead opted for the Takoyaki and steamed Gyoza.
Gyoza are one of my favorite foods, especially when they’re steamed. They’re like little clouds of meat and vegetables that just kinda melt in your mouth. David Chang, this chef that I love, made a Netflix show that has an entire episode dedicated to the majesty of stuffed foods—pastas and dumplings in particular. Check it out if you have some time.
The Takoyaki weren’t anything to write home about. When I hear that something is filled with octopus, (a food that I have come to very much love) I expect a little more than just a morsel.
After a little research, I decided to go for a different bowl of ramen the second time around. The Mayu Ramen was the best choice of the night. Natural Heritage Pork bone soup with mayu oil (dark roasted leek with crushed garlic oil) topped with bamboo shoots, roast pork (charshu), chopped scallions, red ginger, kikurage mushroom and a seasoned boiled egg. It was so flavorful and aromatic I didn’t dare look at the garlic shaker.
The pork was juicy and fall apart tender. The corn was like a pop in your mouth and the pickled ginger was the acidic note that tied it all together. It was an experience for the books my friends. Fast and curt service. Flavorful food. Good conversation. You can’t ask for more.
I know that you can never redo a first impression. But you can give a place a second chance, and who knows, it may just redeem itself in the end.
The Shawshank Risotto 
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