Finding My Religion

God has smiled on Oshima Ramen.

Comments (0) By Jason Sheehan Thursday, Nov 25 2004

...continued from page 2

James Glader

Wok steady: Noburu Mura mans the pan at Oshima Ramen.

Location Info

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Oshima Ramen Of America

7800 E. Hampden Ave.
Denver, CO 80231

Category: Restaurant > Japanese

Region: Southeast Denver

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Details

7800 East Hampden Avenue, 720-482- 0264. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday- Sunday. Closed Monday

Original Oshima Ramen: $7.98
With Gyoza: $9.98
Super Original Oshima Ramen: $10.98
Chashiu Ramen: $8.98
Pork fried rice: $6.98
Green tea: $1.25
Tasty chicken bits: $2

More About

From the inside, from the outside, from any angle at all, Oshima Ramen isn't much to look at. It's cramped when things get busy, creepy-quiet between hits. There's a cartoon moose trying to get you to eat more ginger-and-red-bean ice cream, the drinks all come in Styrofoam, and the plates and bowls are plastic. If you can't handle chopsticks, the forks are the sort you pick up for a buck apiece at Wal-Mart. But who cares about that when the waitress is this friendly? When there are Japanese beers in the cooler and the fried rice is so good? When the ramen comes straight from God to the wok to you? For food like this, I would sit on a bucket and eat off my knees if I had to. For this, I would eat standing on my head.

That would no doubt please Keiji Oshima. With me, he's one mouth closer to his great dream of world ramen domination, and even if his campaign is currently stalled in a Denver strip mall, he's given us lucky few the most authentic, odd and plainly Japanese ramen house in the USA, where all that stands between me and another bowl of miso ramen is one man trying to please the Ramen God.