No, no, no. I made the cardinal mistake of taking a Japanese colleague to Oshima to get a taste of soul food with the warning that this restaurant was a pale comparison. He ever so politely let me know that pale was a generous compliment. Whoever did the review for this restaurant clearly has not eaten real ramen soup. For those of us who consider ourselves great slurpers of the Japanese 8th wonder of the world, this restaurant leaves an insulting reminder to why only a few are able to conquer the mysteries and complexities of excellent ramen. I am not trying to be an effete ramen noodle snob a la Tampopo, but I fear that if I do not comment on the salt water cloaked in the disguise of ramen that your fair readers' introduction will be ill advised. The litany of infractions begins with the fact that this restaurant doesn't even come close to making excellent broth, which is the heart of ALL ramen soup. Where they err even more egregiously is in their discernment of the necessary stocks for different kinds of ramen-- poorly executed! Can we say salt, more salt and super salt? And don�t get me started with the lack of fresh noodles. The gyoza, though copious and crispy, deflate one's expectations immediately upon tasting. The only thing good about Oshima is that it's relatively cheap and plentiful�but who wants that? Why not got to that horrid Tokyo Joe�s or that abominable Kokoro for that kind of delivery? If your readers want good ramen soup, they should try DOMO in Denver near Metro State College and University. Hands down, their execution is the best Denver has to offer-- in fact on the few occasions that the Emperor of Japan has visited Denver, he goes to DOMO to get his taste of home-- not Oshima.
