NAO Ramen House

Heard about a new ramen joint in the Rice Village, it's too close not to go give them a shot.

It was in the formerly known as 55 Bar, as a matter of fact, there are still some piece of the bar still in place.  Such as the patio/biergarten, the bar area itself.

Thought I would give their bao a try.  Got the Pork Loin bao which has shredded carrots, pickled onions with the pork.  Sadly, the pork was a tad dried out, and the bao you can tell was defrosted as oppose to house made and steamed, so it was stiff in some part of the bao and soft in others. 

Here's the ramen.  It looked good, and it pretty much ends there.  Actually, take that back, they did the egg well.  The soup wasn't very flavorful, the meat was chewy, and the noodle was only so-so.  It's hard after having awesome noodle AND soup at Agu and then try to have noodles that are subpar, it has a lot of room for improvement in soup, taste, and how to make it all harmonious.  Now granted, in the area, they don't have any competition.  The closest noodle place is over at Heights/Washington or Midtown area, so it will succeed despite the food wasn't that great.  

The staff were pushing the drinks a lot, so that tells me they haven't shake of their bar persona going into the ramen venture.  It's kinda disappointing, since I frequent Rice Village often, was hoping this would be a great option.  Sadly, I will come with friends if they requested, but I wouldn't do it on my own.

Nao Ramen House

5510 Morningside

Ste 120

Houston, TX 77005

713-526-1669

http://www.naoramen.com