Food trends seem to be about three (or 10, sometimes) years late in making their way to Dallas from the East and West coasts. Even as the scene here has accelerated in recent years, we've lagged behind other cities in terms of offering a wide range of cuisines and flavors. Now, though, it seems as if things are changing, and that can only mean one delicious thing: ramen.
Ramen has been one of the country's hottest foods for several years now, inspired by the pork-heaven bowls created by David Chang at Momofuku, among other chefs. Now, we're all happy to plunk down $13 for a bowl of slippery noodles, char siu, and tonkatsu broth. There are a few great places to find ramen in Dallas, including Hakata Ramen and Monkey King, and now a new Lower Greenville eatery will cater to the city's most discerning noodle-slurpers.
Wabi House, an izakaya-style ramen house, will open in one of the city's trendiest food neighborhoods later this spring. The idea was borne from chef Dien Nguyen, of Texas-based Pirhana Killer Sushi. Pirhana Killer Sushi has locations in Flower Mound, Arlington, and Fort Worth, but Wabi House will be the chef's first Dallas-based restaurant.
CultureMap reports that Nguyen traveled to some of North America's hottest ramen cities, including Toronto and San Francisco, to perfect his recipes for noodles and broth. Wabi House will take over the space occupied by former tenant World Piece Cafe, an exceedingly weird eatery that closed its doors a few years ago.
The addition of Wabi House is yet another encouraging sign of Lower Greenville's culinary growth. The old Lower Greenville was sort of bland and boring -- anchored by Terilli's, Dodie's, and Greenville Bar and Grill. All were solid restaurants for the most part, but didn't offer much in terms of innovative cuisine. Now, though, there are tons of global flavors, like Shiva's Indian Cuisine and C'Viche, making Wabi House a comfortable fit.
No word yet on when exactly this new ramen hotspot will open, but you have to wonder if it will be before or after Chef Teiichi Sakurai's highly-anticipated Ten opens at Sylvan Thirty. People are already pining for Teach's tiny noodle bar, but that shouldn't hurt a more accessible restaurant with plenty of seating.
If we could make one plea to the owners of the forthcoming Wabi House, it would be to stay open late. Like, really late. Maybe until 3 a.m.. Dallas needs more diverse options for drunk food, and ramen might be one of the best.
