Open Only at Night Limited Edition – Taichung’s Popular Ramen Shop with Long Queues & Affordable Oden

Text & Photos byOrange Dog Loves Candy

Over the past year or two, the trend of Japanese ramen has reignited in Taiwan in new forms – shifting from major Japanese ramen chains expanding to Taiwan to the rise of local street-style ramen stalls popping up all over the country. This Japanese ramen craze seems to ignite anew every few years in different styles, and Taiwanese people really do love ‘Japanese ramen’ a lot. With extended hours until late at night and the unique ambience of street stalls, even a basic bowl of ramen feels different. This article will introduce 【Dong Ramen】, which I found out about through the crowds – it's nearly full and queuing every day. I heard it was like this even before any bloggers wrote about it, making me even more curious about what makes this ramen so special.

【Dong Ramen】is also a ramen shop run by Taiwanese, located near the Peitun Daking area, with its storefront on Jingxian Road. There aren’t many restaurants around here – mostly detached residential buildings. Nearby there seems to be a convenience store and another Japanese restaurant. Dong Ramen opens in the evening, and in front of the shop they’ve placed several plastic chairs for customers waiting in line.

But since it’s still bright and hot around five in the evening during summer, not many people choose to sit and wait here. In fact, they start operating at 5:30 PM. If you arrive early, you can get a number first, and they’ll start calling numbers at 5:15 PM. I arrived at 5:10 PM and already got number 18. I think on weekends you might need to come even earlier.

But don’t worry if your number gets called too late – just go talk to the cute shop assistant girls on-site, and you’ll only have to wait for two more groups before being seated. No matter when you come, remember to go to the counter first to get a number, then wait to be called and guided to your seat.

Basically, after 5:30 PM, the shop remains around 70–80% full, but you won’t have to wait too long. Actually, my first impression here was quite good because the main staff serving the dining area are all female, super friendly, and mostly pretty girls. Whether it’s seating, calling numbers, or handling customer requests, everything feels very attentive and considerate.

The front of the shop has an open kitchen for cooking noodles and counter seating. You can see the chefs preparing ingredients early on, and the environment is set up quite nicely, though it’s a bit more modern. Overall, it’s clean. Aside from the front counter seating, there’s also an indoor space that’s more spacious, with air conditioning making it more comfortable.

But because it’s always crowded, if you’re a party of just one or two, you’ll usually have to share a table with others. One unique thing is that besides cooking and serving the noodles, the chefs in the kitchen also grill slices of char siu pork on the hot stone plate – dozens of slices at once, as each bowl needs two pieces. With such a busy queue, their hands barely stop. In addition to ramen, there’s also an oden counter here, with a surprisingly wide variety of ingredients. Seeing all those oden options made me want to try a few, and even though there were only two of us, we ended up ordering almost enough for three people XD

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Their ramen prices are not expensive (though not exactly cheap either), with three types priced at NT$150, and the signature Dong Ramen at NT$200. For the main meals, besides these five ramen options, there are no other flavors. Selling at these prices and still having queues – imagine how it’d be if they sold more XD. But when you order ramen, you first choose between pork belly or pork shoulder char siu, and also pick between red jade or yellow jade marinated eggs. As for the oden, I think it’s also reasonably priced, with decent ingredients all at a flat rate of NT$20. Just pick a few items and you’ve got a big bowl for under a hundred. You mark down what you want on the menu (you can check at the counter but don’t pick the items yourself), then pay at the counter first.

(They also have their own drink vending machine with lightbulb milk tea and fresh meat milk tea, which are very popular among customers)

【Signature Dong Ramen │ NT$200 │ Extra Rich Pork Bone Broth, Yellow Jade Salted Egg Marinated Egg】

Generally, ramen shops run by Taiwanese within this price range have flavors that are quite similar, and somewhat distant from authentic Japanese style – after all, Taiwanese people generally find it harder to accept the intense flavors of authentic Japanese ramen, so the taste often involves some trade-offs. Although I personally prefer Japanese-style ramen, I came here because I heard this one is ‘close’ to that style. Seeing that it’s the ‘extra rich version,’ how could I not order it? When it arrived, the portion was actually quite generous.

The light yellow broth had a large piece of nori around the edge of the bowl, with four slices of char siu, and bamboo shoots and tamagoyaki placed on the side in small dishes. It goes for a refined presentation, but the table is actually quite small, so with the tray and oden added, it feels pretty cramped. First, I tried the most important part – the pork bone broth. The feeling upon tasting it was... well... there’s quite a gap compared to the richness of Japanese-style.

It’s not greasy, but the flavor is just a tiny, tiny bit richer than regular affordable ramen – still very much in the light Taiwanese style. Similar to Xirui Ramen in the West District, which also emphasizes pork bone broth, Xirui doesn’t have that strong richness either, but Dong Ramen is slightly better than Xirui. But as for the ‘extra rich’ flavor stated on the menu? I really didn’t feel any ‘doubled’ richness at all.

The char siu has been grilled first, so you can smell a nice fatty aroma. What’s special about this bowl of Dong Ramen is that the four slices of char siu consist of two pork belly and two pork shoulder slices, so you get to taste both textures, which increases satisfaction. The pork belly char siu is fatty and requires little chewing – the tender, oily texture is pretty okay. The pork shoulder has a much higher lean meat ratio, giving it a firmer chew, but it’s grilled to the point where it’s a bit dry, not outstanding.

The one thing I truly loved in the whole bowl was probably the noodles – even after soaking in the broth for a while, they still had a pretty firm texture, and the chewiness was almost similar to Japanese (thin) ramen noodles. That’s pretty impressive; the noodles are likable.

As for the marinated egg, I chose the ‘yellow jade’ type, and it was just an average performance – nothing particularly amazing.

【Spicy Miso Ramen │ NT$150 │ Mildly Spicy, Yellow Jade Salted Egg Marinated Egg】

I originally wanted to order three bowls of ramen, but the table is too small to fit them all, so I got another bowl that’s slightly spicier to see if the flavor would be stronger. The broth color is similar to the Dong Ramen, which made me wonder a bit. And the 150 NT ramen still comes with two slices of char siu. I won’t go into detail about the char siu, as my impressions are similar to above – the quality from the batch grilling isn’t much different.

The main difference is in the broth. Upon the first sip, it’s still that pork bone broth flavor – I didn’t detect any miso aroma, but the spiciness does come through. With every bite, you can feel a light kick of spice, but the pork bone broth still doesn’t reach the level of richness I hoped for, exceeding that of regular Taiwanese-style ramen. Since it’s a popular queue-worthy shop, expectations are high. The noodles are equally delicious, and the portion is quite sufficient.

【Assorted Oden │ Around NT$100 │ NT$20 per item, self-select】

I won’t take separate close-up photos or introduce each one. The oden broth is light and clear for me, with a slight sweet taste. You can ask for more broth if you finish it. The big shiitake mushrooms are very sincere – served whole without slicing, they’re hearty and delicious. I also really like the fish balls, and the corn is super sweet. Especially that big piece that looks like tofu – it’s called ‘tamagodofu’ (egg tofu), and I think it’s the best part of the bowl, with the egg aroma of tamagoyaki and the tenderness of tofu. In the end, I liked the oden even more than the ramen. But it depends on personal taste preferences – not everyone will feel the same.

Writing about ramen is often tricky when it comes to texture descriptions, because the level of ‘richness’ I like is something many Taiwanese wouldn’t enjoy (so far I haven’t tried Nitobaruto, but aside from that, none of the Japanese ramen I’ve eaten felt like I couldn’t finish the broth). So when trying ramen that suits Taiwanese tastes, I tend to lower my expectations for richness quite a bit. Dong Ramen’s broth is clean and mildly mellow, but it really doesn’t reach the level of richness (even with the ‘double’ claim). The flavor is also on the lighter side. It’s still ramen made by Taiwanese, and nearby in Peitun, near the city center, Chuanze Ramen has a richness that’s closer to Japanese style.

But the service at Dong Ramen is really good – that ‘good feeling’ comes from a sense of genuine friendliness, and the staff are pretty (no comment). As for whether I recommend it? I think ramen flavor preferences really vary from person to person. A shop that has queues and is popular must have something likable about it, so maybe you should go try it for yourself.

Dong Ramen
Address: No. 240, Jingxian Road, Beitun District, Taichung City
Business hours: 5:30 PM – 12:30 AM. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Additional operating hours from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.

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