Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Belgium
        • Brussels
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

Guchi’s Midnight Ramen Pop Up

January 17, 2012 by Jennifer Che 23 Comments


Last night was a crazy night.

Precisely at 12:20 AM on Sunday “evening” (technically Monday morning!), Bryan and I stepped out into the frigid night (it was ten degrees Fahrenheit – brrrrrr!) and headed out for ramen.

Ramen at midnight???

In the wee hours of Monday morning on January 16th, Guchi Midnight Ramen, a pop up restaurant started by a few O Ya chefs, opened its doors for the first time. Rumors had been circulating for months about this mysterious venture. The word was that several O Ya chefs had decided to create a ramen pop up restaurant where everything was to be made from scratch, from the broth down to the handmade noodles.

Handmade noodles??!!  I didn’t need to hear more. I couldn’t wait for this to open.

Imagine the thrill I felt this past weekend when I received an invitation to attend the first ever opening of this much-anticipated pop up.

Even though both Bryan and I had to work the next day, nothing would stop us from heading out to Bondir at midnight to slurp up that inaugural batch of noodles!

Mark O’Leary and Yukihiro Kawaguchi (aka “Guchi”)

First of all, let’s meet the founders behind this crazy venture.

The whole idea was hatched one night at the bar at Drink. O Ya chefs Yukihiro Kawaguchi (Mr. “Guchi” himself) and Mark O’Leary were chatting with the bartender when the idea of a ramen pop-up came up.

Mark O’Leary, who loves making noodles, was thrilled that Guchi, who loves experimenting with making broths, wanted to partner and bring this idea to fruition.

“I’m lucky to work with Guchi. He’s taught me a lot. I’m lucky he lets me make his noodles. I hope to make a lot more noodles for Guchi.”

Guchi at O Ya

Guchi comes from a family of noodle makers. His family owns a ramen shop in Japan, and he grew up living directly upstairs from the shop.  When Guchi moved to America, he spent some time at Ginza in Boston before becoming a chef at O Ya, where he still currently works.

Vilas Dhar and Tracy Chang

Vilas Dhar is an attorney and food entrepreneur. The mastermind behind the pop-up Dore Creperie in Downtown Crossing, Vilas brings to the team his experience, drive, and enthusiasm. Tracy Chang also worked at O Ya back in 2010, but left last year to spend a year in Spain to train at three-star Michelin restaurant Martin Berasategui. She came back to Boston not too long ago, and since then has been very involved in many of the details behind this pop-up!


Checking Out the Kitchen
Soon after I arrived, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the kitchen. How in the world were they going to execute this pop up?

Guchi told me that the broth, which is a pork and seafood based broth, had been cooking for about 10 hours. He has actually experimented with making many different kinds of broths, many of which he plans on using at future pop ups.

Mark and Tracy got up at 6AM (!) to start making the sweet buns for the pork belly buns. The two of them then began the laborious process of hand-cranking out 50 portions of handmade noodles. Talk about dedication!

They spent all day prepping every single component of the evening’s dinner from scratch, from the delicious “XO-like sauce” (which they call “Umami oil”), down to the broth, the buns, and the noodles. I can’t believe they still had energy at midnight after getting up at 6AM!

As soon as the last guest arrived, Tracy popped into the kitchen and told Mark and Guchi, “I think we’re ready to go!”

Soon afterwards, these delicious homemade pork belly buns began to appear.

The bun itself was moist, just a tad sweet, and gorgeously fluffy. The pork belly was divine, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture that worked perfectly with the crunchy cucumbers, peanuts, and fresh cilantro. It was fantastic.

The much anticipated ramen was also really, really good. We loved the handmade noodles, and the broth was really flavorful. It’s a bit lighter than a traditional pork bone broth, which is usually very creamy and quite heavy. This broth still had the creaminess from the pork bones, but had other complex elements that came from the variety of seafood used in the broth.

Bryan, who usually doesn’t like ramen that much, absolutely loved his bowl of noodles and even finished mine!

I loved the “umami oil” that they put on the tables. I liberally added it to my noodle soup, which infused a lovely kick as well as a huge umami boost to the dish. Bryan tried it with the pork buns as well, which he said was quite good. If only they would bottle it and sell it, I would totally buy one!

Yes, I looked tired, but what do you expect? It’s 2AM!

We ended with a delicious matcha chocolate chip cookie. It was a great way to finish off the meal.

The atmosphere was lively and celebratory. The Guchi Midnight Ramen crew had invited many of their close friends to come and enjoy this special inaugural feast with them, including a bunch of people from Barbara Lynch’s group (pictured above, Colin Lynch, executive chef of Menton), James Bissonnette from Coppa, and John Gertsen from the famed Drink where it all started. 

Tracy talking to members of Barbara Lynch’s team
After everything had been served, the team popped the champagne and celebrated this exciting occasion.

Jason Bond, chef owner of Bondir (the host restaurant!), and Monica Higgins also hung around next to the lovely fireplace at the entrance of the restaurant. They were able to enjoy all of this delicious food too, not too long after working so hard earlier in the day running Bondir!

Although I was exhausted afterwards, I don’t regret going one bit. I had tons of fun not only enjoying the delicious food, but also getting to know this crew of incredibly dedicated, hardworking, and talented people.

I personally can’t wait to find out when the next Guchi’s Midnight Ramen pop up will be. It’s so hard to find handmade noodles here in Boston (trust me, I’ve tried). Here, not only do you get to enjoy the delicious chewiness of handmade noodles, you get to slurp them up with Guchi’s unparalleled broth. The Guchi Midnight Ramen team has promised that their pop ups will be priced much lower than other ones we’ve seen around town, which is awesome.

Seriously, it’s a win-win combination.

Guchi Midnight Ramen team, thanks so much for the rare opportunity to share this exciting first meal with you all. It was definitely a tremendous honor. Can’t wait to see what you have in store next!

Disclaimer
I did not pay for this meal.

©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Boston, Cambridge, Central Square, Restaurant Tagged With: Asian, Japanese, Pop-up, ramen

« Menton – White Alba Truffle Tasting Menu
Homemade Chinese Dumplings (jiao zi) »

Recent Posts

  • L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong January 18, 2021
  • Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong January 6, 2021
  • Elementary Hong Kong January 5, 2021
  • Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020 January 1, 2021
  • Restaurant Le George Paris December 29, 2020
  • Nice Yakiniku and Fine Wine Hong Kong December 28, 2020
  • Merry Christmas 2020 December 25, 2020
  • Sushi Shikon Autumn 2020 December 24, 2020

Latest Chinese recipes!

Comments

  1. Rawfoodhaven says

    January 17, 2012 at 4:54 am

    Congratulation to the new shop!

    I would love to taste this ramen as well.

    Reply
  2. Bianca Garcia says

    January 17, 2012 at 11:19 am

    What a fun night! I would totally go out at midnight too for some ramen 🙂 Great recap, wish I were there. Just looking at that ramen with the egg and its golden yellow yolk… yum. And that umami sauce does sound awesome!

    Reply
  3. jasper says

    January 17, 2012 at 12:59 pm

    you are too cute Jen! Thank you for your hard work and this all looks amazing! PS. I SO FORGOT to donate to BRM but I did today! yippee! – jasper

    Reply
  4. Shanying says

    January 17, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    This looks amazing! I’ve been so excited for the idea of O Ya affiliates opening up a Ramen shop…do you know when and where us mere mortals can get a taste? 

    Reply
  5. estherpalermo says

    January 17, 2012 at 5:05 pm

    Oh my! this is a fantastic post, thanks for sharing. I hope they open one here in the SF Bay Area.

    Reply
  6. CKT says

    January 17, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    that was exciting to read about. thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Amy says

    January 17, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    Mark!!! I am so proud of you! This is so cool! I have to come one night! Keep up the good work!!

    Reply
  8. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 17, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    Thanks so much for your generosity!

    Reply
  9. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 17, 2012 at 11:54 pm

    I think soon! This weekend was a test run, but I believe they will be selling tickets to the public very soon!

    Reply
  10. Anilou says

    January 21, 2012 at 9:07 am

    I would not feel like going at midnight on a work day but it looks absolututely worth the effort. I really enjoyed reading about it. I would also buy that umami oil if I could!

    Reply
  11. Tasha says

    January 22, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    Great post! I have heard so much about pop up restaurants in magazines and on NPR, but I have never actually tried one.  After reading your post, I’m going to do a google search and try to find one in Portland, Oregon.

    Reply
  12. Brian @ A Thought For Food says

    January 23, 2012 at 8:11 pm

    Just met these guys yesterday and they rocked.  Food looked amazing! Loved this feature, Jen, and loved the shots of you.

    Reply
  13. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Aren’t they awesome?? Heh heh, thanks for the nice comments regarding my puffy-eyed pictures. I couldn’t believe how TIRED I looked! But it was worth it!

    Reply
  14. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Thanks! Pop ups are always fun, and they vary a lot. Good luck finding out in Oregon!

    Reply
  15. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Yeah, it was pretty tough going to work the next morning!

    Reply
  16. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    🙂

    Reply
  17. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    You’re welcome. 🙂

    Reply
  18. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    Hee hee, wouldn’t that be cool! Does SF have any handmade noodles? I bet you do – there’s really good Chinese food there!

    Reply
  19. jentinyurbankitchen says

    January 23, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    Soon! I think they will pop up again soon!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Mu Ramen Pop-up - Mu Invades Alden says:
    July 11, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    […] been three years since I stayed up way past midnight (on a weeknight!) to head into a restaurant to experience […]

    Reply
  2. Sneak Preview: Tracy Chang's Pagu in Cambridge - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 18, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    […] Tracy focused her energy on a variety of local projects, such as the insanely successful pop-up Guchi’s Midnight Ramen, the Harvard Science + Cooking series, and the Alícia Foundation.   The food at PAGU is a mix of […]

    Reply
  3. PAGU Cambridge - Japanese Spanish fusion - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    February 7, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    […] got to know her through Guchi’s Midnight Ramen and some of Chef Jason Doo’s amazing pop-up meals. We’ve become friends, sharing a […]

    Reply
  4. Little Big Diner Newton - a first look! - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    October 12, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    […] to the point that it took three hours for people to receive their coveted ramen. Tickets to Guchi’s Midnight Ramen and Oisa Ramen regularly sell out within […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

Five Guys Hong  Kong

Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong

Elementary HK

Elementary Hong Kong

Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020

Restaurant Le George Paris

Restaurant Le George Paris

Great Yakiniku and Fine Wine

Nice Yakiniku and Fine Wine Hong Kong

Merry Christmas 2020

Sushi Shikon Autumn 2020

Foodhallen + Amsterdam Eats and Museums

4850 Restaurant Amsterdam

4850 Amsterdam – Nordic Inspired Creative Food

France!

Yam'Tcha Paris
David Toutain Paris
Divellec Paris
Breizh Cafe Paris
Clamato Paris

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

Food Advertising by logo

Chinese Recipes

Okra with Chicken
Food Advertising by logo

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Girona Spain
Amelia San Sebastian

Japan!

Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin
Sukiyaki Imafuku Tokyo
Sushi Ishimaya Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Tempura Fukamachi Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen

Cambridge restaurants

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress