Somewhat off the beaten track in Port St. Lucie and tucked into an unexpected location is a gem of a restaurant. Ramen Hana & Wings is in what might be called a warehouse district with car repair shops and trades businesses as neighbors.
But inside, you are immediately struck by the serenity of the decor. One large wall is painted cinnabar red and simply decorated with gray, white and red bowls. One entire side of the restaurant includes the service bar and the kitchen, where the chefs create dishes behind flags. The tables and chairs are minimalistic blonde wood that match the floors.
The one incongruity was the music was quite loud and seemed at odds with the ambience.
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The menu is divided into small plates, large plates, wings and ramen. We were very hungry, so we ordered several plates to sample the menu. We started with Hana’s special sauce wings ($9). The five meaty wings were so large, they looked like they’d been working out at the gym. They were covered in a thick sauce, which we attempted to reverse engineer: It had sweet and sour notes of honey, BBQ sauce, teriyaki, ginger and garlic.
For us, a must-have at any Asian restaurant is gyoza ($13), which were 10 pieces of delicious little pouches filled with pork and pan fried. The seaweed salad ($6) was sweet, salty and crunchy. We also tried the shrimp tempura ($9), which had four large shrimp dipped in batter that was amped up to a textured crust, then deep fried.
Of course, being that we were at a ramen restaurant, we ordered Hinageshi Hakata Tonkatsu Ramen ($14). The umami broth was the essence of slow-cooked pork bones, which yielded a riot of flavors and creaminess. A heap of noodles, large slices of tender pork, and a jammy egg were all happily swimming in the amazing, seasoned broth.
It was difficult to decide which dish we liked best. Each one mastered texture and flavor as we dispatched our indulgences. Not surprisingly, we left little food behind.
The service was conscientious and attentive, and our plates came out quickly with a beat in sync with the rhythm of the kitchen.
Ramen Hana & Wings has a relation in Stuart named Ramen Hana & Sushi. Like all relatives, they have mutually common and unique qualities. Both feature varieties of ramen while one specializes in wings and the other in sushi.
It has been said that one should never judge a book by its cover and so it is with Ramen Hana & Wings. The restaurant is hidden in plain sight in a location where you wouldn’t find it unless you were looking for it. I suggest you should absolutely look for Ramen Hana & Wings. Your journey will be rewarded.
Ramen Hana & Wings
Lucie Regensdorf dines anonymously at the expense of TCPalm for #WhatToDoIn772. Contact her at Lucie@theloveofcooking.com
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Review: Hidden in plain sight, Asian restaurant specializes in ramen and chicken wings
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