Step Inside Oni Ramen, Now Slinging Late-Night Noodles In Deep Ellum

Fort Worth noodle shop Oni Ramen has officially made its way to Dallas as of this week, and it’s already a strong new contender in the city’s Japanese cuisine scene.

The restaurant kicked open its doors on September 14 to crowds of hungry fans looking to avoid the drive out to Fort Worth for Oni’s broth. With a slightly modified menu and new hours, Oni owner Jesús García hopes to make his restaurant a late-night destination that feels more like Japan than Dallas.

Open from 5pm until 4am on Fridays, and from Noon until 3am on Saturdays, García readies himself for the onslaught of night crowds coming his way after an evening of hitting the bars in Deep Ellum. It’s his nod back to late night ramen trips from his days in Japan. “That’s when I ate ramen,” he says. Its good business, as there aren’t any other ramen shops in the area willing to stay open as late.

The menu remains relatively unchanged from the Fort Worth location, with the list of small plates such as gyoza and takoyaki, and the addition of chasu-don, a rich hoisin pork belly over rice, as well as steamed filled buns. A variety of ramen options is on offer, ranging from classic pork belly-topped tonkatsu to the famous Oni Reaper, a bowl of ramen laced with a serious chili pepper punch.

Using a combination of many different sea salts and soy sauces, García makes his own soy seasoning for the ramen at Oni, blending it deliberately to accentuate the flavor of each broth. Combined with his rapid chilling of his soft and medium boiled eggs to create a silken texture, these ingredients are the foundation of Oni’s ramen.

Before heading to Deep Ellum to check out Dallas’ hottest new noodle shop, step inside Oni Ramen courtesy of Eater photographer Kathy Tran.

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