Ramen & Tea in Rockford focuses on traditional style and fruit-infused drinks
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A new restaurant focused on traditional ramen recipes and drinks infused with fresh fruit has opened near the corner of East State Street and Perryville Road.
Ramen & Tea, 7062 Walton St., takes pride in serving authentic and flavorful broths with your choice of toppings ranging from chashu — a tender braised pork belly — to beef, chicken and seafood. The restaurant makes its own tonkotsu, miso and shoyu broths daily.
“The key is the broth. We cook the broth the traditional way. We cook eight hours each day,” said Kate Wu, manager of Ramen & Tea. “We use real meat and the bones to cook the broth.”
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The restaurant quietly opened on Black Friday in a strip center near Panda Express and Charley’s Philly Steaks. Wu said Ramen & Tea will add to and alter its menu in the future as it gets feedback from customers.
The restaurant is owned by Shenen Zhu, who also runs Haichi Sushi, 6516 E. Riverside Blvd., in Loves Park.
The classic rich and creamy tonkotsu broth is served with noodles and topped with chashu, a soft boiled egg, fish cake, nori bamboo shoots and green onions. Or you can order by selecting your preferred noodle, broth and toppings.
“We prefer the traditional way, and we want to offer high quality food and customer service,” Wu said.
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Appetizers include a healthy fruit-topped salad with romaine lettuce and spring mix covered with strawberries, watermelon, grapes, blueberries, dried cranberries, pecans and hawthorn chips with Ginger sauce on the side. There is also white radish salad, shredded pancake, shrimp siu mai and wonton soup, among other options.
The drink menu a mix of fruit-infused teas, non-alcoholic fresh mint mojitos and sweet and colorful milk teas with boba poppers.
Ramen & Tea is one of two ramen-focused restaurants to open in the area in the past month. Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya, 611 Highgrove Place in the former Five Guys, also opened on Black Friday.
About | Ramen & Tea
Where: 7062 Walton St., Rockford
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
On the web: ramentea.com
On social media: Follow them on Facebook HERE
Contact: 815-977-4553; ramentea7062@gmail.com
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
