Honolulu residents got the opportunity to try one of the biggest U.S. food crazes Wednesday, and they turned out in droves. More than 300 people purchased more than 700 ramen burgers, brought to Hawaii for the first time by New York chef Keizo Shimamoto at the Kakaako pop-up venue Taste.
Shimamoto’s OG Ramen Burger is a hamburger sandwiched between two ramen "buns," seasoned with a shoyu-based glaze and topped with green onion and arugula. For Honolulu’s burgers, Shimamoto used local grass-fed Kulana beef.
Another burger for purchase was Gooch’s Mashup, a ramen pork burger crafted by isle chef Mark Noguchi, who oversees Taste. The Mashup featured roast pork, gravy slaw and arugula.
About 200 hungry people already were lined up at Taste on Auahi Street by the time doors opened at 11 a.m. The line turned the corner and stretched down Keawe Street. Customers who waited as long as five hours were allowed to buy up to three burgers apiece at $10 each. By 4 p.m., every burger was sold.
First in line was Jean Sumait and her boyfriend, Allen Campbell, who arrived in Kakaako from their Windward Oahu home at 8 a.m. Right behind them was Jeanne Hill of Honolulu.
The two women said they saw the burger being prepared on a local morning news show Tuesday, then dreamed about eating it.
"It looked so good on TV, I just had to come," Sumait said as she took her first bite. "It’s very juicy and the ramen is like cake noodles. I love it. It was definitely worth $10 to try."
Hill said she got out to Taste early because she read that on the mainland, Shimamoto would prepare 150 burgers and 400 people would show up. She agreed with Sumait that the grilled ramen bun tasted like cake noodles.
Shimamoto, who gave up a career as a computer programmer to study ramen making in Japan, created the dish in August. Since then, the burger has been a hit in major U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif. It also caused a stir in Brazil.
