Chango`s Lucknow : Perfect place to try Korean and Japanese cuisine.

Japanese Miso Ramen 

Was really looking forward to try Japanese cuisine for some years now. You can blame American blogger Mark Weins for it. He had so many videos and experiences of trying Ramen that I so badly wanted to try it but Lucknow had no such authentic place to try it. The chance came when I went to see the latest Transformers. As always, its a ritual that after the movie with my friend Santosh, we always dine out. More than the movie, we were excited for the food. It took a lot of searching, review reading beforehand to decide the place. Mamagoto at the river side mall in gomti nagar was one such place but a look at the menu with a few reviews did not give us that confidence.

We really hit jackpot with Chango`s at Manoj Pandey Chauraha, Gomti Nagar. Its a small place and we both wandered in like 2 people clueless about food but excited to try it. We knew what we wanted to try- Ramen but were ready to change to something else if it went honkey ponkey. Luckily, nothing of that sort happened. We went to the girl manning the counter and asked her the difference between the ramens they had listed. The senior manager / concerned person of the outlet was sitting at a table and he immediately jumped into help / guide us as we had made it clear that we were newbies for this cuisine and had no clue beforehand.

Although were suggested dimsums, sushi but immediately shot it down saying that we want to try something really authentic and have seen enough of momos on thelas that really were not in the mood. He enquired our spice tolerance levels and the kind of spices we liked so that he could suggest us. Santosh went with Japanese Veg ramen and I went with the Korean spicy non veg. I didn`t have much confidence in an unknown item- tofu so went the other way with non veg and he was unsure about an unknown dish so he went the safe bet with veg. In reality we both chose the type of dishes that are not our first choices in normal life.

Our dishes arrived….err.. sorry, the bowls. I had really not expected them to be packed with so much food. Santosh`s first words unknowingly to the girl bringing them to us was, “इतना कैसे खाऊँगा?”. Flabbergasted would be an understatement but I knew I had to dig right into the food I had heard so much about. On top on that chopsticks?? ढंग से पेन तक तो पकड़ नहीं सकते हम लोग, यह लकड़ी की डंडियाँ से कैसे खायेंगे?. Although spoons and forks were also there but we decided to have fun and enjoy the food. I had seen enough youtube videos on chopsticks to try them my way. Santosh needed some tips though. I tasted the broth first, it was wonderful. Explosion of flavours. Wow !!

The toppings were too much at first glance but they were all bite sized and tasty while they were steaming hot. One good thing, egg in the ramen come pre cut in 2 pieces unlike in authentic ramen dish in Japan where you get the whole egg in one piece. With each passing minute as the topping and the noodles were getting soaked in the fiery broth , I started hitting landmines as finely chopped red chillies started appearing and made their hits. Then I realised the true meaning of “ Spicy Korean Ramen”. It went from too hot to spicy in such a short time that my face went all red in less than a minute and steam literally came out of my ears and mouth just like tom and jerry cartoons and i glucked down multiple bottles of water.

I realised that we both were really not in a hurry and needed to enjoy the food so decided to let the food cool down just a bit and maybe the chilli effect would also wave off. It worked. The noodles in both our dishes were of different types. As we were munching our food down, did we realise that why Ramen is considered soul food in south east asia. Quantity here at Chango`s was sufficient for us foodies, maybe even more according to our standards. When there was nothing more left in the bowl we did ask for 2 drinks. They were chilled flavoured beverages of some kind. Apple + Cinnamon and Ginger + lemon. Boy did those really bring us back to earth from heaven.

Although we tried only ramen in our first instance but it was all worth it, taste and price wise too. Small place but good one. There is a lot more Japanese and Korean left to try and we think we would give it all a try one by one now that we are hooked to the dishes.

First impression has been good.

Spicy Korean Ramen