“ A group of friends and I decided to meet here for lunch. This is a small little ramen shop located inside a plaza area with plenty of parking. The food was perfect and portions were generous. Lots of items on the menu looked great, from several different types of ramen, starters and small dishes, as well as sushi rolls. I got the Little Kanji since I knew that ramen is pretty filling. The kid's ramen included pork bone soup with soy sauce based seasoning chashu, wood ear mushroom, ajitama egg corn, nori. It was delicious! They are closed on Mondays and hours are 11am to 8pm Tuesday-Sunday. ”

“ I've decided to branch out from Tatsuya when it comes to ramen in Austin, and I'm so glad I tried this place. I got the signature kanji ramen to go. When I took the lid off the container the smell was *incredible.* I tried the both on its own before I added it to the bowl, and my instant reaction was "Damn!" And the two together? Heaven. I practically inhaled the whole thing, it was SO GOOD. If this and Tatsuya's OG got into a knife fight, I think Kanji's bowl would be the winner. I'm already trying to convince myself that getting ramen two days in a row would be terribly decadent, which is why I shouldn't go back for more tomorrow. You, however, should ABSOLUTELY go. It's worth it! ”

“ My child and I came here on a whim because we were nearby and had a craving for ramen. The service itself was slow, but that is fine because they were very kind. The food was what we came for anyway. The eggs were cooked perfectly, the broth was seasoned really well. If we are back in the area, we'd definitely go back. ”

“ The ingredients at Kanji Ramen are delicious, for sure, but I was underwhelmed by my bowl of ramen. It just seemed like... a small portion? I wanted bigger pieces of pork in my tonkotsu ramen. I wanted more noodles. I am not a big eater but I finished my bowl and was still a little hungry. That shouldn't be the case with a ramenya. A friend and I got there right at opening at dinnertime, so service was prompt and good. We were the only ones in the restaurant for a little while, though there were people in and out getting to-go orders. We expected it to be a lot busier, but maybe we're the only ones who eat at 5, who knows. I want this place to succeed, but I also want larger portions. ”

“ There's certainly no shortage of premium ramen joints in Austin, and today we decided to try Kanji. It's above average, but doesn't quite reach the perfection of its competitors. It's located in a strip mall, but for ramen joints, that's more of a plus than a minus. The interior is small, but cute, with a graffiti mural on the North wall. We ran into our first hiccup almost immediately after walking in. We went up to the cashier, where the nice owner directed us to sit down at a table and he would take our order. Then he left into the back of the kitchen. We waited...and waited...and waited. Eventually he came back out, then he directed us back up to the cash register to order. What? I got the sense they are understaffed, and perhaps he was trying to match the flow of orders to the kitchen? Either way, it was strange to have to wait when there wasn't a line. There were two other couples ahead of us that had already ordered. Back at our table we waited some more. I estimate it was 15-20 minutes before our ramen came out. My wife got the Kanji Signature ramen, which was clearly the winner. It has an intense pork flavor that was incredible, really good balance, probably the best "house" ramen that I've ever had. My spicy mi-so was so-so. I thought it was a touch too salty and lacked a depth of flavor. My wife disagreed, she noted that many bowls of miso ramen have a woody/bitter flavor which I like, but she appreciated that it wasn't present in Kanji's ramen. We both agreed they nailed the heat level. Certain ramen spots can have very varied heat levels in their mi-so hot (looking at you Tatsu-ya!). The other weird thing was that my egg was cold, as if it had just come out of a chiller. Kanji was good, but after tip our two bowls of ramen + a bun was nearing $50. Service was kind, but slow. There was a constant flow of folks coming in after us, and I couldn't help but wonder how long they were going to wait before they actually got fed. Ultimately I think there's better, cheaper ramen to be had in Austin, but if you like creamy pork base ramen, the Kanji signature is unparalleled. ”