MASTER RAMEN

Master Ramen sits at Carrer Aragó 271, far out on the eastern side of Palma, where the long arterial road runs through the residential quarter of Es Vivero. This is not an area visitors stumble into. People who come here come for the noodle soup. The house is a Japanese ramen bar, small and without fuss. On its own channel it goes by Master Ramen Aragón and describes itself plainly as a Japanese kitchen with dishes that arrive fresh from Japan. Its stated priorities are fresh ingredients and preparation by hand — and therefore, above all, the broth, which is what a ramen bar lives or dies by. One note up front, because it causes confusion in Palma on a regular basis: there is a second Master Ramen in the city, on Camí de la Vileta in the west. That is a separate house with its own menu. The one on Carrer Aragó carries its street number in its own name — that is how you know you are at the right one. The menu at Master Ramen The ramen bowl is the centre of it, in several build-ups. The menu carries a teriyaki miso ramen among others, and a spicy version that brings prawn and karaage together. Karaage is Japanese fried food, its outside broken into hard blistered ridges, its inside juicy. If you would rather not have soup, there is donburi: teriyaki don, a rice bowl with teriyaki. Alongside that runs the row of small dishes you find on every corner in Japan. Takoyaki belongs to it, the savoury batter balls; so does bao, steamed filled buns, here with duck among other fillings. Gyozas are one of the things guests here order noticeably often. The sets get a heading of their own. They work as a kit: a warm miso soup and a fresh salad with crunchy vegetables come with the main dish, and the sides can be swapped to taste. That is the practical core of this house — you put your meal together rather than ordering a fixed sequence of courses. Master Ramen and its neighbourhood Es Vivero is a residential quarter, not a going-out district. Carrer Aragó is wide and functional here, with apartment blocks all around and a pharmacy, a hairdresser, a supermarket and a bakery among them. To the north the Son Castelló industrial estate begins. That shapes the guests: people from the neighbourhood and people on their way home, not holiday groups. For a ramen bar that is no disadvantage, quite the opposite. In Japan ramen is everyday food, not occasion food — a bowl of noodle soup midweek in your own quarter is exactly the situation this format was built for. The price bracket matches: unpretentious, without gourmet drama. Good to know You book directly with the house, by phone or by direct message on Instagram. The venue also points out itself that a table can be booked through Google Maps. The room is modest in size, so a reservation does no harm, particularly in the evening. And if you are coming for the first time: give the broth a moment before you go at the noodles. It is what this house puts its work into, and it is the reason people drive to the eastern edge of Palma for a bowl of noodles.