Palatine's Ramen Shinchan offers oodles of noodles

On a hot June evening (yes, there were a few), while many other people stood in line for ice cream cones and water slides, a line snaked out the door at Ramen Shinchan in Palatine with diners eager to sit down for big bowls of hot soup.

Ramen Shinchan has been ladling out steamy bowls of oh-so-good miso-, pork- and chicken-based broths brimming with traditional Japanese ramen noodles since January and has already attracted a loyal following and adventurous newcomers. This is the first venture for owners Mika and Shinji Sugiura, but Shinji Sugiura comes with a number of years wielding a knife at sushi spots in the suburbs.

The line that evening was so long in fact (longer than perhaps even the namesake noodles) that we gave up our spots and opted to return the next day. When we showed for a late lunch, the restaurant's small dining room was comfortably full, including at the counter where there's room for eight.

The printed menu holds a tight selection of ramen bowls and a handful of side dishes. We started with the perky peppered chicken wings called tebasaki (technically a plate of wings and mini drumsticks) and the pork and vegetable gyoza (dumplings) that come with a sweet thin sauce. We found the sauce just as delicious on the wings as it was on the dumplings. Other sides include fried rice and fried pork with a dark miso sauce.

The curly noodles and the homemade broths are the stars here, and any of the bowls can be augmented with toppings including soft-boiled egg; spicy Taiwan-style pork and garlic; braised pork; or chopped braised pork and scallions. We opted for the braised pork and scallions, called negi, for our bowl of Best Condition Ramen, a dish called out as Ramen Shinchan's most popular. The bowl of the namesake egg noodles and rich chicken broth was already piled high with crisp bean shoots and spicy vegetables and we had to slurp up several spoonfuls to make room for even just a little bit of the negi. The Taiwan ramen with spicy ground pork and chives and the Shoyu with a soy-kissed chicken broth are among the eatery's more popular selections.

The restaurant also features a dozen or so rotating specials written on a blackboard that deserve translation and then consideration. I found the barbecue don to be delightful. This wasn't smoky beef that many of us equate with summer barbecue, but rather a sweet and wonderfully tender mound of beef piled atop sticky rice that was easily eaten with chopsticks. There was enough rice to welcome the crisp pork and scallions that didn't fit into the noodle bowl.

While the chopsticks worked with the beef, I do advise a tandem technique of spoon and chopsticks for the noodle bowls: The chopsticks help you lift the long noodles from the bowl to your mouth. If you have a different preferred technique, please share.

The beverage selection incudes a handful of familiar sodas and a Japanese version that comes in a glass bottle that you open by popping a marble through the cap. It tasted a bit like bubble gum, and I would have preferred a Sapporo beer with my barbecue. Perhaps when I'm not there for lunch, I'll try one of the individually portioned sake cocktails.

Our service was considerate and nothing got lost in translation. The limited number of tables means you don't wait too long for your food, but also means that I don't recommend lingering too long. There are still many people out there who will be finding their way to Ramen Shinchan.

• Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.

Ramen Shinchan

1939 S. Plum Grove Road, Palatine, (847) 496-4189, <a href="http://ramen-shinchan.com">ramen-shinchan.com</a>

<b>Cuisine</b>: Traditional Japanese noodle house

<b>Setting</b>: Uncluttered store front

<b>Entrees</b>: $9.75 to $11.75

<b>Hours</b>: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 6 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 6 p.m. to midnight Friday; 11:30 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday