247 Cooper
I have been a fan of Lucky Cat Ramen since they started doing pop ups at the Cove. Even though the Cove was letting kids in to eat ramen, that's my bar and I didn't wanna take the monkeys (Satchel, 15 and Jiro, 13). Now that Lucky Cat is doing a six month pop up in the former 1912 "Tapas" bar (did it ever have a name?) I got the monkeys there as soon as I could, which ended up being Day 3 of them being open and Day 8 of the third worst storm and subsequent outage in Memphis history.
I'd been working non-stop, and was more than happy not to cook dinner. The monkeys and I arrived around 6:00pm and the place was packed. Sarah, one of the owners, greeted us at the counter and took our order. I already knew I wanted the yuzu veggie, but the kids were perplexed by the menu.
"Don't worry about all the stuff that sounds weird, " I said. Then I encouraged Jiro to try the miso pork and Satchel to try the shoyu pork. (They didn't have the collards the day I was there or I would have tried that. I didn't get my own pic of the menu, hence the one from Instagram.) Satchel also went with a $1 side of spicy chile oil. They used to serve large and small bowls at the Cove, but now it's just large and they are all $12. I saw the steamed buns on the menu and decided to add an order of those as well. They used to come two to an order, but now they are $4 each. Sarah told me they had a vegetarian version with eggplant but I stuck with the BBQ, and ordered 3 thinking we'd each eat one. There were a few bottled drinks to choose from, but I only remember there being Iced Tea because I was sure the monkeys would want tea, but they didn't. Anyways, our total for three bowls of ramen and three buns was just under $54, plus tip. Sarah gave us a number and we went to look for a place to sit.
They have normal tables (which were all full) and then several community type tables. We just happened to know a family sitting at one, and they had three extra seats for us. AND even better...the dad had even already gone down to Fresh Market and bought beer! After working for 8 days straight, I was never more thankful for a beer. (Lucky Cat doesn't have a beer permit, and I'm not sure they can get one for a pop up, so BYOB.)
The monkeys got waters from the jug in the back and then we waited maybe 5 minutes before our ramen came out. The buns were not far behind. Jiro, who is a little picky, seemed slightly worried when he saw his, but I told him to just eat it. And he did. Every bite.
Satchel didn't say a word, just dug in.
The veggie was just as yuzu yummy as I remembered. Satchel wanted a taste and eventually took it from me.
I let him take it because neither monkey would try the buns due to the slaw on top (weirdos). So, I ate two and a half of them!
MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
We all left full and happy. (Our friends and table mates were experiencing it for the first time and were ooohing an aaaahing and loving it.) Satchel's main complaint was that I drank my beer too slow!
For only being open three days, I was super impressed by how organized they were and how fast the service was. I also think they did a great job making the space look super cute. I never went into the tapas place so I'm not sure how much work they had to do, but I think it was substantial.
I did feel a little weird about having a $50 ramen dinner when the monkeys would just as happily eat $.25 ramen, but this is no regular ramen. I love what Zach & Sarah are doing and without alcohol to boost sales, I understand why the prices are a bit higher than in the past. I'll definitely be back, and I'll take the monkeys.
One last thing, they are only serving dinner Thursday-Sunday. They open at 5:30pm. I've seen various closing times posted (9:00pm, 10:00pm and 11:00pm). The Facebook page doesn't specify. It may just be a matter of when they sell out. So, go early!
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