Yume Ramen and Cake opens at Smith Haven Mall
The spicy miso pork tonkotsu ramen features a 10-hour pork broth with kimchi and jalapeño at Yume Ramen and Cake at Smith Haven Mall. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
After working at two of New York City's biggest restaurant concepts, Kai Wang is now preparing some of the most interesting bowls of ramen and Japanese bites on Long Island. His perch is an unassuming mall kiosk, Yume Ramen and Cake, in a space that previously held a steam plate Thai stand. Yume means "dream" in Japanese, and the counter is quite whimsical with its display of imported Japanese snacks, colorful cakes and sweet dango rice balls on a stick.
Wang cut his teeth at David Chang's Momofuku empire as well as the modern Korean ramen house Jeju Noodle Bar, which has been called the most affordable Michelin starred restaurant in the city. He came out to Long Island in 2021 to open eShin Noodle Bar in nearby Stony Brook, but a kitchen injury forced him to re-evaluate his priorities, and shift gears to a less demanding work environment. So he opened Yume Ramen and Cake in late December, bringing the same ethos of seasonal cooking with local produce, creating delicate works of art in plastic to-go bowls.
You can find many of the same artistic flourishes at Yume, which plays with unexpected flavor combinations. Macadamia nuts add crunch to a plate of spicy edamame beans and are tucked into pork belly buns alongside creamy egg salad. Truffle and its earthy aroma catches your nose as a tray appears from the kitchen, holding shiitake mushroom skewers that have been graced with soy sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
The kombu chicken ramen ($12.99), with its artfully arranged toppings of little fish cake flowers floating in a crystalline pond of scallions, evokes a tranquil feeling like looking into a Japanese woodblock print. This may actually be the dreamiest dish on the menu, and is delightfully lighter than you expect a ramen to be. But you can see that a lot of time and skill went into it, as the roasted chicken is just right and the hot broth is elegant yet super comforting and homey.
If you're getting two bowls, go for the spicy pork tonkotsu ramen ($14.99) with its ultra fatty lobes of pork belly and its 10-hour milky bone broth. Add an egg, it's worth it. You don't usually see kimchi or jalapeños in a tonkotsu ramen, but it works. And the peppers help bring the spice.
Yume has "cake" in its name, so you have to order a housemade strawberry chiffon for dessert. It's a little circular thing with a heavenly airy texture like an angel food cake, but cuter, and with better whipped cream. It's a sweet ending, full of nostalgia and innovation.
Yume Ramen and Cake is located inside the Smith Haven Mall at 340-4 Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove; open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday; 631-456-9013, yumeramenandcake.com
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
