I have a bowl of ramen in every city I travel to. Yes, a bowl of Japanese ramen noodles, all around the world. From Amsterdam to Zurich, and Tokyo to Toronto, I’ve slurped the hearty noodle soup. So of course I had a bowl of ramen in Brussels.

It’s kind of ridiculous, really. Why travel to a place with a unique food culture only to have something completely, well, random? Because it shows that food culture as a whole is more universal than we sometimes think. It’s not just Americans eating Japanese food, it’s the whole world. And same with Mexican food and Indian food and Thai food and a dozen others: cuisines following French and Italian food around the globe.

Connecting Cultures Through A Bowl of Japanese Ramen in Brussels

Different Tastes, Different Ramen

But having ramen around the world is kind of awesome, too. Because even though ramen all stems from the same Japanese dish, it varies regionally throughout Japan. And it really varies around the world. Every bowl of ramen is tweaked, even if only slightly, to the local palate, making every bowl completely different.

Those slight differences prove that even though our cravings may be similar, our tastes are slightly different. It’s why I laughed when ramen in Vienna came with breaded duck, almost like a schnitzel. Or when ramen in Paris was more like thick chicken noodle soup (just much, much worse).

What better way to compare different tastes throughout the world than by having the same dish in every city?

And of course there’s the challenges of replicating a dish in an environment that may not be suitable for it. The chef of Tonkotsu explained the challenges of recreating ramen noodles in London. Traditional ramen noodles with elasticity require soft, alkaline water, which the UK doesn’t have. So they filter their water and add alkaline salts to mimic the water in Japan for better noodles.

Umamido Ramen in Brussels

Ramen in Brussels was a different kind of culture mix. We stopped at Umamido Ramen in Brussels on our second night, fresh from a day trip exploring Dinant.

The owner of the restaurant is Belgian and fell in love with ramen while living in Kyoto. Once he returned to Belgium, he hired a Polish chef for his ramen restaurant. Why? Because, according to Food Republic, some of the best broth he ever had was in Poland. And he thought that if traditional Polish soup-making technique was applied to Japanese flavor, the result would be awesome.

So how was ramen in Brussels? Well the owner — and the Polish chef — were onto something. Because the ramen at Umamido was pretty impressive. The broth was thick and rich (although heavy on the onion flavor). The pork was sliced as thin as bacon, which was an interesting twist. In addition to the regular noodles, pork, and egg, there were peas, diced red onions (maybe a little too many), and salad garnish.

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So two Americans ate Japanese ramen made by a Polish chef in Belgium. Like many parts of travel, it’s an example of how small the world is and how similar we are around the world. Even though I travel to experience the new, I love when I find the similarities. Because those are what connect us.

And don’t worry, we ended the night with a Belgian waffle for dessert. Just to keep things in perspective. :)

Related :: Want more ramen? Ramen in Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Chicago, New York, and Salt Lake City.