Late-Night Ramen at Salt Ramen 長生塩人 (Chángshēng Yánrén), Beitou

My younger son and I were heading home on a Wednesday night. We had eaten a late lunch, and it was close to 10 pm, so we were both hungry. Normally, if given the option, Zeke wants ramen when we eat out. He truly is my son. It was kind of funny, though, because he’s used to the ramen places up in Tamsui that all close rather early, especially the ones that deliver on Uber Eats. So he told me, “All the ramen places are closed now.” I told him I know one on the way, and our Japanese friend highly recommends it.

I’ve been to 長生塩人, or, as they call themselves on social media, Salt Ramen, before. I’ve gone with our aforementioned Japanese friend to the Beitou branch, and I’ve been to the Tamsui location as well. I felt a little bad at the Tamsui branch when I visited, probably within the first 6 months of us being in Taiwan; the hostess started explaining the process to me for at least a solid minute, if not two, in Mandarin, while I stared blankly. When she was finished, she said 聽不懂? (literally “hear no understand?” but it means “you don’t understand?”). I nodded a big yup; I didn't get any of that. But I did eventually get to eat ramen.

So when I told Zeke I knew a place, we took a brief detour off the normal route home, up a little into Beitou. Every location seems to share the same opening times, every day from 5 pm until 11:30 pm. Parking was right near the MRT station, just across the street. Since it was just before 10 pm, there was no line-up like the previous time I went, but there were still quite a few people there, and more came in during the 30 or so minutes we sat in the restaurant. It’s a very Japanese-style ramen shop, with extremely limited seating, about 10 seats total, all up along the bar where you watch the ramen being cooked right in front of you. Also to note, there are no beverages sold here, but there are very small cups behind the seating area with cold water.

Photo by Kalen Johnson

We got a seat, and we both ordered the spicy miso ramen. They offer two types of noodles: the default 麗珠 Li-Zhu, and the NT$15 (US$0.47) upgrade 立成 Li-Chain (misspelling; it should probably be Li-Cheng). They have a description on the back of the menu, which I forgot to grab a picture of. The default is your standard noodle, but the Li-Cheng has more chew and comes from Tainan, made with Australian wheat flour. We both ordered the Li-Cheng noodles.

I also ordered the pickled radish. This came out with a sauce mixed in, which I’ll admit, looked slightly off-putting, mostly because it clumps a bit. I’m used to pickled radish coming out rather plain-looking, no sauce on top, just radish and a little liquid from the vinegar pickling. But that doesn’t change that the pickled radish here tastes pretty good. It’s somewhat spicy and tart, with a bit of creaminess. Zeke was willing to try it and said it’s pretty good too!

Photo by Kalen Johnson

The ramen came out after a little more waiting. The spicy miso broth is quite rich. I did not find it very spicy at all, and Zeke said it was a little spicy. So if your spice tolerance is low, you will most likely find it decently spicy. The bowl comes with baby napa cabbage; I’m pretty sure this is not traditional, but I don’t mind it. Some vegetables and fibre are not bad to include with your ramen. It also has two slices of pork chashu and sous-vide chicken breast. Both are pretty good; the chashu is torched, and you can see the char marks. The chicken is tender and juicy. If anything, I’d say I need to remember to add the double meat next time for NT$45 (US$1.40). The meat slices are quite thin, but the upgrade isn’t all that expensive, so I think it’s worth it. And the noodles are not al dente, but they have a good chew to them - that ideal ramen feeling that makes them so distinct from most other noodles.

Photo by Kalen Johnson

With the shio ramen starting at NT$165 (US$5.17) and the spicy miso at NT$225 (US$7.04), the prices are very reasonable. That is what the chain has been built on: affordable, good quality ramen. And it’s working for them; I count 16 locations across Taiwan on Google Maps now. Quite a few of those locations are in Taipei and New Taipei, so watch for 長生塩人; I would even say they’re worth standing in a (short) line for.