I've been a Masaharu Morimoto fan since his days on the original Iron Chef, back when it was a cult Japanese cooking show that pitted masters of world cuisine against chefs from lesser restaurants in a cook-off featuring a secret ingredient. So when I heard he was extending his restaurant empire to Seattle's shores with a ramen place called Momosan in Chinatown-International District, I was pretty pumped. Though I normally prefer to eat ramen alone at a cramped bar while watching K-pop videos on mute, I gotta say the bowl served at Momosan is pretty special. The noodles are perfect—springy but yielding, with a slight bitterness that cuts against the heavy, mouth-coating broth. RICH SMITH