You may have noticed that we’ve explored the metro Detroit noodle scene to find the best ramen, pho, and more. Needless to say, we welcomed the opening of Royal Oak’s Kaizen Ramen with open arms.

Located on Washington Ave. in downtown Royal Oak, Kaizen Ramen offers a long, slender dining room with modern touches. There isn’t a waitstaff, so take a menu, order at the back counter, then take a seat. Your steaming bowl of ramen will be delivered to your table in no time.

What Kaizen lacks in frills — this is a good thing — it makes up with flavorful ramen plated to perfection. The Shoyu Ramen bowl with assari broth, pork belly, and array of accompaniments tugged at our heartstrings. The broth was highly-addictive, while the melt-in-your-mouth pork belly did just that. Make sure your phone is charged because you’ll want to post of photo of your beautiful bowl on Instagram.

Not to be outdone, the Classic Tonkotsu was absolutely killer. Mixing the spicy miso paste into the pork bone broth delivered a zip of heat across our tongues with every bite. A soft-boiled egg, pork belly, scallions, and sprouts joined the party to make this a devastatingly impressive dish.

We can’t wait to go back to Kaizen to try their rice bowls, poke bowls, steamed buns, and sides. And tuck into another dreamy bowl of ramen, of course.

Kaizen Ramen is located at 411 S Washington Ave, Royal Oak, MI 48067.