What I Liked:
-The illustrations
-The recipes, even when they had some harder to find ingredients in North America, I knew of or could easily google alternatives
-Recipes are short and easy to follow without a lot of filler wording

What I Didn't Like:
-I wish there were illustrations for every recipe

Really informative and beautiful cook book about ramen. I learned a lot and got so hungry while reading it! Highly recommend if you’re interested in ramen

This was a cute way to create a cookbook for ramen, the flare of anime styled graphics added to the theme very well. I would love a physical copy of this book so I can try to make some of these recipes myself. They were easy to read and understand. I look forward to one day owning this book physically and tasting the recipes I try from this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rock Point for an ARC of this book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is an adorable cookbook, with delightful illustrations. It was so incredibly cheerful and bright, and would be a perfect book to pull out on a cold gloomy day.

The recipes were well explained, and easy to understand. Depending where you live, some of the ingredients can be harder to find if you don't have an Asian Grocery Store nearby.

I do think an advanced beginner could cook all the recipes, it would be much easier to follow if you already have some of the basics for Japanese cooking under your belt.

I loved the huge variety of flavors and testures, and I plan on making quite a few of the recipes!

Unfortunately there were some formatting errors in my copy, and some of the paged were flipped sideways or upside down and impossible to read on a computer.

✒️📖ARC REVIEW📖🖋️

This cookbook reminds me of the deepdives on foods that Alton Brown used to do on Good Eats. Amy has done something similar, but with ramen.

Breaking down the different kinds of broths/bases that can be used, toppings, and noodles, and showing how to build up a perfect bowl of ramen. After going through the basics there are sections in the book for red meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetable ramen depending on one’s trastes and dietary restrictions.

There are a variety of levels of recipes within the book as well as sides (fried tofu, the cucumber salad that has recently struck the internet, and scattered sushi). This was a nostalgic, nonfiction, anecdotal take on making ramen.

The instructions are very clear and laid out well on the pages. There are also several cute illustrations of the food!

I will for sure be incorporating several of the recipes to level up my ramen game in an effort to taste something similar to what I had in Japan over a year ago.

I was provided a free advanced reader copy courtesy of Quarto Publishing and Amy Kimoto-Kahn via NetGalley. I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

Thanks, Quarto Publishing Group – Rock Point | Rock Point, for the advanced review copy via #NetGalley (available 14 Jan 25*).

Hubby and I recently discovered how much we love ramen, and this cookbook helped us understand what each ingredient contributes to the dish and how to prepare our own at home.

Cookbook author (and food blogger at easypeasyjapanesey.com) Amy Kimoto-Kahn compiled a user-friendly, approachable, and well-organized ramen cookbook that covers everything a ramen lover needs to know, including the four soup bases, noodles, and traditional (and non-traditional) ingredients. The anime-style illustrations are adorable and would make this cookbook extra gift-worthy.

*Note: this book was first published in 2016 as SIMPLY RAMEN.

This book is full of recipes from soup bases, noodles, sides, toppings with traditional and non-traditional ingredients all shown with adorable anime-style illustrations. There are difficulty ratings, serving sizes and prep times that are perfect for planning your meal. California Ramen and Crispy Soft-Shell Crab Ramen are two we want to try first!

Super cute book with tasty and easy to follow recipes! I loved the illustrations throughout the book, and everything looks delicious! Perfect if you love ramen and want to learn how to make it.

I love cookbooks. I enjoyed the illustrations and the descriptions were easy to follow. I recommend getting this book.

Kawaii Café Ramen by Amy Kimoto-Kahn is a delightful reimagining of her earlier work, Simply Ramen. With over 60 ramen recipes beautifully illustrated in an anime style, this cookbook is a visual feast and a practical guide for ramen enthusiasts. If you love ramen and are looking for a creative, fun approach to making it at home, this book is worth exploring. However, it’s important to know that this is a reprint of Simply Ramen with completely revamped imagery. Unless you’re drawn to the charming illustrations, you might not need both books in your collection.

Full Review will be posted on my blog on pub date 1/14/2025

thank you netgalley for this arc!

honestly learnt a lot about ramen from this, i really need to start making more instead of using packet ramen, and this could just be my inspiration! such cute little illustrations too

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Amazon.

Perfect student cookbook

Thank you Rock Point and Netgalley for the ARC of Kawaii Cafe Ramen in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Kawaii Cafe Ramen and could definitely see myself buying this book! The overall colorfulness and adorable pictures drew me in but the simplicity of the recipes for any level of chef makes this such a fun book. I cannot wait for summer to try the spinach and miso cold ramen!

I loved the authors note in the back about how to rameducate oneself and a small back story how this book came to be about. Those little tidbits are so cool to see and have added a few new things to look into!

This is perfect! We're always looking for new ways to make ramen! I love the scales for level, makes, and cook time. Super useful for when we want to do something quick. This has so many great recipes all in one book! I also love all the illustrations. It's super cute

Got me craving for ramen! 🤤

I had fun casually flipping through this and salivating over all the droolworthy illustrations. I also enjoyed reading about the author's background and connection with ramen. The recipes were way too wordy with too much text squeezed onto each page and felt like a lot of work (to both read and make) though.

Nevertheless, this is a yummy ode to the art that is ramen.

"Kawaii Cafe Ramen" is an illustrated ramen cookbook by Amy Kimoto-Kahn. The illustrations are colorful and cozy and definitely Kawaii. The recipes are laid out in an easy to follow and simple format. I found the instructions easy to understand. I also enjoyed the author's information in the beginning of the book about how she learned everything she now knows about ramen. There is also a helpful index in the back. A recommended purchase where illustrated cookbooks are popular.

What a precious book this is! Everything is broken down and explained so well that you couldn't possibly make something that didn't taste phenomenal. I can't wait to give several of these recipes a shot.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC.

3 out of 5 star

It's was fine. Just your average cook book but about Ramen 🍜🍜🍜. Could have probably used a different format for the e-arc so it was easier to read.

Kawaii Café Ramen is a cute cookbook illustrated with kawaii characters. It offers great and varied ramen recipes.

Absolutely adorable and would make a fantastic gift for ramen lovers and cooks alike. That said, this book is not for someone new to ramen or Japanese cooking as many terms are not explained. I will also say that while this book is adorably illustrated (I love that) it is hard to read in an e-reader at least at its current edited stage as some of the pages turn 90 degrees inexplicably and I couldn't get them to turn back. Hopefully that is something the editors/formatting folks figure out.