Douglas Trattner
Ramen bowl from Mason's Creamery in Ohio City.
Mark your calendars, ramen lovers. Next Wednesday, November 3rd, is the day that Mason’s Creamery (4401 Bridge Ave., 216-762-1095) completes its annual metamorphosis from ice cream parlor to noodle shop. The Ohio City shop temporarily closed its doors this weekend in order to ready the space for the winter ramen season, which runs until late April.
Since opening in 2014, owners Jesse Mason and Helen Qin have hosted wintertime ramen pop-ups. But four years ago they took the concept a step further by converting the space to a dedicated noodle shop that runs all winter long. The star of the show is the ramen, available with pork, chicken and vegetarian broths. As always, the noodle bowls will be supplemented with a few soft-serve ice creams, including vegan offerings.
Guests also can look forward to various specials, pop-ups and collaborations to keep things interesting, says Mason. Weekly specials might include Korean corndogs, sandwiches made with Japanese milk bread and Flamin' Hot Cheetos-encrusted chicken.
The plan, once again, is to eliminate the limited indoor dining in favor of the “partially heated” walled-tent situation.
“It’s more in the vein of if you were in Japan or Korea,” Mason explains. “The outdoor dining scene in those two places is amazing. People are out when it’s snowing, eating at a table and embracing it. I think that’s one of the things that Cleveland misses and I don’t know the reason for that. We need to embrace winter more.”
Ordering options this year include call-ahead, online, in-person and, for the first time, delivery.
