New Japanese ramen restaurant in Johnson County also serves dumplings, fried chicken

Longtime friends Kenichi Ota and Hiroyuki Kawashima moved here from California to open their first KC Craft Ramen restaurant, in Overland Park.

And they plan to open more in the area.

“I have opened ramen shops for others and when I wanted to do one myself I researched all over the U.S.,” Ota said. “There are too many in California and when I came here it was spring, a year ago, and everything was green. I thought ‘This is a very nice city, I want to open here.’ It is very beautiful, a good size and people are very nice.”

They took over the former Which Wich spot at 6830 W. 119th St., gutting it and putting in an open kitchen, dining room and retail area. For the last few weeks they have been having preopening dinners, inviting folks through their website, and offering a limited menu.

“We don’t want to let them down. That’s why it’s a long time soft opening,” Ota said.

The soft opening menu includes KC Black (chashu, seasoned bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, black mushrooms, green onions, seasoned egg and corn), miso ramen and spicy miso ramen, creamy chicken or spicy creamy chicken, and vegetable ramen. Each ramen is served with truffle edamame.

Other menu items include house-made pork gyoza (dumplings), the KC bun ( pork tenderloin cutlets, shredded cabbage, mayonnaise and house-made sauce), karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken), takoyaki (deep-fried balls of octopus), Brussels sprouts and calamari.

It is scheduled to open to the public on June 1, with more menu items.

The retail area sells local craft beers, Japanese drinks, Japanese confections and more.