This Japanese Restaurant in Houston Serves Its Volcano Ramen in 600-degree Bowls

Kazzan Ramen & Bar is opening its second U.S. location in Houston’s Heights neighborhood

A restaurant from Osaka, Japan plans to heat up Houston’s ramen scene with its signature volcano rendition — and the temperature is set to exceed 600 degrees.

Kazzan Ramen & Bar will open its second U.S. location in Houston’s Heights neighborhood on Monday, July 22, according to a release, offering a different take on the soupy specialty. Kazzan’s ramen, which is made up of its signature combination of thick noodles, vegetables, and fatty pork, is served in a hot stone bowl that’s heated up to an estimated 662 degrees Fahrenheit. Diners get to experience the “volcano” when the dish is topped with hot soup that’s poured through a cylindrical top, resulting in a rising hot steam that resembles a volcanic eruption.

Diners can customize the experience by choosing from Kazan’s ramen flavors, which include shio, shoyu, karamiso, sukiyaki, curry, and veggie tantan, and popular toppings like nitamago, or marinated egg, chashu, or extra noodles. Though made with a traditional Japanese bone-based broth, the ramen can also be made with a vegetarian broth.

The menu also goes beyond hot soup with appetizers like Kazzan’s Kushikatsu skewers, chicken karaage, Yaki gyoza, and black pepper edamame. Other popular dishes include spicy creamy fried shrimp, fried chicken wings, and a variety of hot stone Japanese rice dishes, which come with fried or curried rice. For dessert, diners can opt for a cool dish with mango, matcha, or strawberry Kakigōri, flavored shaved ice that’s topped with sweet condensed milk.

Traci Ling

Mixologist Ilin Yang, known for her beverage creations at Aya Sushi and Traveler’s Table, fuels the bar with creative cocktails like the Ube Bae, a mix of Takagawa Awamori, Batavia Arrack, lime juice, ube syrup, and guava juice that’s garnished with nutmeg zest and dehydrated purple yam. The Mount Boujee, a complex combination of Fuji single-grain Japanese whisky, sencha syrup, Japanese sakura bitters, dashi tincture, and gold dust, allegedly uses ice from Mount Fuji and is smoked with cherry wood chips.

Local restaurateur Lianne Chang, who also owns multiple locations of Shipley Do-Nuts and Charleys Cheesesteaks, is responsible for bringing the restaurant to Houston — making it a first for Texas. (Kazzan’s first U.S. outpost is in Los Angeles.)

Traci Ling

Kazzan Ramen & Bar will be open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to midnight. 191 Heights Boulevard, 77007.