Housed on the west side of the Uwajimaya building, newcomer Samurai Noodle is offering something that has never really taken off in Seattle: a stand-alone ramen joint. Common in New York, Los Angeles and Honolulu, ramen shops have yet to really catch the tongues of Seattle's dining public. Perhaps Samurai Noodle will help change that.

Co-owned by Phil Sancken, founder of Caffe Appassionato, and a Japanese partner, Samurai celebrates authentic Japanese noodles and broth.

Huge stainless steel pots of broth bubble above gas flames, steeping their stocks for 24 hours before they're served.

There are five different flavors of broth for the noodles: tonkotsu (pork), shouyu (chicken-based and soy sauce flavored); tsukemen (fish-based; served hot or cold, with cold noodles), tounyu (vegetarian seaweed stock); or a combination of tonyu and tonkotsu.

The noodles are not made in-house, and they're less eggy than my favorite ones, but they're good enough. The tonkotsu ($5.95) (not to be confused with tonkatsu, or deep fried pork cutlet) is super rich, with a color like light mud. The savory broth is enhanced by tender slices of pork, as well as chopped black wood ear mushrooms and thin ringlets of green onion.

		ANDY ROGERS / P-I
	The Samurai Armour Bowl can be ordered with pork (above), chicken or fish broth. Toppings include pork slices, green onion, black mushrooms, flavored egg and roasted seaweed.

Besides ramen, there's a rice bowl with teriyaki pork ($7), topped with pickled red ginger, green onion and a few sheets of nori (roasted seaweed). Or, you combine that with your choice of three ramen bowls for $9.

I had that lunch combo (with a smaller bowl of noodles and pork in the combo) with the shouyu ramen one day, but that broth was a little too basic for my taste.

The shop is tiny -- just nine two-seater tables, which they combine for larger groups. But they do takeout as well.

It opened in October and there are plans to expand to Bellevue soon. Cashier and server Mika is super friendly and happy to share her love and knowledge of ramen, served here in a deep ceramic bowl on a lacquer tray.

I like to add extra noodles for $1.38, and there are other extra toppings such as tofu for $1.50 or bamboo shoots for $1. They also offer free condiments such as chile pepper flakes or sesame seeds.

At some point, they hope to introduce seasonal ramen specials.