Photo by Christian Gooden (Post-Dispatch)
Hiro Asian Kitchen
Hiro Asian Kitchen anticipated the ramen boomlet by a few years. Its signature pork ramen can hold its own against most of the ramen that has arrived in its wake, and its spicy seafood ramen remains one of a kind, a bracingly briny, chile-spiked dish that warms your soul as it dampens your brow. Since moving his restaurant five years ago from the Delmar Loop to Washington Avenue, Bernie Lee has forged a path between the dining public’s growing interest in various cuisines — Japanese, Korean, Thai and his native Malaysian among them — and his own style.
Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday, lunch Wednesday-Friday, brunch Saturday-Sunday (closed Monday-Tuesday)
Last year's ranking: Rest of the Best
Opened: 2013
Must order: Spicy seafood ramen (lunch $13, dinner $16)