Slurping Turtle – Spiciest Dish in Columbus Series

You know us, we love the spicy noods. Columbus is full of them, but juuuuust before the New Year kicked off, another opened in Easton by the newer section of the development.

On a corner across from Crimson Cup you will find Slurping Turtle, a ten-year noodle veteran whose only other location is in Ann Arbor, Michigan (the original was in Chicago).

We got takeout but got to see the warm, inviting interior of the Easton Slurping Turtle location with many raised tables in a row and some more standard seating around the edges. You can see chefs preparing the food and in non-pandemic times we would have told you to go press your face against the glass to watch them make their homemade noodles. We chatted with a representative of Slurping Turtle who noted the restaurant has been doing well so far after opening on 12/21/20 and is looking forward to even more folks trying out their new flavors, ingredients, and traditional Japanese dishes, with a twist. Slurping Turtle doesn’t stay in the standard ramen and Japanese dish lanes, instead letting their chefs get creative to come up with newer creations or old takes with fresh ingredients.

Their menu is pretty crazy too. Everything from ramen and bao to takoyaki, hamachi tacos, sushi, and gyoza [insert happy Kaiman (Dorohedoro) noises here].

Does it look the best via takeout? No, but man was it tasty.

This time around we went with the Red Curry Ramen (for The Lady of the Farm), Duck Fat Fried Chicken (or DFFC for short), Pork Belly Bao, and Spicy Miso Tonkotsu (with Spicy Volcano Paste). We also got a side cup of the Spicy Pork Miso because we were curious and friends, The Lady of the Farm has not regretted trying something like that in a long time. She dipped a DFFC chunk into the miso and proceeded to run around the kitchen as if her entire head was on fire. Classic. The spicy pork miso gets its heat from “Korean Chili pepper and gochujang, blended with ground pork and our miso flavoring.” Super tasty, but not for lightweight spice-seekers.

Spicy pork misooooooo.

If you’re in the Easton area, Slurping Turtle is a must-try. We’re already debating on when we’re going to get back in that direction because we were impressed with the entire package. If you’re looking for a nice sit-down restaurant for Valentine’s day, Slurping Turtle seems like an excellent spot. Well-spaced seating, lots of high-top bar-like tables with dividers in between and a full view of the kitchen. Still not sure why they picked Columbus to add a new location, but extremely glad they did.

From Slurping Turtle: “Our name is based on two ideas — while enjoying ramen, diners are encouraged to slurp their noodles as a gesture of polite enjoyment and the turtle symbolizes longevity and good luck in Japanese culture.” Who knew longevity and good luck could taste so good.

Over half the items we tried had a bit of heat to them and from what Slurping Turtle told us, the majority of the heat comes from “sesame oil infused with Korean chili pepper,” to make their chili oil, and gochujang. They even have one of the best spicy Chinese mustards we’ve tried around the city. It’s got that nasal decongestant power that will have your brain tingling.

There are plenty of other spicy dishes to try, but what we’re marking as the spiciest is the Spicy Miso Tonkotsu with Spicy Volcano Paste. Similar to Tiger+Lily, the Spicy Volcano Paste is a small cup add-on you can get for anything, but from the ball-like form it likely works best slathered on a bao or dispersed in broth.

Noods spread throughout the broth, I chomped on in, the homemade chili oil hitting me first. A raise of the eyebrows and a distinct heat across my entire mouth let me know immediately that Slurping Turtle was not messing around. To get the full effect I took a sip of the broth, grasping the bowl with both hands. I had not anticipated the heat of the broth and let out a stiff cough, drawing concern from The Lady of the Farm. “It’s fine…no really, it’s good,” I wheezed. That first hit of Volcano-enmeshed broth was powerful but gave way to a cascade of lessened (though still high), comfortable heat.

Look at that broth

It’s likely that the noodles retain a good amount of spicy miso heat when delivered to diners eating in, but I found the homemade noodles to be a chance to cool off. Noodles, broth, noodles, broth, back and forth I went, getting a peak in heat, followed by more calmness of noodles. As the name describes and Slurping Turtle suggests, slurping their noodles is a gesture of polite enjoyment. It’s also a great way to get heat all over your face. Little eruptions of spice in and around my mouth continued to pop up as I made my way through the rest of the dish. Along with the chili oil, the blend of serrano, jalapeño, and red Fresno peppers in the Volcano paste elevate the heat of this dish to the next level (those peppers max at 23,000 SHU). Slight sweat on my brow and a strong nose blow later, I sat with my empty bowl, sad that it was gone, reflecting on the heat.

We’ve eaten a lot of spicy noodles in the past two years (thankfully none have matched the debilitating heat of the Shinigami Ramen) and the Slurping Turtle noodles have made a major impression on us. That said, we’re placing the Spicy Miso Tonkatsu Ramen w/ Spicy Volcano Paste at #23 on our list, just above the Winking Lizard Hellfire Chili and just below the Thurman’s Cafe Extreme Wings. As spicy dishes go, while this one is definitely spicy, it’s an enjoyable heat that ebbs and flows throughout the entirety of the dish.

You can find Slurping Turtle in Easton at 4049 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219.

Look below for more in our spiciest dish in Columbus series and hit us up if you have any suggestions that are not already on our list!

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