Kamado Ramen

The place

#

Kamado Ramen (קמדו ראמן, also trading as Kamado Kitchen / קמדו קיצ’ן) is a tiny, deliberately handmade Japanese ramen and fusion restaurant tucked inside the Orvot HaOmanim — the “Artist Stables” — complex in Pardes Hanna-Karkur. The compound, a former cavalry stable that has become one of northern Israel’s most interesting culinary and craft clusters, suits Kamado perfectly: the restaurant seats only a handful of tables indoors with outdoor seating in the courtyard, the open kitchen is part of the dining room, and most evenings the chef himself is visible at the pass.

Globes food critic Roy Yerushalmi included Kamado in his March 2022 round-up of Israel’s six most memorable ramen bowls, describing it as a discovery brought to him by a young Instagram foodie who had stumbled into the Stables. Reviewers consistently say the place is “the closest thing to Japan” they have found in Israel since the pandemic — specifically the small riverside ramen stalls of Fukuoka, which Sasazaki openly cites as the inspiration.

The chefs

#

The restaurant is run by Tomoaki Sasazaki (笹崎 朋明 / ササザキ・トモアキ) and his partner Maya Spencer. Regulars and press in Israel know him simply as “Sasan” (סאסאן) — a Hebrew-friendly shortening of his family name that has stuck.

Sasazaki grew up in Tokyo and began cooking in his twenties at a Japanese izakaya in a ski town in Hokkaido, where he also worked summers as a cook in mountain huts in the Japanese Alps while snowboarding through the winters. Following both his wanderlust and a growing curiosity about food cultures, he left Japan and spent years travelling and cooking: a year in a Canadian ski town working an Indian kitchen, time back in Hokkaido in Italian kitchens, then stints through South America, Australia, the US, India, Nepal, Thailand and Europe.

How a Tokyo chef ended up in Pardes Hanna

#

The short answer is Maya. Maya Spencer is Israeli, and Sasazaki met her on one of his long trips abroad — he has said that at the time he spoke no English at all, and that cooking was how he connected with people before language caught up. The two kept travelling together, then returned to Japan, where Sasazaki studied cooking formally. In 2016 they moved to Israel together — to Maya’s home country — and that is why this Tokyo-trained chef is today running a ramen shop in Pardes Hanna-Karkur rather than anywhere else.

Once in Israel, Sasazaki spent a few years absorbing the local pantry, cooking at various kitchens, running pop-ups and events, and building a food stall. He says he was always expected to cook straightforward Japanese food but kept surprising people with fusion touches; the couple’s shared love of plant-based cooking gradually shaped the menu into what Kamado is today. The years on the road show on the plate — Kamado is, by design, a fusion ramen-ya rather than a pure-tradition one.

The name

#

Kamado (竈) is the traditional Japanese wood-fired clay oven built specifically for cooking rice. Cooking rice in a kamado takes time, patience and constant attention — gathering wood, building the right heat, holding an even temperature. Sasazaki picked the name because the restaurant’s philosophy mirrors the object: slow, careful cooking as a way of feeding people “something beyond raw food” and connecting across languages and cultures.

The journey to the restaurant

#

Kamado Kitchen launched in 2020 as a catering and takeaway operation built for pandemic-era Israel, followed by small-scale chef events. After two years of quiet, successful operation through the lockdowns, Sasazaki and Spencer began serving Japanese ramen from the courtyard of their own home. Word spread quickly and the house couldn’t contain the crowds, so in February 2022 they opened the current small ramen restaurant in Pardes Hanna. They continue to run catering, chef dinners and sushi workshops in parallel with the restaurant.

The menu

#

Most of the menu is vegan, with the only animal products appearing in the fish ramen options. Wheat ramen noodles can be swapped for rice noodles on request, and a gluten-free ramen can be prepared in a separate area — rare enough in Israel that the gluten-free-Israel community has singled Kamado out. The broths are all made in-house.

Ramen (ラーメン)

• Kamado Classic Fish Ramen (69 ₪) — local fish broth (bream, sea bass), soy and ginger base, coconut cream, tsumire fish balls, soft-boiled marinated egg, stir-fried chard, shiitake braised in soy-sake-mirin, spring onion, nori.
• Kamado Vegan Ramen (62 ₪) — shiitake and kombu broth, soy-apple base, coconut cream, stir-fried broccoli and cauliflower, tofu crumble, shiitake, spring onion, nori. Add egg +4 ₪.
• Himalaya Fish Ramen (69 ₪) — Himalayan salt, celery and pear base, tsumire, marinated egg, wakame, mizuna, chard, nori.
• Himalaya Vegan Ramen (62 ₪) — mushroom and seaweed broth, same salt-celery-pear base, tofu crumble, wakame, mizuna, chard.
• Yakisoba (64 / 68 ₪) — stir-fried ramen noodles with vegetables and either portobello or Nile-perch tempura, bonito flakes, Japanese mayo, nori, fried onion. Can be made vegan.
• Tan Soba (64 ₪) — cold buckwheat soba with vegetable tempura, marinated egg, wakame, broccoli, served with a side mentsuyu of mushroom and seaweed stock, wasabi, ginger, grated kohlrabi and seasonal shiso. Dine-in only.
• Katsu Sama (60 ₪) — summery noodle salad with tahini-soy and cashew-tomato-olive dressing, crunchy tofu cubes, rocket, sprouts, baby leaves, lettuce, kohlrabi, pepper, edamame, carrot, cucumber and seasonal Japanese shiso. Add crispy tofu +15 ₪.

Sides (前菜)

• Gyoza, 3 pieces (34 ₪) — hand-folded dumplings pan-steamed and crisped, in three flavours: sweet-potato-and-cauliflower / mushroom-and-tofu / chard-and-cashew. Sesame-soy-miso sauce.
• Shiromi tempura (55 ₪) — Nile perch in tempura with Himalayan-matcha salt and mayo-teriyaki.
• Kinoko tempura (42 ₪) — portobello tempura, same dips; vegan option available.
• Tofu schnitzel bao (36 ₪) — steamed bao with crispy marinated tofu, pickle, tomato, lettuce, cabbage, house ketchup and chef’s sauce. A customer favourite.
• Spring rolls, 4 pieces (32 ₪) — gluten-free rice-paper rolls with roast cauliflower, avocado, beet, carrot and herbs in coconut-sesame crust, tahini-soy dip.
• Sweet potato tempura (38 ₪) — crispy sweet-potato strips, seaweed seasoning, house ketchup.
• Kamado salad (35 ₪) — gluten-free, bean noodles, wakame, avocado, vegetables, crunchy onion and coriander in sweet-sour dressing.
• Japanese pickles (22 ₪) — made on site, rotating seasonal vegetables.
• Kids’ plate (33 ₪) — ramen noodles with sliced crispy tofu schnitzel and house ketchup.

Dessert

• Sweet gyoza, 3 pieces (42 ₪) — fried sweet dumplings.

All sauces contain gluten; gluten-free ramen and gluten-free sauces are available on request.

Services beyond the restaurant

#

• Catering for weddings and private events, often fully vegan — repeat clients mention how guests “barely noticed the menu was plant-based.”
• Chef’s meals — three set-menu formats brought to your home.
• Sushi workshops — hands-on classes covering sushi technique and a wider introduction to Japanese food culture.

For the Japanese community

#

Kamado is one of the very few kitchens in Israel run by a chef born, raised and trained in Japan, and one of an even smaller set outside Tel Aviv. For Japanese residents of the Sharon and Haifa area it’s a rare place to eat something that tastes like home; for the wider Asian-in-Israel community and for Israelis drawn to Japan, it’s a destination worth the drive to Pardes Hanna.

Practical

#

Address: Orvot HaOmanim complex, HaShalom 4, Pardes Hanna-Karkur Phone: 054-629-8760 Email: kamadokitchen33@gmail.com Hours: Mon–Wed 12:00–22:00 · Thu 12:00–23:00 · Fri 12:00–16:00 · Sat–Sun closed Web: kamadokitchen.co.il Instagram: @kamado.ramen.il (also @kamado_kitchen) Facebook: Kamado Ramen Features: outdoor seating · wheelchair accessible · credit cards accepted · gluten-free options · mostly vegan menu · delivery & takeaway Press: Globes, March 2022 · Haaretz