Ejji Ramen

What Ejji Ramen does

Ejji Ramen is a privately held, founder-owned restaurant company founded in October 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland by co-owners Oscar Lee and Chef Ten Vong. The company operates a small multi-unit Asian comfort food concept centered on customizable ramen bowls with a Malaysian-Japanese fusion identity, prepared from house-made broths and sauces and using premium inputs such as Heritage Farms Cheshire Pork. Its menu extends beyond ramen to coconut rice bowls, sando buns, mazemen, appetizers, wings, sides, and drinks, with dietary accommodations for gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan diners.

The business is distributed through three physical storefronts — the original Belvedere Square Market location in Baltimore (opened 2014), a Bethesda location inside Westfield Montgomery Mall (opened 2018), and a Harbor East location inside Whole Foods Market (opened 2021) — supplemented by dine-in and carryout services, third-party delivery via DoorDash and GrubHub, direct online ordering via Toasttab, and a catering service for corporate and private events routed through Foodify. Pricing is transactional per item with select promotional programs (a 10% Thursday student discount, a birthday free bowl for newsletter subscribers), and no subscription, enterprise contract, or institutional pricing exists.

Revenue is generated almost entirely from individual consumer transactions at the three locations, with catering and delivery as secondary streams. The company has no institutional funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed financials. Marketing is conducted through an owned blog, organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), an email newsletter, community partnerships, and earned media in regional food publications. Owner operators Chef Ten Vong (Head Chef) and Oscar Lee remain directly involved in operations and menu development.

Name

Ejji Ramen

Legal name

Ejji Ramen

Website

https://ejjiramen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ejji Ramen is a privately held, founder-owned restaurant company operating three Maryland locations (Baltimore Belvedere Square, Harbor East inside Whole Foods, Bethesda Westfield Montgomery Mall) serving customizable Malaysian-Japanese fusion ramen, rice bowls, and sando buns to individual diners, supplemented by catering and third-party delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Asian Fast Casual (Pan-Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean) (THAFABAE)

Keywords

• Asian fusion restaurant
• Ramen bowls
• Catering services
• Malaysian-Japanese cuisine
• Customizable noodle bowls

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in and Carryout Sales: Direct food and beverage sales from physical restaurant locations including ramen bowls, rice bowls, sando buns, appetizers, and drinks for dine-in and carryout customers.
2. Catering Services: Corporate and party catering services providing ramen bar to-go and custom orders for events in the Baltimore area.
3. Third-party Delivery: Sales through delivery platforms including DoorDash, GrubHub, and Toasttab for carryout orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Ejji Ramen operates casual dining restaurant locations offering customizable ramen bowls, rice bowls, sando buns, appetizers, wings, mazemen, sides, and beverages featuring Malaysian-Japanese fusion cuisine. The restaurants provide dine-in, carryout, and delivery service to individual consumers, plus catering for corporate events and private parties in the Baltimore and Bethesda, Maryland markets.

Product overview

Ejji Ramen is a ramen restaurant with Malaysian heritage influences, offering customizable ramen bowls (Tonkotsu Porky Ramen, Miso Corny Ramen, Laksa Ramen, Chicken Ramen, and Build-Your-Own options), Coconut Rice Bowls, Sando Buns, appetizers (Gyoza, Roti Cani, Edamame), Wings, Mazemen, sides, and drinks. The company operates two restaurant locations (Belvedere Square Market in Baltimore and Harbor East in Whole Foods Market) plus a catering service for corporate and private events. The product portfolio centers on Asian comfort food with a build-your-own bowl customization model.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ramen Bowls Customizable ramen bowls with choice of broth, noodles, toppings, and sauces. Signature offerings include Tonkotsu Porky Ramen (pork broth with char su pulled pork, pork belly, miso egg), Miso Corny Ramen (miso corn broth with crispy shallots, corn, bamboo shoots, enoki mushrooms), Laksa Ramen (curry shellfish broth with crab ball, shrimp tempura), and Build-Your-Own (BYO) Ramen options. Served to dine-in and carryout customers.
• Chicken Ramen Chicken-based ramen offerings including The Wet Bird (5-spiced chicken broth with hand-pulled beer noodles, grilled chicken thigh) and Chicken Shoyu Ramen (five-spiced chicken broth with shoyu, dashi, grilled chicken thigh, miso egg).
• Coconut Rice Bowls Rice bowls featuring coconut-simmered aromatic basmati rice as a base, customizable with various proteins and toppings. Alternative to traditional ramen with options like Breakfast Rice Bowl and Vegetarian Rice Bowl.
• Sando Buns Japanese-style sandwich buns with various fillings including Spicy Pork Belly Sando (pork belly burnt ends with pineapple jicama slaw and spicy Thai basil glaze), Harbor Hen (fried chicken cutlet with Sichuan pepper mayo), Beef Burger Sando, and The Whole Point (vegan mushroom option with shiitake, jicama slaw, zucchini).
• Appetizers Starters including Vegetable Gyoza (savory-sweet pan-fried dumplings with shiitake mushroom, jicama, cabbage), Roti Cani (Malaysian style crispy flatbread with curry lentil sauce), Sake Steamed Shrimp, Hickory Smoked Edamame, and Pickled Shishito Peppers.
• Kingdom Wings Korean style fried chicken brushed with housemade tangy chili sauce. Available in 8 or 16 piece portions.
• Mazemen Dry ramen dishes including Truffle Miso Mazemen (spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese with truffle miso butter sauce) and Singapore Chili Soft Shell Crab Mazemen.
• Drinks Beverage offerings including Ramune (original and strawberry flavors), Melon Soda, Mango Soda, Bottled Water, Sparkling Water, Fiji Water, and Galvania Organic Soda.
• Sides Side dishes including fresh cut French Fries (whole portion).
• Catering Services Corporate catering with ramen bar to-go for office events and party catering for family reunions, birthdays, and holidays. Orders placed through the Foodify platform for Baltimore-area clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Named #1 ramen in Baltimore on Foursquare's list of best ramen spots
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Westfield Montgomery MallcoreOthers · 1 January 2018Second restaurant location opened inside the food court at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, MD, expanding geographic presence.
• DC BrauminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2017Monthly featured beer partnership bringing DC Brau beers to the Belvedere Square Market location. Featured beers included The Citizen, The Public, The Corruption, and Penn Quarter Porter, paired with specific menu items.
• TasteWise KidsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2017Charity partnership for kids cooking demonstrations and fundraising. Ejji participated in a month-long fundraiser supporting TasteWise Kids' mission of educating children about food sources through hands-on programming.
• PixanthropyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2017Innovative fundraising platform partnership using Mementos to create charitable chain reactions from sharable visuals. Platform used to collect donations for TasteWise Kids.
• Heritage Farms Cheshire PorkcoreOthersPremium pork supplier providing Heritage Farms Cheshire Pork for ramen dishes. Same supplier used by professional competition BBQ pit masters, known for superior marbling and oleic acid content.
• Whole Foods MarketcoreOthersHost location for Harbor East Ejji Ramen location inside Whole Foods Market. Provides retail foot traffic and collaborative marketing opportunities.
• FoodifyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party catering ordering platform used for placing catering orders. Customer uses Foodify to order Ejji catering for events.
• Belvedere Square MarketcoreOthersOriginal flagship location inside Belvedere Square Market. Part of Baltimore's vibrant food market community since October 2014.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Wagamama: Pan-Asian fast-casual/near-fast-casual chain with strong brand and U.S. presence. Overlaps with Ejji in Asian noodle and rice-bowl categories, customization model, and disciplined urban retail real estate footprint.
• Sweetgreen: Public fast-casual chain with a build-your-own bowl model and urban/suburban retail footprint. Though cuisine is salads rather than ramen, Sweetgreen is a useful comparable for unit economics, growth cycles, and multi-format (mall, street-front, grocery-anchor) expansion in fast-casual.
• Pokeworks: U.S. fast-casual chain offering customizable Asian-inspired bowls. Pokeworks is a broader incumbent in Asian fast-casual with a similar build-your-own, multi-format, urban-and-mall retail footprint — directly comparable on operational model if not cuisine.
• Ichiran: Iconic Japanese tonkotsu ramen chain with a global footprint. Comparable to Ejji on protein-and-broth-led ramen positioning and premium-category positioning, though Ichiran's isolated-counter format is a different delivery model.
• Marugame Udon: Japanese fast-casual chain operating in U.S. malls and urban centers. Marugame is a broader incumbent in Asian fast casual, sharing with Ejji the model of customizable noodles, mall-based real estate, and a focus on build-your-own bowls.
• Ippudo: Large Japanese ramen chain with locations in the U.S. and globally. Ippudo is a broader incumbent in the ramen category with premium positioning (tonkotsu focus) — overlapping with Ejji's signature tonkotsu and customizable bowls, but at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Kyuramen: U.S. Japanese ramen chain with a similar customizable-bowl menu and Asian-comfort-food positioning. Both brands target young urban diners with elevated ramen, rice bowls, and Asian-fusion small plates, and operate out of urban retail locations.
• Kinton Ramen: Multi-unit Canadian ramen chain with a customizable-bowl menu. Comparable to Ejji on ramen specialization, customization, and counter-service model, with overhead and unit economic profile similar to a small/medium ramen operator.
• Jinya Ramen Bar: Multi-unit fast-casual Japanese ramen chain operating across the U.S. Both Jinya and Ejji compete in the customizable ramen-bowl category with a build-your-own model and counter-service dining experience, and both target mall, food-hall, and street-front locations.

Emerging players

• Menya Jiro: Regional ramen chain with a smaller, more specialized footprint. Comparable to Ejji on ramen-only focus, urban Asian-cuisine positioning, and similar scale of operations in the U.S. market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ejjieats
• Facebookfacebook.com/ejjieats
• Instagraminstagram.com/ejjieats
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ejji-ramen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ejji Ramen