Tag Archives: manhatten ramen

New York City Ramen…Ippudo

17 Oct
Tonkotsu

Ippudo’s Tonkotsu Based Ramen

Recently spent a week in NYC on business and had the pleasure of my first visit to Ippudo Ramen.  Simply stated it’s up there as one of the two best bowls of ramen I have had in the US (the other being Santoku Ramen in Costa Mesa–in a food court at a Japanese Market….more on that in the future).  Be warned, Ippudo comes with a Totto style wait…even as a single it was 30 minutes before pulling up to the counter and expect 45-75 minutes for any sized party.

At Ippudo they offer both a shoyu and tonkotsu (pork) based broth/soup, so naturally on this occasion I splurged and ordered both the Miso (tonkotsu based) and Wasabi Shoyu Ramen.  The Miso I added the house spicy paste (Bakudan) b/c I like my ramen w/a bit of Kimchee of hot oil.  The Miso ramen is in a word, spectacular.  Their menu aptly describes the tonkotsu as ‘silky’ which to me came through in a light (not too fatty in the mouth or thick in the bowl) yet full of flavor and depth (which is what

Tonkotsu is known for…a strong, distinctive flavor).  The men (noodles) were good as well, nice texture and flavor and on the thin side…but as I’ve mentioned before I am a broth/soup guy so to me this was a winner.  The Bakudan did not go well w/this dish and next time I will definitely skip that for the tonkotsu based offerings as it was more red chili flake hot than kimchi or chinese pepper oil (ra-yu).  Finally the toppings were interseting and non-standard while the chashu was appropriately tender and delicious.

Now the Bakudan went well w/the shoyu based offerring.  This was suggested to me by Margaret the host who spent her last vacation volunteering in Japan for Tsunami Relief.  The Wasabi is implemented by a scoop of wasabi-zuke (not sure this is the proper name, it’s just what we called it in our house…basically diced wasabi cured in sake curds)…the shoyu is very light and would be a nice summer time option.  Most interestingly the men in the Shoyu was thicker and chewier, which I believe is the first time I’ve ever had different men at a single shop in the States.

For the tonkotsu broth that would play well in NYC, LA or Osaka I do place Ippudo at the top of my stateside ramen experiences (to date : )

Finally be sure to splurge and get yourself an Ippudo Ramen shirt…it’s a brilliant play off the ubiquitous ‘I ‘heart’ NY”, reading…..

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‘I ‘heart’ RAMEN’h

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Totto Ramen NYC August, 2012

24 Aug

Fortunate enough to visit NYC around 4x yr. for work and IMHO this city has the best (and most ramen) in the US.  The ‘holy trinity’ of NYC shops is Totto, Ippudo and most recently Momofuku noodles?? and I recently had a chance to visit Totto for the 2nd time.

Totto is differntiated by their soup which is paitan tori…or very thick chicken (vs. pork) broth.  I will admit I am a soup vs. noodles guy at the end of the day and I like rich, flavorful, deep flavors (i.e. fatty) therefore I am not usually a fan of chicken stock.  However Totto is not one of the top ramen joints in the US for no reason…their chicken broth is thick (hence..paitan) very similiar in milky texture to tonkotsu ramen, with a great balance of depth and fattiness while not being overwhleming as some find rich tonkotsu.

The noodles are thin and made locally for their shop and do a great job of carrying the almost creamy soup.  Toppings are modest and the Totto touch is in their pork which is flame heated before serving to release the fat and lightly carmelize the tender pieces.  Most recently I had the spicy ramen which I assumed would come loaded w/either ra-yu oil or kimchee…instead it came with some type of hard peppers which were marinated in ra-yu adding a nice crunchy texture (but possibly not enough heat for some).

Overall if you enjoy ramen Totto is one of the tops in the US, my other visit was 18-24 months ago and as you’d expect had an identical experience.  Be prepared to wait at least 30-45 minutes to get in and when you do say hi to Jun who came to NYC from Hokkaido to break dance and learn english.

Up next…in the coming weeks I’ll post some stuff on the local Seattle scene but in case I’m (much) longer than planned my #1 in Seattle has been Fu-Lin since they opened their doors around 9 (already??) years ago.

RR

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