Ippudo New York

Though my stops have been relatively few and far between, I'm intent on slowly working my way through visits to what are widely considered some of the top spots in Manhattan for ramen. Rai Rai Ken came first, followed by Momofuku and Ramen Setagaya (which is now known as Ramen Kuidouraku). Earlier this week, just before crossing town and jumping the train back to Philly, I added Ippudo to the list; really, though, I should say we, as I was back in action with Joe and Nattles, the same crew from last fall's visit to Setagaya.

While I think it's fair to say that Momofuku has the most urban vibe and frenetic energy of the bunch, it's Ippudo that slots in as the least casual, most typically restaurant-like — from its menu to its service, and from the snazzy decor to the generous table sizes and spacing. That's all reflected in Ippudo's prices, the highest of the bunch when it comes to what we'd all come for: ramen.

Of the several renditions of ramen available, I opted for the Akamaru Modern: 'The original tonkotsu' soup noodle with Ippudo's special sauce, pork belly chashu, cabbage, kikurage, scallions, miso paste and fragrant garlic oil. As the picture above does a reasonable job of conveying, Ippudo's broth is opaque and fairly deeply miso-enriched. It's intensely savory, almost too much so, as I found it hard to get through the whole bowl of broth (in fact, I didn't). The noodles, though excellent in terms of flavor, flexibility and silkiness, could have used a bit more oomph in both the tooth and girth departments in order to stand up to their dark, heady bath.

Back to those prices — if you're going to fork out $13 for lunchtime ramen, you may as well throw in an extra three bucks for the "set," as that modest upcharge will net you a nice little soy-ginger dressed salad and a surprisingly substantial side. Of the four available choices, I went with the broiled eel, classically prepared and set atop a bowl full of slightly sweet sticky rice.

I'll return to Ippudo without a doubt. Overall, it was a more than satisfying experience. I'll even go for the ramen again; I liked it more than my description above may have made it seem. That said, I'll go at dinner rather than lunch, or on a day when I'm feeling the call of the bottomless pit. Perhaps on a wintry day, when that slightly out of balance richness may be brought into check by the elements. Conversely, I won't go when I'm craving that certain ramen fix, something I'm much more prone to at lunchtime, when I'm usually looking for simplicity, lightness, comfort and a sense of being left energized at the end of the meal. For me, I'm coming to learn, that means shio ramen, served in a no-nonsense setting.



Ippudo NY
65 Fourth Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0088

Intro only...

Ramen Setagaya

When my friends Joe and Nattles suggested lunch at Ramen Setagaya as the initial meeting point during our recent raid on Manhattan, I could hardly decline. There's very little in the way of good ramen in Philadelphia. And besides, it would mark stop number three on my ongoing tour of East Village noodle houses.

Ramen Setagaya, which occupies the front half of a relatively tiny storefront space on the west side of 1st Avenue, is more urbane and less homey than Rai Rai Ken, far less buzzy and NY-cosmo than Momofuku Noodle Bar. Rai Rai Ken strikes me as the kind of place one might find on in a quiet residential neighborhood of Tokyo, which just happens to be exactly its setting in NYC. Momofuku? Well, that's pure NY, and while it fits in perfectly with the youthful nighttime energy of the East Village, I could easily see it being just as successful anywhere from Union Square to SoHo to TriBeCa. Setagaya, on the other hand, is exactly the type of place I'd expect to find in the most bustling, mercantile neighborhoods of Tokyo (a place I've never been but nonetheless have rather vivid ideas about). I suppose that's perfectly apropos, given that Setagaya is indeed a Japan-based chain, named for the most densely populated of Tokyo's 23 special wards. It also makes sense, then, that there's a certain fast food vibe to Setagaya, but in the vein of quick, no-nonsense street food, not of homogenized, preprocessed and branded slop shops.

The core of the shio ramen here is pure and simple – lighter, saltier and more refreshing than the somewhat richer, more darkly flavored broth at RRK and a night and day contrast to the over-the-top porkiness of the Momofuku rendition. The brightness of the shio broth at Setagaya is matched by the springy texture of the ramen itself, delicate and silky, just firm enough to retain their bite throughout the meal. Likewise, the two slices of pork – an extra-pork upgrade is available – are cooked to the point of tenderness but have just a little chew courtesy of a nice vein of fat running through the meat. It's the egg that really ties it all together, poached and halved, its yolk set enough to avoid turning the shio into egg drop soup but soft enough to absorb and meld with all of the other flavors in the bowl.

While I'm sure Setagaya hops at night when the East Village kids come out to play, lunch seems the ideal time to partake of its pleasures. Business was modest just after noon on a Friday, allowing us to relax over our bowls and build the fortitude necessary for a long day ahead. At about $10 each, including the addition of a shared plate of kimchi, the price is right as well.

Once again, I really must give a shout out to Sir Brooklynguy as if not for his thoughtful roundup of NYC ramen bars, Setagaya and Rai Rai Ken most likely would not have made it onto my radar.

Meanwhile, just around the corner....

Ramen Setagaya
141 1st Avenue (at 9th)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 529-2740

Intro only...

Momofuku Noodle Bar

While I was busy sending cohorts on field trips last week, I also managed to squeeze in a trip of my own, to New York for the Michael Skurnik national portfolio tasting. That was a doozy – seven hours and over 90 tables – so my report may not surface for a few more days. As you might imagine, food was a dire necessity by the end of the tasting.


Since I had a few hours to kill before catching my train, I called a friend who lives in the East Village and we decided to grab a bite to eat at Momofuku Noodle Bar. The little bit of cash I’d saved by taking the late train went right back into the local economy. Always trying to do my part…. From the looks of it, Momofuku’s not feeling the pinch. It was Wednesday night and the joint was packed. No sooner did we walk in the door than about a dozen people lined up behind us. We were in luck, though, as two seats had just opened at the kitchen bar. The fact that Famke Janssen was tucking into a bowl of ramen two seats to my right was just an added little voyeuristic treat.

After tasting 100+ wines, it's beer (and water) that was called for, no matter how tempted I was by the '06 Schäfer-Fröhlich Riesling halbtrocken on Momofuku's tiny wine list.
Given that Momofuku Noodle Bar has been on the scene for the better part of five years, it’s plain to say that I’m a little behind the curve in only now getting there for the first time. Though the wave of attention garnered by Momofuku (it means “lucky peach”) seems to have passed its peak, the restaurant shows no signs of falling into comfortable neglect. The menu changes daily, at least in part, and continues to reflect local, seasonal ingredients along with a flair for fun. It also continues to attract serious culinary adventurers and curious tourists alike, while doubling (from what I could tell, at least) as a regular neighborhood spot, a dichotomy that’s reflected in the narrow room’s constant buzz of energy tempered by a sense of comfort and ease at the table.


Though there’s a clear core of East Asian influence to the overall menu at Momofuku Noodle Bar, there’s also little if any gesture made toward maintaining traditional recipes. And that’s the intention. In the owners’ own words, “We try and serve delicious American food.” Beyond the Asian basis, influences are drawn from far and wide. An appetizer of raw bay scallops, served on the half-shell and dressed with a low-acid, room temp broth (did I detect green tea?) would have been equally at home in a sushi bar or as at the raw bar in an adventurous chop house. A Middle Eastern slant was incorporated into our appetizer of roasted red and golden beets served with a dollop of sesame infused yogurt.

If there’s an intentional central theme at Momofuku, it’s clearly pork. Whether in subtle form, as with the small bits of Benton’s ham in the beet salad, or playing a starring roll, as in the pork steamed buns that flowed constantly from the open kitchen, there’s a porcine influence of one kind or another to more than half the dishes on the menu.


The house signature dish is a case in point. Momofuku Ramen looks reasonably traditional, right down to a slice of fish cake and sheet of nori. The noodles are toothsome and flavorful. A perfectly poached egg adds a nice touch, too. But the dish is so intensely pork driven that it’s far from classic ramen. The deeply colored, richly flavored broth is only the beginning. Add to that a generous, fatty slab of pork belly and a fistful of pulled pork and you’ve got a bowl of noodles that’s unquestionably over-the-top. I have a high tolerance for rich food yet was still unable to finish the bowl. Brooklynguy called it “unbalanced” in his excellent roundup of Manhattan ramen bars and I’m inclined to agree. But while traditional it’s not – and imbalanced it may be – I can hardly say I didn’t enjoy it. It’s heady enough to satisfy a tremendous hunger and to warm the coldest soul. And it lends credence to the line that still forms at Momofuku's door.

Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 First Avenue
(between 10th & 11th)
New York, NY 10003
212-475-7899

Intro only...

Rai Rai Ken

Straight out of Tampopo. At least that’s the feeling I had upon stepping through the noren at Rai Rai Ken and choosing a perch at the twelve-seat, dark wood counter. Not having traveled to Japan (yet…), I’ll have to stick with Japanese film as my frame of reference. It seems appropriate enough, given that Tampopo is one of my all-time favorite food flicks.

Situated in New York City’s East Village, Rai Rai Ken offers a modest and typical array of basic Japanese comfort food but it’s clear that their specialty is one thing: Ramen. Three types are on offer, with the core of the broth – Shoyu (soy sauce), Shio (seafood) and Miso (fermented soybean) – providing the primary variation.


I opted for the Shio Ramen, the “house specialty seafood based noodle soup topped with bamboo shoot, boiled egg, roast pork, spinach, fish cake, dried seaweed and scallion.” I’ll get right to the point. It’s a one dish wonder. Sure, there’s room for improvement. The half of a hard boiled egg could stand to be replaced by a soft-centered poached egg. And though the fish cake is probably traditional (and certainly colorful), I’d happily pay an extra buck for it to be replaced by something actually recognizable as seafood. But those are minor nits to pick. The two most important elements of Ramen – the broth and the noodles themselves – are dead-on at Rai Rai Ken. The Shio broth is mild and subtle yet complete, working with all of the ingredients in the bowl without demanding to be noticed – and good enough to slurp all by itself. The noodles are perfectly firm and toothsome. A taste which happened to include both roast pork, which is done perfectly, and dried seaweed was the best single mouthful of the meal. If only there had been more..., which is not to say that portions are skimpy, only that I can be greedy when something is this tasty.

As an added bonus, we’re talking about cheap eats. The bowl of Shio Ramen as ordered will set you back less than a ten-spot (before tax and tip). I’ve heard tell of 30-60 minute waits at dinner time; however, stopping in for lunch early in the week, I was able to step right up to a choice of seats at the noodle bar. The next time in New York, I’ll do it again, though, to be fair, I suppose I’ll have to go around the corner and try Ramen Setagaya as well. Somehow, I think I’ll manage.

Rai Rai Ken 214 East 10th Street New York, NY 10003 (212) 477-7030

Intro only...