About a 10 minute walk from my dorm in Tokyo was Ippudo Ramen
Ippudo is a small chain in Japan with about 30 or so shops around the country. I can remember checking their website and seeing a note that they were planning to expand and open a shop in the US, but no timeframe was given. Since it's impossible to get that quality of ramen in Boston, I was forced to forget about it lest I torture myself unnecessarily.
As I prepared to head to New York and visit with some college buddies, I figured I'd be able to find some ramen that would at least compare to what I'd found in Japan. I fired up Yelp and searched New York for ramen. I was shocked when Ippudo was near the top of the list. They had literally opened on Monday (March 31st.) I counted my blessings and headed there for lunch shortly after arriving.
By necessity and culture Ippudo is different in New York than it is in Tokyo. It's much bigger and roomier. Americans probably would not tolerate being seated as closely as Japanese are accustomed. Unfortunately my beloved gyoza (pork dumplings) are not on the menu though I hope they will add them soon.
We started off with the chicken karagge, essentially battered fried chicken. The Japanese tend to like dark meat, and there was no exception made here as the chicken was moist and juicy and had a very spicy sauce on top.
We both got shiromaru ramen with a side of rice. Mine was topped with cod roe, seaweed and some mayonnaise. It was quite good and the stickiness of the rice was perfect.
The ramen itself was very good. Soft but still with a good bite. The broth was exactly as a remembered, rich and fatty and delicious. In Japan they offer you an option of firm or soft noodles, I hope they add this as well as the only difference is in cooking time.
The only disappointments were the pork slices. I think that perhaps they are using a less fatty cut of pork here and it was a bit dry. I would also like an option to pay more and get more pork slices. In Tokyo you could go from two slices to six for another Y200. I'd like to see this option here as well because honestly, who isn't willing to pay a small sum for extra pork?
And just for reference's sake, here are some shots of Ippudo ramen from Tokyo with six slices of pork
5 comments:
I'm getting some ramen today and I'm pretty excited!!!
i had ippudo in osaka earlier this year. it was really good but a bit too oily for me.
The broth is definitely fatty. And you know what Emeril always says; "Fat equals flavor!"
Oh, my! I'm so craving ramen right now!
You and me both, my friend. I need to arrange a trip to New York SOON.
I like Sapporo over in Porter but it does not compare to Ippudo and some of the other New York choices.
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