Blurry eyed from a red eye flight ramen boy and I dropped off our bags, hopped on the subway and made our way to the East Village just in time for Ippudo NY to open. I was in town to run the More Fitness Shape Women’s Half Marathon in Central Park and ramen boy came to cheer me on, see the sights, visit with old friends and most importantly to eat ramen. We were frequent regulars of the Ippudo in Ebisu near our house when we lived in Tokyo but this was our first time to Ippudo in New York’s East Village. The other Ippudo is in Midtown and the only two restaurants in the United States. Now you can find Ippudo worldwide in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, London, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia, Seoul, Taiwan and China. It is so internationally available I wondered if the quality would remain true to what we were accustomed to in Japan. The restaurant was already packed with the lunch crowd and buzzing with action. Waiters and waitresses rushing around taking orders and bringing food to the tables. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long ramen boy was impatiently hungry.
We both ordered the Shiromaru Hakata Classic which is the original tonkotsu (pork broth) noodles topped with pork loin chashu, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), sesame kikurage mushrooms, red pickled ginger and scallions. Ramen boy had his usual basic which is soup, noodles and extra chashu.
Mine came out and it was a sloppy mess not at all visually appealing. It was as if they quickly slapped it together and plopped it in front of me. The restaurant was busy after all but for a $14 bowl of noodles I expected it to at least look pretty. Looks aside the taste was pretty good and uniformally the same as in Tokyo. I prefer the sliced thin fatty version of chashu that melts in your mouth. This pork loin chashu is definitely a healthier meatier version which ramen boy approved. The noodles came out katame (harder) per request but not steaming hot where it fogs up your glasses as you slurp away.
With a tummy full of noodles ramen boy was pretty content. For the uninitiated Ippudo is definitely a great first time experience. Ramen mom on the other hand just felt Ippudo NY is a bit overrated. Sorry once you have it in Japan it’s just not the same.
Ippudo NY (East Village)
65 Fourth Avenue (Between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0088
www.ippudony.com
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