Tag Archives: ramenporn

Hinata

This little midtown east ramen joint puts up a decent bowl.

20150622_114027

20150622_114241

The broth is paitan chicken based, but for a price premium you can choose the Nikumiso ramen if you need to get your pork fix.

20150622_114529

That bowl still has the chicken broth, but it’s topped with miso-glazed sliced pork and miso-seasoned ground pork. For me, this was the right choice, because I’m not a huge fan of just chicken flavored broth (unless it’s amazing), and the miso on the pork brought back a little bit of the cloudy thickness that I like without going all-in on an entirely miso-based broth.

20150622_114516

I chose the straight noodles over the wavy egg noodles. If I went full chicken broth I probably would have went with the wavies though, because they keep that eggy flavor going strong in every bite.

20150622_114633

The bowl also had black mushrooms, bamboo shoots, beautifully sliced corn fresh off the cob, properly sliced scallions, and spinach, which was an interesting touch. There was a bit of burnt or black garlic as well. The bowl looked incredible. The flavor was good but not the best I’ve had. With a soft boiled egg added, the bill came to $18, which is a bit pricey for a bowl of slightly above average ramen.

20150622_114825

HINATA
159 E 55th St
New York, NY 10022

Katsu-Hama

I strolled by this joint yesterday on my way to meet a friend for a drink. I took note of it, so I came back today for dinner with my wife.

20150502_143913

20150502_143955

It’s a small but nicely set up joint on the second floor, with nice big windows overlooking the street (55th). We sat down right away at the bar even though it was crowded with people waiting for larger table settings.

I had the ma-yu tonkotsu ramen. It was pretty good, not too bitter from the black garlic, which often happens with ma-yu.

DSC06262

The bamboo shoots were excellent, the pork was tender and flavorful, and the noodles were alkali straight and nicely cooked.

DSC06264

The only down side to this bowl was the egg – it was hard boiled instead of soft boiled, so the yolk was a little powdery.

DSC06263

My wife had a nice fried chicken dish set (nan ban), which came with miso soup, rice, and a small salad. The meat was great. I would slap it on a roll with some mayo and use the shredded cabbage it came with as a crunch element. Delicious!

DSC06265

KATSU-HAMA
11 E. 47th St.
New York, NY 10017

Ramen Takumi

This little joint just popped up at Washington Square Park, and my wife and I stopped in for a quick bite as we were walking to an art gallery.

DSC06239

With the absence of a tonkotsu broth on the menu, my next go-to is typically miso. I generally find shoyu and ship to be too thin, and rely too heavily on salt/soy sauce for flavoring as opposed to the actual meat. While that may be the case with miso as well (relying on the paste), at least I get a somewhat thicker and milkier broth.

DSC06243

So I got the standard miso, but with an added egg. I enjoyed it. All of the components were nicely done. The noodles were cooked well, the broth was flavorful, and the pork slices were tender and delicious. The egg was perfectly cooked, and surprisingly the corn was helpful to add a sweet pop into the otherwise very savory bowl.

DSC06246

My wife got one of the tsukemen dishes. Incredibly huge portion size. Had to be a half pound of noodles in that bowl, which were bursting with delicious egg flavor. Each noodle tasted like you were having soft boiled egg with it somehow. Amazing. And the dipping broth was jam-packed with chunks of delicious pork meat. The broth was otherwise chicken flavored and very hearty and “chickeny.”

DSC06240

RAMEN TAKUMI
1 University Pl
New York, NY 10003

Tabata

Tabata is a small, no bullshit ramen joint on the corner of 40th Street and 8th Avenue.

DSC04964

The place is legit. Nothing fancy inside either – it gets right down to fucking business.

DSC04955

We started with some crispy baby octopus. These were tasty. Not the most tender I’ve had, but the crisp was nice and the lemon really made them pop.

DSC04956

I had “lava men,” which is their tonkotsu broth (I chose pork rather than chicken) with a spicy kick. It was pretty good. Noodle quality was good to above average, flavor was good, and I had two very nice slices of pork that were soft and flavorful with no rubbery chew. Great part about this little joint is that you get a whole egg in your ramen, not just a half. A third slice of pork would have been awesome, but at only $11 it really was a great bargain.

DSC04958

DSC04960

The real winner here though was my wife’s bowl of “tabata” ramen, which is the owner’s Burmese, non-traditional version of ramen, with a soy and coconut curry broth that was both sweet and savory, with a little kick of spice and some fresh herbage from the onion and cilantro. This was so creamy and flavorful. Man. Amazing. One thing I would love to see is a little pile of sliced red chili peppers for a little extra boom in the spice department.

DSC04962

TABATA
540 9th Ave
New York, NY 10018

Ochado

I stopped into this ramen joint for a quick bite after a sub-par burger. Since they were out of Orion (one of my favorite Japanese beers), we tried this fucker from NJ. Pretty good – a mild stout.

ochado 6

My buddy ordered some chicken wings, which were nicely crisped and garnished with fried garlic and shallots. Very nice.

ochado 5

I went with the “Prawn Mee” ramen, which is a non-traditional bowl but the menu descritpion sold me on this over the porky miso varietal. It was good. It had a great spicy kick to a broth that was clearly steeped in shrimp shell stock goodness.

ochado 2

The egg was perfectly cooked, and all the shrimp within were similarly perfect. I didn’t love the way the scallions were shredded, but I swept those aside easily so they didn’t get tangled up in the noodles.

ochado 3

ochado 1

Overall I enjoyed it, so I will probably be back to try the miso ramen.

OCHADO
76 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

Ramen Yebisu

My wife and I came here with another couple that lives nearby. I read good things about the miso ramen so I was psyched for it.

We started with a round of Orion beers. Love this shit:

DSC04752

We had a couple of apps too. The pork buns were pretty good, but the meat was more of the stewed variety as opposed to the grilled style. They were self-assembly:

DSC04739

DSC04738

DSC04744

The gyoza were good too. They were nice and crispy fried flat, and served with black garlic and scallions:

DSC04742

Okay so on to the good shit. I had the miso ramen with extra sliced pork and a soft boiled egg. The ramen was thick and rich, with hints of seafood flavor. The noodles were wavy egg noodles, by Sun, and perfectly cooked. The scallions weren’t overpowering wither, which I was happy about. Meat quality was pretty good for the most part. I typically don’t love miso ramen but this place was legit.

DSC04749

My wife tried the house special “Yebisu Ramen,” which they only serve 10 times per day. It’s a seafood based broth, thin and clear. This is a light soup but really deep in flavor. You can tell they simmered that broth in crab shells and seafood husks for a long time. It’s topped with all sorts of goodies like mussels, scallops, shrimp and  crab legs. This is a big winner.

DSC04746

Biggest loser of the night?  THIS GUY:

DSC04753-2

RAMEN YEBISU
126 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

City Kitchen

City Kitchen is a small second floor food hall that has some pretty decent proprietors in it. All of the food sold within is pretty much meant for take-out as opposed to dine-in, though there are a few tables available and bar seating along with windows.

DSC04175

DSC04201

I’ve decided to lump all of my reviews for each place within into this one post for easy access.

First is Kuro Obi, the ramen joint at the far end.

DSC04176

This is an offshoot of Ippudo. They offer the karaka-men spicy pork and chicken broth ramen. It was good. The noodles were the wavy egg style, and all the ingredients within were great. I just wish for $13 I got more than two thin slices of the pork belly.

DSC04177

DSC04184

DSC04187

Next up was Whitman’s for a burger and fries.

DSC04188

The burger was great – cooked nicely to medium, good pickles, mayo coverage, lettuce and tomato. Excellent bun (potato) as well.

DSC04193

DSC04195

The fries were lackluster. Maybe I should have upgraded to blue cheese fries. They were just a little greasy and not crispy enough.

DSC04189

For dessert get some “shaved snow,” An ice-cream textural spin on shave ice.

DSC04202

We had the banana cream, finished with some coconut shavings and condensed milk (and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal).

DSC04207_2

Nab some donuts from Dough on your way out. But if you see the famous hibiscus flavored ones, get as many as you can. They sell out quick.

DSC04210

DSC04211

DSC04212

DSC04216_2

DSC04215

DSC04214

DSC04213

DSC04209

DSC08614

We tried lemon poppy and chocolate this time. Both were amazing, doughy, big, soft, and flavorful even if not fresh out of the oven/fryer. But I was bummed that the hibiscus was all gone by time we finished our ramen and burger. Ahh what the hell… I’ll throw in some shots of the hibiscus donut from way back when I first tried them at another location:

20141110_110352_LLS

20141110_110403_LLS

20141110_110503_LLS

CITY KITCHEN
Row NYC
700 8th Ave.
New York, NY 10036

Minca

Minca is a little spot on East 5th Street between Avenues A and B.

DSC03975

I stopped in for a nice hot bowl of pork broth ramen to warm up from the insane cold. The broth itself was a little thin and watery, but the quality of the pork meat within was definitely excellent. I tend to like a more thick or viscous broth – something approaching sauce almost. Flavor was definitely heavy on garlic. I typically don’t mind that, but it came close to bitterness in this case.

DSC03977

Mushrooms, egg, scallions and all other toppings were good quality.

DSC03981

I liked the thin, strait noodles. Nice and al dente, how I prefer them:

DSC03985

I’d definitely go back to try the spicy (which I had ordered “on the side” but they didn’t give me a blob of it).

MINCA
536 E 5th St
New York, NY 10009

Nippori

This little Japanese joint opened up in April of 2014. My ramen-master buddy found it while perusing a Yelp search for ramen in midtown west. He has tried nearly everything else in the city, so this was a new spot for him.

It was a pretty nice little place. Inside, there’s lots of space – not your typical jammed-up ramen joint with a line out the door and no space to lift your fucking elbow from the table. The bar and table seating is spacious, and there’s a second bar in the back for sushi.

When we walked in, I saw an awesome looking grilled squid dish. I wanted it badly, but I mistakenly ordered the sautéed squid item just above it on the menu. It was okay (slightly chewy for my liking), but it had a good spicy flavor from the jalapeños:

nippori squid

We also tried the fried chicken thighs (karage). These were good. Juicy and crispy. Gotta love the thigh meat.

nippori chicken

For ramen, I tried the tonkotsu that came with miso flavored pork belly. it was okay. The broth was a little light and the pork was a little chewy (I like the belly to be fall-apart soft in ramen). Also, I expected the belly to be a thick cut, as opposed to thin bacon style. The noodles were good: thin, straight, firm … like Quagmire’s erect cock (that’s a pure guess – I’ve never seen it).

nippori tonkotsu 2

nippori tonkotsu 1

My buddy has been to nearly every ramen place in the 5 boroughs. He said this bowl of tan tan men was good and recommended; I believe a possible 3.5 out of 5 on his very difficult scale. I though thought the broth was robust and flavorful, just the right amount of spicy. Perhaps I would get it with straight noodles, knowing now that it is served with wavy egg noodles.

nippori tan tan men

All that said, this is a rare spot that serves up a full Japanese food menu in addition to some decent ramen. It’s not just a ramen shop by any means.

On a second trip I tried some other items. First, the grilled squid. This was pretty good, nicely cooked, etc.

DSC05327

My wife ordered the salmon saddle, which was really flavorful and perfectly fried. The fat from within the layers of fish flakes was really delicious.

DSC05332

I tried the signature Nippori ramen, which was coconut milk-based with chicken, cilantro and red onion. I liked it a lot but I think the similar style at Tabata was a little bit more to my liking. The wavy egg noodles were nicely cooked, the egg was soft and delicious, but I think this bowl would benefit from some sliced jalapeños.

DSC05339

DSC05338

DSC05341

My wife ordered a soba dish but we got this skillet fried ramen dish instead. The pork in the dish was similar to the kind in my first bowl of ramen, up top. It was a good dish, but totally not what we expected from an order of soba.

DSC05335

For dessert we tried two items. First was the espresso and chocolate coffee gelato. This was really tasty, and I would definitely recommend it.

DSC05342

DSC05346

The key lime cheesecake was okay. I wasn’t blown away by it. It did the job, but that ice cream / gelato was way better.

DSC05344

NIPPORI
245 W. 51st St.
New York, NY 10019

Puff Cha Ramen

In the annals of not-quite-ramen joints that use the word “ramen” in their name to draw in Ippudo and Totto overflow business in the midtown west area, Puff Cha has to be one of the best.

DSC03092

The place is small inside, with seating for a maximum of 18 guests, but it is very nicely and basically decorated. Colorful.

DSC03064

Like Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns “Ramen,” Puff Cha serves up a bunch of dry and soup noodle dishes, among other things like Thai curry puffs and bubble teas. These are essentially empanada-like puff pastry dough turnovers filled with all sorts of goodies. We tried the Korean BBQ varietal, which was okay but I imagine their signature Thai offerings are much better.

DSC03067

DSC03069

We also dabbled into their chicken wings, which, despite not being as crispy as I like, were definitely nice and flavorful, with a soy-based sticky sauce coating them.

DSC03077

We tried some lunch specials since we were both off from work and wandered in for the deal. I tried the roast pork noodle soup, which was really awesome.

DSC03079

DSC03083

The broth was packed with flavor, yet thin and clear. It was served with thinly sliced roast pork, fresh baby bok choy, scallions, cilantro, and a fried egg roll wrapper of some sort. The noodles were ramen style, and cooked just right.

My soup came with a spring roll too, which was decent. Not greasy, and very light.

DSC03074

My wife tried a “mock duck” in Thai peanut curry sauce, which was surprisingly delicious and very reminiscent of actual fatty duck skin. Nicely done! It was served with rice, baby bok choy, and a bowl of clear fish broth.

DSC03085

My wife’s dish came with a steamed dumpling, which was definitely more Thai or Vietnamese flavored as opposed to Chinese.

DSC03071

The greatest part of this meal was discovering that they have fresh, lightly pickled spicy jalapeño peppers and red onions in a dish for adding to your soups or rice/noodle dishes. Awesome!

DSC03088

In the back, they have a counter-top display case with some homemade desserts that looked simple and nice as well.

DSC03093

Very affordable – especially during the lunch deal times (until 4pm).

DSC03094_2

PUFF CHA
457 W 50th St
New York, NY 10019