Ramen

Alright, besides the Asian sandwich place that I mentioned below, I also had really yummy ramen this week. Ippudo in the East Village.

This famous ramen place is fairly hard to get into- they don't take reservations and the waits are often over an hour long. If you are a hungry boob, then you are out of luck. (I am not sure why I chose "hungry boob", it's the first thing I thought of, leave me alone, you boob).

They sat us at the bar, and this is what it looks like-

The place is actually really trendy, but unlike many trendy Asian places in NYC, this one actually tastes good. I especially liked how delicate the food are as they prepare everyone's food right in front of you. The meat slices are thin, each ingredient is carefully prepared and assembled, etc.

Here are the pork buns that we ordered. It was pork belly and lettuce in steamed buns. They were good, but we actually make these buns at home, so they are not as special to me. I know, I am snobby.

Here are the two ramen that we ordered: 

Shiromaru Hakata Classic-The original "Tonkotsu" noodle soup topped with pork loin chashu, kikurage, menma, memma, red pickled ginger, sesame, and scallions.

And the Akamaru Modern- The original "Tonkotsu" noodle soup topped with Ippudo's secret "Umami Dama" miso paste, pork chashu, cabage, kikurage, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil.

One thing that I will say is that Ippudo is a bit pricey. All the ramen are at least $15 a bowl, which compares to my favorite $5.75 Vietnamese Pho is quite a big difference. However, their soup is extremely flavorful and the handmade noodles have a wonderful texture. I would gladly spend the $15 on a hot bowl of quality ramen than a large cheesey pasta dish any other day. That is until I find a cheesey pasta dish worth my $15 of course... Anyway, make Ippudo an experience, it's really worth it.