Everything except for decent ramen.
For years, friends and I would say to each other "Why aren't there any decent or ANY ramen restaurants for that matter in NYC?" There was one place and it was not very good at all. It fact it sucked. I was embarrassed that my city didn't have a passable ramen restaurant and had ramen shame. It needn't be fancy but it had to have soul and depth. A hard thing to achieve.
Today, NYC is making it's mark on the world of ramen. David Chang's infamous Momofuku set the wheel in motion and jump started a ramen revolution. Momofuku is not named after the inventor of instant noodles and cup o' noodles, Ando Momofuku, or so David says. I say "Cmon David how could that be purely coincidental?"Ando died in 2007 at the age of 96. It has been said he ate "chikin" ramen every single day and claims that golf and ramen were the secrets for his long life.
As much as I respect and admire David Chang. I do not respect and admire his ramen. I am sure many people will disagree with me and I will forever be vilified for saying so. I had it once and once was enough. The broth was just barely ok. Subtle and light in color but a bit too one-dimensional. What was unforgettable (in a bad way) and unforgivable were the noodles. They were overcooked. Ando would have been spinning in his grave. One more thing, the soup was lukewarm. Sacrilege! In fact, Mr. Chang apprenticed under Ando when he was just a pup, which makes it even more so surprising. However, thanks to David and Momofuku, a market for top-notch ramen in NYC opened up.
Shortly thereafter, a few new places have sprung up. Ramen Setagaya opened up in the east village (and two more since then) and reminded me of ramen shops in Japan and Hawaii. Much better and much cheaper. The noodles were al dente, the soup piping hot and two beautiful slices of pork belly glistening on top. However... the soup tasted and smelled of fish instead of pork or chicken. It was a bit odd. I've heard that they use scallop powder as a secret ingredient. Eh... not my cup of tea (or shall I say noodles).
Then along came this new place called Ippudo a couple of years ago. I read it was a chain from Japan, so I was already a bit skeptical, but I was kinda excited to try it anyway. So one Sunday around 11am, I did. I was intrigued once I walked past the flax-colored noren (Japanese store-front curtain) in the doorway and entered a dark, cavernous space with it's black walls and ramen bowls as taxidermy on one of the red walls. They were arranged by color (mostly white and black) and it has a beautiful graphic quality to them and feels trophy like.
 |
| Ippudo entrance on 4th ave and 10th street |
 |
| Ramen bowl wall. Note the colored order. |
 |
| Love the bamboo strips in a tree formation. |
 |
| My good friend Erik. |
I think my good friend Erik enjoyed it!
Okay, okay... I'm getting to the ramen part now.
I ordered the akamaru modern ramen and a cucumber salad. They brought the cucumber first and it was presented so minimally in a long white canoe shaped serving dish. It cradled the sliced cucumber perfectly. I was excited. All I can say is WOW... the cucumber was so oishi-so. Basically the cucumber sits in a bath of sesame oil and coarse salt and I think some chili pepper. So simple but it is one of my favorite dishes I've had... EVER.
My ramen was presented to me and I was immediately reminded of the film Tampopo by filmmaker Juzo Itami. This is not your standard, college standby ramen. This ramen is perfection. By the way, the akamaru is tonkotsu in style and is more opaque due to the milky marrow from boiling the bones. Before I dove in, I simply stared at it and luxuriated in all of it's fatty gloriousness.
The noodles were perfectly al dente, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots) chewy and earthy, seaweed strips added a briny touch. Vying for my attention was the thick sliced berkshire pork and the brightly red dollop of special akamaru paste. All swimming in a not too thick broth with oil slicks on top. I really enjoyed it from the first bite to the last slurp. I didn't want it to end but all good things must come to an end I suppose. They have standard shio/shoyu/miso ramen but I seem to always gets the akamaru. Ippudo makes their own noodles and they have a seasonal ramen special as well as interesting side dishes like their Hirata pork or chix buns.
I think ramen is Japan's equivalent to "soul" food. It's accessible, is fairly inexpensive, not too fancy or refined and most importantly it has depth and can be even profound at times. It doesnt pretend to be anything more than what it is.
And I don't pretend to be an expert at ramen or an extreme rameniac but maybe it has something to do with soothing one's soul. Ramen is for everyone and it means something different to every person.
Slurp.
