Ippudo, Japan-Based Ramen Chain in East Village - Inspired by "Ramen King" Shigemi Kawahara

[Food Nomad]

I finally had the opportunity to have lunch at Ippudo last weekend while I was in the city. As expected, the place was packed and luckily I could get right in since I was dining alone on this particular occasion. I was seated at a communal table and ordered their Hirata Pork Buns and the Akamaru Modern ramen. The buns were on the thicker side and had that nice fluffy gooey consistency that reminded me of the siaopao I used to eat as a little kid. The pork had that rich fatty flavor that you would expect but I was thrown off a bit by the lettuce in the buns. I don't know if I've ever had lettuce in buns and it was just a foreign taste to me when associated with these. I added a soft boiled egg and some pork belly to the ramen. The egg was a good choice and provided some extra richness. The pork belly was surprisingly flavorless and didn't have a ton of fat. The pork chashu that came with the ramen, however, more than made up for it as it seemed to have ample time to soak up the broth. The noodles were tasty enough but I think I prefer them to be a touch on the thicker side. The broth had a great depth of flavor and, at least to me, tasted a bit lighter than the ramen I've had in the past since I think they used considerably less pork fat in this broth.

I'm glad that I finally got to try out Ippudo since it had been recommended to me by one of the owners of Sakuramen way back when they opened. I don't know if I prefer it over Momofuku Noodle Bar but I'm glad to know that it's out there in case I want another option.

[DonRocks]

I finally had the opportunity to have lunch at Ippudo last weekend while I was in the city. As expected, the place was packed and luckily I could get right in since I was dining alone on this particular occasion. I was seated at a communal table and ordered their Hirata Pork Buns and the Akamaru Modern ramen. The buns were on the thicker side and had that nice fluffy gooey consistency that reminded me of the siaopao I used to eat as a little kid. The pork had that rich fatty flavor that you would expect but I was thrown off a bit by the lettuce in the buns. I don't know if I've ever had lettuce in buns and it was just a foreign taste to me when associated with these. I added a soft boiled egg and some pork belly to the ramen. The egg was a good choice and provided some extra richness. The pork belly was surprisingly flavorless and didn't have a ton of fat. The pork chashu that came with the ramen, however, more than made up for it as it seemed to have ample time to soak up the broth. The noodles were tasty enough but I think I prefer them to be a touch on the thicker side. The broth had a great depth of flavor and, at least to me, tasted a bit lighter than the ramen I've had in the past since I think they used considerably less pork fat in this broth.

I'm glad that I finally got to try out Ippudo since it had been recommended to me by one of the owners of Sakuramen way back when they opened. I don't know if I prefer it over Momofuku Noodle Bar but I'm glad to know that it's out there in case I want another option.

I'm starting to really love our New York forum. Having been to both Ippudo and Momofuku, I have a dated, but notable preference (based on memory alone) for Momofuku. Both are delightful, and the "rap" I've heard about Momofuku is that the bowls just get too thick towards the bottom; I didn't experience this with mine at all, but I did get some monotony setting in with my bowl at Ippudo (this is all relative, of course - they were both extremely fine bowls of ramen, and you won't go wrong at either restaurant).

Cheers,

Rocks

[dcs]

I'm starting to really love our New York forum. Having been to both Ippudo and Momofuku, I have a dated, but notable preference (based on memory alone) for Momofuku. Both are delightful, and the "rap" I've heard about Momofuku is that the bowls just get too thick towards the bottom; I didn't experience this with mine at all, but I did get some monotony setting in with my bowl at Ippudo (this is all relative, of course - they were both extremely fine bowls of ramen, and you won't go wrong at either restaurant).

Cheers,

Rocks

Sadly, I have never been to Momofuku, so I cannot compare it, but for being in the right spot with the right bowl at the right time, nothing could match Ippudo last Saturday.  After a long day of indulgence on Friday we were on the train down to Katz's Deli when the thought of eating a pound of pastrami was starting to make me feel a bit queasy.  As the train was pulling into Astor Place, I said what I think I needed was a good bowl of ramen.  My friend asked me if I was serious.and I assured him I was.  He said he knew just the place and we hopped off the train and he took me to Ippudo.  At 11:30am the place was packed, but we found two seats at the counter.  The ramen hit the spot; with the noodles perfectly al dente and the broth rich and flavorful it became more of a restorative than just a meal.  Enough so that we slipped back out into the early afternoon NYC sun to start all over again.....