ramen adventure

one bowl at a time

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Another NYC bowl brought to you by Totto Ramen. Joined by friends at their Midtown West location, we focused on bowls of Chicken Paitan and the Spicy Nibo Paitan. The broth was a lot like a classic chicken noodle soup for the soul. As one friend remarked, “an adult version of a chicken noodle soup”. The shot of spicy oil in my bowl was just the right amount (aka it didn’t leave me crying but complemented everything else in the bowl). I was particularly impressed by their ability to manage the queue so well. There was a line out the door, but the hostess was great at getting patrons in and out – placing orders before we sat and giving us beers to drink as we waited for the table to clear.

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So some sad and some good news. First, with sadder news, these ramen adventure adventurers are now separated into two major cities (mostly sad for us, not for you). Good news though, what started in Chicago will now extend to New York!! Stay tuned for more east coast bowls...

Aside from that, we’re tickled by the transition to fall!! My first NYC trip brought me a soul-warming bowl of pork bone broth (tonkotsu) from Chuko in Brooklyn. The broth was probably the highlight, though supported by a strong cast of roasted pork pieces and delicate noodles. Yohm!

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Oiistar has been slinging ramen for a few years now (long when compared to newer ramen joints). The difference with Oiistar is their french fusion-y take, which manifests itself in their bowl of musclemen (think noodle and muscles bathed in a ramen-style broth). We slurped this up alongside their classic Oiimen bowl. 

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Another round of bowls from Furious Spoon! Happy to say, they’ve just introduced a new menu item: a traditional bowl of tsukemen-style ramen. The dipping broth for the tsukemen was delightfully thick like a roux – similar to Yusho’s bowl of porchetta. The serving size was slightly smaller than the other bowls, but perfect for those who’d like to save room for an additional appetizer or beer. This round also includes is a photo of their vegetarian ramen.

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The crisp springtime weather gave us more precious ramen-worthy moments to share. Slurping Turtle’s bowl of red miso (top) and tonkotsu (bottom) were every bit as delightful as we’d hoped. As my friend noted, the tonkotsu had just a little kick from chili oil, which is a nice alternative to their tantanmen (if you don’t want too much spice).

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Ramen Takeya’s perfectly sized portion of chicken-paitan ramen is way better than any bowl of chicken soup we’ve ever had. Like their older sibling, Wasabi, this location’s ramen contains delicious tender chunks of pork that we secretly hoped would keep re-surfacing in the depths of our bowls. 

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Strings is serious about their ramen, and rightfully so. The pork was that tender, fall-apart-in-your-mouth texture; it only made sense to heed the menu’s suggestion to consume said bowl within 10 minutes of serving. The shoyu and tonkotsu were absolutely delicious (with a slight preference toward shoyu). We also noted an interesting item on the menu: a super spicy bowl of ramen – similar to High Five’s bowl of Kanabo. This bowl was not for the faint of heart, which is advice to be taken quite literally because of the accompanying medical warning... Hmmm... maybe we’ll save that experience for next time.

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Want to try our hand at making tsukemen at home?  Check out this quick tutorial from our favorite Youtube cooking channel, Cooking with Dog.

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Sunday Noodles with the family at Yusho. The pork belly porchetta with black miso was delicious. As my dad remarked, the broth was actually more like a thick roux. Alternatively, the spicy red miso broth had just the right amount of spice. 

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Happy birthday Momofuku Ando!  Thank you for giving us the gift of ramen on demand.

“Mankind is noodlekind.”

– Momofuku Ando

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Stepping up our ramen-photo-taking game for Furious Spoon's friends and family preview. They have a great selection of bowls to choose from, including a vegetable ramen that contains refreshing bites of pickled mushroom. Yum!

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Umai is the only place we've seen so far that serves tsukemen ramen - a style of ramen in which broth and noodle are served separately. Honestly, the broth was so good, we could've probably consumed it by itself.

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A Guide to the Regional Ramen of Japan

The characteristics of Japan's twenty established regional styles.

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The warmth and comfort provided by a bowl of Ramen Misoya ramen was matched by their customer service. The entire experience was well worth the wait.

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Ramen-San's sake menu was impressive, though we focused on their bowls of tonkotsu and kimchi fried chicken.

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High Five Ramen –  half-spice was pretty spicy, which leaves one intrigued by the bowl of kanabo. Otherwise, the noodles were absolutely perfect and the beer washed everything down so well :)

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Last meal at Takashi before they close :( A satisfying Sunday feast of red miso ramen. Gladly told the waiter we won't be splitting a bowl and a few appetizers... this bowl is just for me.