Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar
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I found Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar while searching Yelp for places to eat the last time I was in Albany. I live in Vermont and drive over to Albany for a “mini vacation” on my days off from running my own restaurant. So it took me a few weeks to make it to and I drove directly from Vermont to Tanpopo on a Monday night after I was done working. I knew when I drove up that I was going to LOVE IT inside this restaurant. Tanpopo is located in Albany’s Warehouse District, which is quite full of restaurants (strong representation from the “pub” sector). The Warehouse District is fabulous. I LOVE authentic, old urban. Not fancy, not pretentious. Life and history happened here and people are still here. That is precisely what we want in our cities. Wide street with plenty of easy, on street, free parking. I arrived at 6:30pm. Tanpopo is located inside a diner car that is on the National Registry of Historic places. Think 1920s diner, NOT 1950s diner…). The building is wood not the shiny metal of the ‘50s era, with the domed roof. Inside there are booths along the walls a counter/bar with comfortable raised height seats and a separate raised counter/bar for communal type seating, or a larger party of people. The vibe is FANTASTIC. It’s a small space with a small team (just one or two people waiting tables). Staff is great! Friendly, upbeat, GOOD at what they’re doing. I don’t drink beer, but they’ve got a good selection of beer on tap and an entire cocktail and sake menu. I had sake. Menu is not huge, but you presumably came for ramen and anyone can get ramen here. I don’t eat beef, pork or poultry (apparently all their pork menu items are FIRE, according to my waitress Alex). So I got vegetable ramen and added fish cake and egg to it. If you want vegan ramen you just have to ask for the vegetable ramen vegan and they will sub out for rice noodles. My ramen was DELICIOUS. FANTASTIC flavor. I had eaten a bunch of things before the ramen even came and I was getting, you know, uncomfortably full. But. I. Kept. Eating. My. Ramen. Freaking delicious broth and ingredients and excellent noodles! I also ate: Edamame (forgot to take a pic) and they were perfect; Seared Peppered Tuna Salad: Delicious salad full of pieces of sliced tuna over nice, crunchy Romaine and delicious combination of sauces for dressing; Vegetable Gyoza: made in house, VERY good, with more of a variety of vegetables in them than I’ve in any other vegetable gyoza. And… Steamed Buns WITH FRIED OYSTERS!! I was so psyched to be able to get steamed buns with seafood. They were awesome! Buns were so lovely and pillowy. Fried oysters were huge and fresh and crunchy. Upside: Everything in this diner car is authentic. Including the fantastic, original, TINY little bathrooms with even TINIER little sinks. Downside: This place is not handicap accessible in any way, shape or form. Even if you could get inside you could not use those original little bathrooms. I’d go as far to say you need to be below a certain size to use those bathrooms… Upside: you can order online easily and I would bet the waitstaff would are more than willing to bring your order out to your car if you could not enter. Also! The early evening summer sun streaming in the windows behind me was everything! I will be back...
Nicole Bartner
00
Tampopo Ramen & Sake Bar is a Japanese noodle and sake eatery located in a charming rundown 1941 diner on a Broadway block of Albany NY, adjacent to several other drinks and dining spots. Japanese noodle and other dishes are between $10–20, not including sake. Vegetarian fare is available. Pair a bowl of ramen with the house-made pork dumplings (gyoza) and a glass of sake. (The other gyoza offerings are no doubt of the frozen commercially available varieties.) In Japan, there is a practice of pasting 1,000 yen notes to the walls of eating establishments known as "omamori" (お守り). Doing so creates a charm bringing good luck to the eatery and its customers. Tampopo Ramen follows this talismanic practice with one-dollar bills. The walls and ceiling are covered with hundreds of dollar bills. While the soup stock is adequate, the ramen is nothing to write home about and is probably available in a plastic bag at the Asian Market on Central Ave. The sake menu is a nice surprise with varieties and a price range. Dining reviews are always a tradeoff between food, service, ambiance, so on. Go for the funky ambiance and then the food. Tampopo Ramen should definitely feature in the next Studio Ghibli animation. You enter from the street on Broadway, where you exit is anyone’s guess—maybe Cafe "Mugiwaraboshi"? ご馳走様でした.
Robert Seward
00
Great service. Good food too. I visited on a weeknight, as I was passing through Albany. The set up is pretty neat, but, I imagine, it can get crowded very easily. They even found space for a bathroom, which is big enough. But, I wouldn't want to get the table facing the rest room. The food: they ran out of the duck ramen, my favorite. So, I wasn't thrilled. I only had one night in Buffalo, a weeknight, yet, they ran out of what I wanted. So, I am taking off one star. I hope that they aren't resorting to gimmick by creating shortage, to boost demand and to add mistique. This is a good place, I don't think they need gimmick to attract customers. Second choice: veggie ramen. It was good. The broth had a hint of smoke in it, which, was surprisingly good, because, it added complexity to the dish. The egg was a little flat, not well seasoned. They only had two mushrooms in there. C'mon! Can I get more than one shroom? Anyways, I'd recommend this joint in a heartbeat. Just make sure that you show up early enough before they run out of your favorite dish.
Marcellin Kopandru
00
Hands down thee best Ramen spot from Troy to Albany. When my boyfriend and I went we got the curry ramen (chicken), pork belly buns and he got the lemongrass beef ramen. Top. Of. The. Line. Ramen. I tell you. I’m not a fan of pork belly, but the buns were very delicious, the sauce that was caramelized on them. No idea what that was… some sesame bbq sauce, was delightful and a little candied meat. My ramen was a little spicy… okay very spicy. But it was soooo good. The broth is said to be cooked for I want to say days… but now I think more..? My boyfriends lemongrass ramen was pretty much gone by the end (so that tells you how bad it was) and I still had half of my ramen. There was a lot of broth left with his and you take it home and either make more noodles OR they have an option to get noodles to take for only $2.. like what a deal. We pretty much got 4 meals out of this and it was so fresh and so delicious.
Desirae Collins
00
The outside looked aged and grungy. The inside looks the same too. Clearly converted an old diner to ramen spot. But it has lots of character inside. Like a 50s diner crashed into a ramen spot They have various sake and beers on their menu. But we went for the apps and ramen. We had the Takoyaki which was pretty good. The eel sauce and spicy Mayo drizzled on it was tasty. A bit small but tasty We ordered the curry ramen and the tanpopo spicy ramen. The curry ramen stole the show. It was so good. Full curry flavor and curry heat to it. Broth was so thick and oily, it went very well with the noodles and extra pork and bamboo shoots. Spicy but tasty. Def one of the better broths I’ve had, and I’ve been to many ramen spots in NJ and NYC. I have never seen curry ramen before so I was excited to try it and it did not disappoint
Kemner Frani
00
The food is usually good but this is the second time I’ve found soap bubbles in my ramen. Make no mistake I can tell by the shiny blue/violet hue the bubbles give off plus there’s also the distinct taste of soap in the side areas, particularly the cilantro which tasted like straight soap. Ruined my whole appetite. I had soap in my ramen two years ago when I went there and forgot all about it until this most recent trip but was thoroughly reminded upon tasting it again. My friend also had soap bubbles in his ramen too but not as many as mine. So if you order the ramen and see shiny bubbles be prepared to taste some soap. It’s nice that they clean their bowls but it would be nicer if they were properly rinsed. The waitress and staff are nice and good with service so 5 stars for that.
Josh Brooks
00
Nearby Attractions Of Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar
Palace Theatre
Hampton Inn & Suites Albany-Downtown
Huck Finn's Playland
Capital Repertory Theatre
Hyatt Place Albany/Downtown
Zone 518
Corning Preserve Boat Launch
Underground Railroad Education Center
Hilton boat launch
Ten Broeck Mansion

Palace Theatre
4.7
(1.1K)
Click for details

Hampton Inn & Suites Albany-Downtown
4.1
(710)
Click for details

Huck Finn's Playland
4.4
(300)
Click for details

Capital Repertory Theatre
4.8
(268)
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Nearby Restaurants Of Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar
McGeary's
The Olde English Pub and Pantry
677 Prime
Druthers Brewing Company
Nine Pin Cider Works
Wolff's Biergarten
Lost & Found Bar & Kitchen
Fidens Brewing Company
The Albany Distilling Company Bar and Bottle Shop
The Copper Crow

McGeary's
4.5
(669)
Click for details

The Olde English Pub and Pantry
4.3
(670)
Click for details

677 Prime
4.6
(581)
Click for details

Druthers Brewing Company
4.4
(517)
Click for details
Basic Info
Address
893 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207
Map
Phone
(518) 451-9868
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Website
tanpopoalbany.com
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Reviews
Overview
4.6
(697 reviews)
Ratings & Description
Description
Japanese-style noodle soups including vegetarian options dished up in a historic railcar diner.
attractions: Palace Theatre, Hampton Inn & Suites Albany-Downtown, Huck Finn's Playland, Capital Repertory Theatre, Hyatt Place Albany/Downtown, Zone 518, Corning Preserve Boat Launch, Underground Railroad Education Center, Hilton boat launch, Ten Broeck Mansion, restaurants: McGeary's, The Olde English Pub and Pantry, 677 Prime, Druthers Brewing Company, Nine Pin Cider Works, Wolff's Biergarten, Lost & Found Bar & Kitchen, Fidens Brewing Company, The Albany Distilling Company Bar and Bottle Shop, The Copper Crow

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