IPPUDO 5th Avenue — Restaurant in New York

I find myself writing more of these as a reminder where not to go….

1. the servers give the the welcoming statements and limited vocabulary in Japanese, they are most likely not Japanese, though they would like to appear to be.

2. their noodles were slightly under cooked, enough that even after 10 minutes of waiting they still had a harder texture

3. the miso ramen I had, had a very strong ginger flavor. Great if you want that, but significantly over powering. Overall the ramen was decent, but this was not what I was looking for. Especially from one of their signature dishes.

4. the potion is too small… if you are still hungry after a bowl of ramen… especially one that cost more than 20 dollars is wrong. Basically you’re paying 20 dollars for a half a bowl of ramen.

5. it cost more than 20 dollars… which means this place is attempting fancy ramen… fancy ramen sucks.

6. guessing… the broth was cooked with some fancy oil and not lard or something cheap. Not certain, but fairly sure this is the case.

7. and this wouldn’t have been a thing if the waitress hadn’t been indigent about me asking for mugicha in Japanese. I can tell you we’re not Japanese by the fact you didn’t understand at all. Despite asking me if I wanted tamago (egg).

8. Chashu was too lean, over cooked and flavorless.

This all said,

What they did get right is the heartiness of the soup itself was very pleasant. The flavors were close, but a little off, but all and all not terrible, just not worth more than 20 dollars for a half portion.

The raw onions, were a really nice touch. Added a nice compliment that otherwise I don’t see often. Raw onions being closer to ramens roots than the rest of this fancy bowl. (Ie raw onions are cheap)

The decor of the place feels right. Like I am sitting in Sapporo waiting for the snow to stop.

Will I go here again? Only if I’m invited by someone I know who doesn’t know any better… or they become the only ramen place in nyc with...

Was here for dinner, as it is next to the hotel.

I waited for about 5 minutes on someone to bring me a menu and realized it was sitting there the whole time (it's a small wooden block with a QR Code on it that says "menu"). So look for that if you go.

Decided to go with the basic (for me) Shiromaru Motoaji ramen. I did order extra noodles ($3.00 extra) and the Treasure ($9.00 extra). More on those next.

The Shiromaru Motoaji is Pork tonkotsu broth, Hakata thin noodles, scallions, seasoned bamboo shoots, naruto (fish cake slice), and slow cooked pork loin chashu. By itself, it had a great flavor.

Extra Noodles. Word of warning, even though it says it on the menu, I didn't get it. They don't come with the bowl when it's served. It clearly says, save some broth for the noodles. So, about halfway through, they brought me the extra noodles. That was on me, even though I did have plenty of broth left.

The "Treasure" is an add on of toppings as they describe "An all star combo. 3 pc Pork belly, 3 pc Pork Loin, 3oc Chicken or 3pc Tofu chashu, soft boiled egg, menma ( fermented bamboo shoots), nori". I chose the pork belly. It was really good also, mixed in with the broth and extra noodles. I did not eat the egg, as I don't really care for eggs in my ramen.

The atmosphere was really great and almost makes you feel as though you are one step away from a small stall in Japan. Staff very friendly and attentive.

I would go back...

I heard a lot about this brand of Ramen but the closest location I knew before had closed down. So I had been eagerly anticipating a visit to this location. Overall, it was a very crowded lunch hour at about 1 so I ended up coming back two hours later to find a seat. The interior is wooden decor with calligraphy decorating the walls, and you can see the chefs in the back. Staff are friendly and attentive. You can flag them down easily since one or two tend to stand midway through the restaurant. Onto the food, I got their basic tonkotsu (shiro) and the noodles were the best part. The broth is not exceedingly rich but you will feel the grease on your tongue by the end. The pork was a bit negligible since I didn't get a lot of unctuous fat from the piece on my bowl. The noodles however had great texture and chew. I also ordered some dessert and got the yuzu. The dessert sat atop a soup of tangy citrus, decorated by a rather tasteless foam and sugar shards. The shards were unnecessary in my opinion as they are far too sweet. The yuzu flavor is concentrated in syrup and can be a bit overwhelming after a few bites. I wasn't really impressed and wish I had just gotten mochi. But I am glad I tried, at least. All in all, the Ramen is the main centerpiece of the restaurant and that should be the focus of your meal. Everything...