Pop Pot Noodle & Tea House — Restaurant in New York

I went here for the first time this past Friday March 7th. My friend recommended a group of us try it out since they often get food from here.

When we sat down and we're trying to take a group photo, a customer from a nearby table offered to take the photo instead and spent a significant time getting an awesome group photo! That was a green flag for me.

Our table got bigger because more friends met up with us so we moved to the other side and combined tables.

Food was delicious, quality taste, portions were fantastic and the price was accessible. I really appreciated the restaurant decor too. Especially since I am a big fan of knick-knacks and anime.

I ordered the karaage chicken and ramen, the noodles were warm and had the best chewy texture, perfection! I also got the onion rings and even though the batter was thick there was a good bit of onion on the inside too and is how I judge my onion rings! My table ordered boba and cheese cake for dessert and they seems pleased.

We had a mishap where one of the kids we were dining with lost his dinosaur figurine, and we even searched the trashcan for it. The owner Peggy gifted the kiddo a Stitch keychain. That was very generous of her. She was so welcoming and patient to our big group and she was very accommodating.

I plan to come back and try more things on the menu...definitely try the ramen and also takoyaki, as one of my friend's had it as their entire meal...

I'm giving 3 stars and I'm being generous because I think this place has a lot of room for improvement.

I'll preface with saying that this place advertises itself as a ramen place, but we ordered two non ramen dishes - Japanese curry rice bowl w/ fish, and Dry Noodle (minced pork over noodles).

Although the food was palatable, my general impression was that I could have recreated both dishes at home, and made it better, with very little effort, which is never good when you're paying money to have someone else cook for you.

The fish in the Japanese curry seemed like they just deep fried something from the freezer section in Costco, and the curry sauce was just that - Japanese curry roux. No additional potatoes, carrots, onions or anything.

The Dry Noodles were literally just noodles with minced pork on top. Essentially bland - very little seasonings and flavor.

We ate the food because we paid for it and not because it tasted amazing. Maybe the...

This is a cute spot, big, clean, with good service. The drinks were delicious! Great passion fruit green tea and Ube drinks!

However, the food was a little lackluster: ramen was on the blander side, and the scallion pancakes were too crispy without enough scallion (they should be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside!). It's definitely more of a to-go place but I wish they had real bowls/plates instead of wasting plastic containers for to-stay orders. Willing to try again because I so desperately want a good walkable Asian spot, but I hope they improve...