Gridskipper
Ippudo, a ramen noodle chain with 34 outposts in Japan, just made its way to the states. Rare Daily called the spot, set to open Monday, "the Balthazar of ramen restaurants." After seeing the space firsthand last night, the French bistro connection seems a bit farfetched. But the space, on 4th Avenue at 10th Street, is super sleek. Despite Ippudo's chain restaurant status, it feels more Chinatown Brasserie than Chipotle. There's plenty of white leather seating, white walls embossed with Japanese characters, dark wood, and an open kitchen, so you can watch as your ramen noodles as they're dunked in a boiling hot water bath. The man-of-the-hour, the restaurant's creator, Shigemi Kawahara, aka the Ramen King (yes, he's actually called that in Japan, and, yes, he's very famous there), was on-hand, being filmed by not one, but two Japanese film crews flown in especially for the event.
As Gridskipper's own Jean Snow posted back in January of last year, the restaurant is a neighborhood staple in Japan, where the specialty is tonkotsu (pork-based broth) ramen served with spicy miso sauce. Last night Ippudo was only serving two types — Shiromaru Moto-Aji (white-pork-based broth ramen) and Akamaru Shin-Aji (a red, spicier version that includes a secret sauce that's shown at left. According to the restaurant, they'll include at least three more versions after Monday's opening. The general consensus at our table was that the Akamaru takes the cake, and might be best when sucked down with one of the specialty sake cocktails. (Ramens range from $12 to $16, sake runs $9 to $28, and the specialty sake cocktails cost $12.)
This is by no means a run-of-the-mill ramen spot. "Rameniacs" around the city are sure to be going crazy come Monday, documenting their first Ippudo experiences via forum discussions. Some ramen fanatics have even created a website named for the restaurant, which includes updates on the restaurant's opening, how-to-cook-your-own-ramen videos, and a photo gallery where ramen lovers can post pics of their favorite noodle bowl. Check out Eater's photo gallery with additional Ippudo shots here.
Comments
I need a salt discussion first though the concept is wonderful.
What, no soft-ice-cream ramen?
[www.boingboing.net]
I arrived early at 5pm today to beat the long line.
I had the Shiomaru ramen and the soup base turned me off right away.
It tasted like concentrated liver soup pairing with hakata ramen served with 2 tiny small dry slices of roast pork for $13.
I also had the shrimp with asparagas appetizer and it was not very tasty for a stir-fry dish. They added avocado that was already exposed to the air and turned black, green/red peppers, and tossed with a light sweet mayo sauce on top of fried ramen noodles for $12.
I sat near the counter and saw everything they were doing and was not pleased with what I saw.
The turnip and pork belly were placed in a plastic container and microwaved, then served to customers.
One Japanese cook was making the sauce for 2 steak dishes on the stovetop, tasted the sauce from the pan with the spoon, then use the same spoon to swirl around the sauce in the pan and then he spread the sauce over the steaks.
The shrimp was all pre-cooked and placed in a ice water bath(no wonder the shrimp dish I had did not have any flavor; it was all washed out). They even microwaved sushi roll that was taken from the fridge, cut to 6 pieces, then microwaved with plastic wraps to warm, then served to customers with a mayo sauce topping.
If they are planning to have an open kitchen, they should be careful not to show too much of their cooking methods to their customers. I will go back in a few days to try their shio ramen before I pass final judgement. Nobody ever mess up Shio ramen before.
Menchanko Tei also serve the same type of hakata noodles and their broth was more tastier.
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