Archive | 11:00 am

Totto Ramen

24 Nov

While on the Ramen kick, I wanted to post about Totto.  

I have been hearing about the deliciousness of Yakitori Totto (in the East Village) for some time, so I was excited to hear that the same owner was opening a branch somewhere near my corner of NYC (it’s on 52nd Street near 9th Ave). 

The restaurant has a waiting list on the door where you have to sign up.    

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We went early to make sure we could get in and out, but even at noon on a random weekday the place was packed and we waited about 20-30 minutes.

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Most seats are at the bar, but there are about 4 or 5 small tables as well.

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I thought that the rooster theme was cute, and was certainly found in multiple places throughout the restaurant.  (Including as a chalk drawing on the front sign that invited people in to eat some chicken… too funny).

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My coworker started with the Lunch Special:

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He said it was a bit bland.

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He also ordered the spicy ramen, in case the color in the following picture isn’t enough indication.

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I went with the non-spicy Totto Original.  It was really good… but it surely wasn’t Ippudo.

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Not that it stopped me from finishing every last solid object in the bowl.  And the rooster even resurfaced.

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If I hadn’t yet tried Ippudo, I probably would have loved this place.  But in the shadow of my favorite ramen in the city, this just didn’t cut it.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10