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.
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.
Most seats are at the bar, but there are about 4 or 5 small tables as well.
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).
My coworker started with the Lunch Special:
He said it was a bit bland.
He also ordered the spicy ramen, in case the color in the following picture isn’t enough indication.
I went with the non-spicy Totto Original. It was really good… but it surely wasn’t Ippudo.
Not that it stopped me from finishing every last solid object in the bowl. And the rooster even resurfaced.
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
