A reader shared this with me and it combines two of my very favorite things… Ramen + Infographic
Created by: Hack College
Tag Archives: ramen
Tabata Ramen
22 NovI have a soft spot for ramen. After years of looking at it as an unfortunate staple of my college diet, I realized that the dried version was like comparing homemade, sharp cheddar macaroni and cheese with bread crumb topping to Easy Mac. While I had flirted with ramen in the past, I fell head-over-heels for ramen when I went to Ippudo. I dream about that ramen. But it’s a fair distance away and usually has a wait (unless you know the secret), so when a new ramen place opened up close to my office, I decided to give it a try.
Tabata Ramen is on 9th Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets. They have a number of ramen options, including soy, salt, port, etc. I went with a pork broth and got it with the egg and pork belly. It was tasty, but it was no Ippudo. In fact, I think Ippudo has spoiled me for the rest of my life.
There was a veggie option with tofu
And spicy options, which got an enthusiastic thumbs up from my coworker.
And if you’re not into ramen at all, you can get various meats over rice.
Overall, this was fine, but it wasn’t awesome. I also find myself chugging down water for the next few hours after eating here. It didn’t taste overly salty (or fake) but my body was definitely lacking in hydration both times I ate here.
I’m not going to go out of my way to eat hear again… might as well save my ramen cravings for the king.
Total Nom Points: 6 out of 10
Totto Ramen
24 NovWhile 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
Pin the Nom
Foodie Blogroll
Lovin’ the Bloglovin’
