I 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
