Ippudo NY
| Cuisine | Japanese |
|---|---|
| Price | $$ (16-30) |
| Rating | 4/10 |
| Last Visit | June 19, 2019 |
| Location | New York: East Village |
General Notes
A ramen restaurant; many locations across New York, but I visited the Astor Place location. According to Google Maps, they are well known for their ramen and pork buns. The pork buns are pretty solid, but the ramen was a little disappointing. Every aspect of the experience was against what I typically enjoy - thin noodles, loud/crazy environment, etc. I would not recommend this restaurant.
Negatives
> Not my type of atmosphere. The seating arrangement is interesting - there are large tables that seat 8-12 people, and people share those seats. The main thing that I didn't like is just how loud it is. In addition, the servers are constantly yelling incomprehensible Japanese at each other.
> Thin noodles. I feel like I harp on this point too much, but I strongly prefer slightly thicker, chewier noodles, particularly for ramen. The noodles they served were hard and had a lot of bite instead of resistance.
> Pretty busy. Expect to wait a nontrivial amount of time if you come here during peak times.
Dishes Tasted
- ★★☆☆ Akamaru Modern Ramen -- "A more bold translation of the original pork broth; thin noodles topped with Ippudo's secret 'Uma Dama' miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, sesame, kikurage mushrooms, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil. The broth was pretty good, but I really don't like thin ramen noodles - they were hard and with bite rather than chewy. The toppings were weird and certainly not the best.
- ★★★☆ Pork Bun -- Solid pork buns. The meat was relatively tender and intensely flavorful - the combination of mayo, soy, and sweetness was just delicious. The one thing I didn't like was the lettuce - it provided a nice crunchy and fresh element but I feel like there's a better way to achieve that.
Akamaru Modern Ramen
