I’m slowly become a ramen junkie; in college, it was more of a food I ate because I couldn’t afford anything else (and it usually came out of a plastic bag), but now, I’m lucky enough to have a job that pays for ramen out of a glass bowl (with fresh meat, too!). There are a lot of restaurants in NY that specialize in serving the addictive soup and noodle combo, primarily in the East Village. I’ve gone to a couple places (Oh Taisho, Kenka, and Ramen Setagaya) but none of the places really hit the spot. Momofuku moved into a larger space to accommodate ramen-junkies like myself so I decided to give it a try (I went to their other location last year but didn’t order ramen).

Chris, Ariel, and I arrived around 8PM, put our names down, and prepared to wait 45 minutes for a cramped table (the restaurant is tiny!). Only in New York do people wait an hour for food but won’t wait 10 minutes for anything else. We decided what we were going to order (ramen for me, potato hash for both Ariel and Chris, even though I tried to tell them that I needed THREE different entree pictures, and three soft serve ice creams). After waiting an hour, we were seated and ordered right away.

My pork neck ramen:

Lots of pork (there should be if I’m paying $13 for it!), an egg, and random vegetables. The pork was moist and tasty but the egg was runny (a little too runny since the broth wasn’t hot enough to cook the rest of it). The broth was acceptable, but nothing you can’t recreate at home with a can of chicken stock and some bullion cubes. Onto the ramen:

Ramen (if that’s what they want to call it):

So if you look at the ramen, you’ll notice that the noodles resemble something that belongs in a Chinese beef noodle soup, not in a Japanese ramen dish. Ever heard of wei-chuan noodles? I think that’s what David Cheng uses for the pork neck “ramen.” I asked our server if the noodles were ramen and initially he said that they were, but the noodles were thicker. Then he went to ask another guy what the noodles were and he found out that the overall DISH is ramen, but the noodles used in pork neck ramen are actually Shanghai-style noodles. The other aspects of the dish are considered ramen, but the noodles aren’t. Please don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining!

Chris and Ariel were both shocked with their potatoes with pork and egg:

I think you can actually count how many potatoes went into the dish. Yes, the dish was good, but no, it was not worth $13. The potatoes were a bit too salty (one less dash of salt and it would’ve been acceptable). Chris and Ariel both liked the dish, but they were both disappointed with the serving size.

After our disappointing entrees, we ordered three cream cheese soft serve ice creams:

The soft serve is a little too thick for me, especially since it tastes like you’re licking a block of cream cheese. Also, for $4? Seriously, I’d rather give my money to Pinkberry (where I know it’s good!).

The surprise ending inside my soft serve cone:

It tasted like sweet potato or pumpkin that was sugared and baked. If I were to make a cream cheese soft serve cone, I’d put some kind of fruit on the bottom to lighten the soft serve since it’s so thick and creamy.

At the end of the meal, we were all still hungry but we didn’t feel like spending another $20 on pork buns. Personally, I don’t see myself ever returning to Momofuku; Cheng’s food is too expensive, over-hyped, and just NOT worth it (save yourself the time and the money by taking the subway to Chinatown).

How to get to Momofuku Noodle Bar:

Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 1st ave between 10th and 11th
New York, NY 10003
212-475-7899

One of the best rewards for working hard is a great meal - it’s even better when the people you work for tell you to order anything you want and to not worry about the bill. After working on a project for six weeks (which seemed like six months), the manager of the project offered to take me and two others to dinner to show his appreciation for our hard work. SCORE! Since Morimoto is a pretty nice place to bring out of town guests, we decided to go there.

We started off with a small appetizer -a new take on fried rice:

Crispy and barely fried, it was very cute but not memorable (good thing it was free!).

I ordered for the table (since I’m the one that writes the reviews!) and we decided to go with a couple appetizers, sushi and sashimi, and some cooked dishes. The first appetizer to come out was the tuna pizza:

The tuna pizza comes on a flatbread that resembles a saltine (sans salt), cilantro, tuna, and a spicy wasabi mayo. I liked the different textures of the pizza and the table agreed that it was a good order.

Our next appetizer was the foie gras on a cooked oyster:

The thick cut of foie gras came on an oyster that was barely cooked and a healthy dose of teriyaki sauce. Another shot:

The foie gras was rich and decadent, but a little overkill with the teriyaki. Too much sauce is never a good thing.

I also ordered a couple pieces of sashimi in case our appetizers weren’t enough for everyone:

I’m a huge fan of tamago (but it’s very hard to mess up tamago - it’s an egg custard omelet that’s very rich and very easy to recreate). The fatty tuna was very meaty and the yellowtail was also a big hit.

An order of sushi before our main dishes arrived:

The spicy tuna roll was my favorite (especially since their spicy mayo is great)…but I don’t think the rolls/sashimi at Morimoto si that much better than any other sushi joint in NY. Onto the main dishes!! (although most of us were already full after all of the appetizers and sushi).

Our first dish was a braised black cod in a ginger reduction:

The cod was a little plain, but had enough sauce to make up for the taste of the fish. Everyone at the table enjoyed the dish, but I wouldn’t order it again.

Our next main course was Duck duck duck, a specialty of Morimoto’s:

The duck duck duck comes on a flaky croissant that’s brushed with foie gras (how rich!) and has duck and green onion inside. Duck duck duck was my favorite dish of the night; an abundance of greasy duck, flaky dough, and fresh flavor from the green onion. I wasn’t a fan of the dipping sauces (too pungent) but there was enough flavor from the duck grease that you didn’t even NEED to dip the sandwich in red miso.

Our third entree was the angry chicken:

My least favorite dish of the night. The dish tasted like it was out of a PF Chang’s; the chicken was dry, there was too much Styrofoam all around it, and there was too much sauce on the chicken and vegetables. Definitely not a dish to EVER order again.

After filling up on so many delicious appetizers and main courses, we had to indulge in some desserts. We started with a Chocolate Pecan Brownie with espresso ice cream:

The brownie tasted like it just came out of the oven and when eaten with a scoop of ice cream, tasted like a party in my mouth. Very delicious!

We also ordered Earl grey creme brulee:

This was my favorite dessert of the night. The earl grey tea was a very subtle flavor (moreso in the after taste) but the creme brulee was really well done and very delicious.

Overall, it was a solid meal at Morimoto (although my dining companion, Ryan, disagreed). Next time, I’ll order more sushi/sashimi and less cooked dishes (I don’t think they’re THAT great) and definitely MORE dessert!

How to get to Morimoto:

Morimoto
88 10th Avenue
New York, NY 100024
212-989-8883

Our never-ending quest to find great tasting ramen brought us to Oh! Taisho, a small eatery on St. Mark’s Place in the east village. Since all of the places along St. Mark’s Place are somewhat similar (small, always packed, cheap eats and lots of beer), we’ve been trying to go to restaurants with good ramen reviews. All of these small Japanese eateries along St. Mark’s place are so alluring initially; lots of pictures of tasty-looking dishes, but when you actually sit down and eat, you’re disappointed because you realize the food really sucks. I read a couple reviews that Oh! Taisho is the place for ramen, so we decided to give St. Mark’s Place another chance:

The broth is very salty and has a distinct meat flavor. The noodles, however, were a huge disappointment. When I think of ramen, I always think of a chewier noodle (although that’s not always the case); Oh! Taisho served up a bowl of limp noodles that tasted overcooked. I wouldn’t have minded if they had just opened a bag of Maruchan ramen and dumped the noodles from there into my soup because those noodles taste better than the ones I was served. The meat had a great smoky flavor, but I ordered ramen, not a bowl of meat.

Chris ordered the pork with rice:

We couldn’t eat the majority of the meat since it was mostly fat, but the bits we did eat were enjoyable. The dish was also over-sauced and tasted like something from a mall food court.

Since everything comes in small plates, neither of us were full after our entrees and decided to share an order of pumpkin tempura:

My favorite dish of the night; the pumpkin was a little sweet, had lots of flavor, and when you pulled off the tempura, tasted pretty healthy!

Oh! Taisho wasn’t the worst restaurant I’ve been to along St. Marks, but it was seriously disappointing.

How to get to Oh! Taisho:
Oh! Taisho
5 Saint Marks Pl (between 2nd and 3rd)
New York 10003
212-228-5086

Kenka, one of the many Japanese restaurants along St. Marks in the East Village, looks like a hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant when you walk by:

Chris and I went during the winter and didn’t find the food to be anything special (I had the salmon belly and Chris had a combination platter - both were not even worth mentioning), but we decided to give the place a second try. The menu is quite large and has a ton of options for everyone, so we decided to order some small dishes and share. The place is ALWAYS packed since they offer a lot of little dishes and a large assortment of Japanese sake and beer. The restaurant has a great variety of people on any given night, so expect to wait at least 15 minutes before getting seated.

We started off with Japanese curry:

The curry was smooth and a little spicy (the way I like it) but the ratio of curry to rice was 2:1. Stinks! Also, the curry was lukewarm on a busy night, meaning it was sitting around for a while (or they just don’t heat it up). It reminded me of the curry from the Japanese supermarket on 41st and Madison with its big chunks of carrots and potatoes. I’d order it again (I mean, it was only $5!).

Our second dish was a ramen soup:

The ramen noodles were cooked perfectly, the broth wasn’t too salty, and there was a large piece of pork to munch on. It was great! Chris even thought the ramen was better than Momofuku’s - gasp!

Our third dish was a pancake with squid, beef, and pork shavings:

The dish wasn’t executed well; the pancake was DRENCHED in different sauces (teriyaki sauce that was way too sweet/tart and mayonnaise that was too thick) and the pancake was too doughy and undercooked, making the dish a huge disaster.

Overall, Kenka kind of redeemed themselves; the service was prompt, the food was decent, and the bill was under $20. It’s definitely a place to get drinks and have snacks, but not a place I’d go for a solid meal.

How to get to Kenka:

Kenka
25 Saint Mark’s Place
New York, NY 10003
212-254-6363

After reading numerous positive reviews about Tomoe Sushi, Chris, my brother, and I decided to wait in line for some of their delicious fish. Their restaurant is even mentioned in my book, Eat New York, but since it’s in Chinese, I don’t know whether it’s a positive review or not (some of the reviews aren’t that favorable, yet they’re still mentioned in the book, so, you never know). The place is right next to Lupa in Noho and always has lines out the door (the space is really small in general). We waited about 15 minutes before we were seated and I was really eager to order since I hadn’t eaten since lunch in Philadelphia. The prices were a little steep (actually, they might have been the same as Sushi Yasuda and Morimoto, but there was no ambiance and we were seated so close to the other tables that we could hear what people two tables down were talking about. Since we already waited for a table, there was no use in backing out, so we decided to go all out and order the Sushi Deluxe (10 pieces of sushi, half a tuna roll, and half of a yellowtail roll):

The fish was definitely fresh (and the pieces were really long), and I thought all of the fish was very tasty. No complaints from my side!

My brother ordered Spicy tuna and regular tuna rolls:

One problem with some sushi restaurants here is that when they make spicy tuna with this weird spice that tastes more like something that belongs at a Korean restaurant than a Japanese restaurant. Does anyone think that, too? The tuna rolls at Tomoe, however, were really tasty and the spiciness didn’t taste like the Korean red paste.

We also ordered Yaki soba noodles:

Chris likes Yaki soba noodles a lot, so we decided to order the noodles as well. I wasn’t a huge fan of them at first (maybe it was the cabbage?) but the taste grew on me.

The meal was about $70 for the three of us, which isn’t expensive when you go to a sushi restaurant, but we also ordered one noodle dish, which is a lot cheaper than ordering sushi. The decor was really shabby and the place actually looks really crappy inside, so if you’re looking for somewhere with ambiance, go elsewhere. I wouldn’t put Tomoe Sushi on my short list of favorite sushi places, but I’d probably go back again.

How to get to Tomoe Sushi:

Tomoe Sushi
172 Thompson Street between Bleecker and Houston
New York, NY 10012
212-777-9346