366 W 52nd St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 582-0052
Nori seaweed. The soup base was flavorful and didn't appear to include MSG. The
ramen, done al dente, was a joy to consume, even though it was quite
unlike the ramen I am used to on the streets of Tokyo. Its texture was
soba-like -- crisp but not chewy, and to my relief there wasn't a hint
of the dreaded alcohol, suggesting that the noodles were made fresh
daily. The savory items, however, were a bit of a disappointment: the
chopped chicken pieces had very little flavor and was drowned out by
the robustness of the soup. The two pieces of "char siu" pork were
essentially slices of boiled pork torched using a handheld fire gun --
it carried all the visual elegance but none of the substance, or the
random charcoalness emanating from a truly grilled process. The
optional egg was simply a boiled egg with no hint of additional
flavors -- and certainly not the soft-cored, slightly smoke-hinted
ovarian delight that I was expecting. This bowl of ramen came up
short, especially for such a popular place -- my wait was more than 20
minutes, at 11:30pm on a weeknight! For now, I will stick with their
sister yakitori joint until Bobby Munekata works on improving the
quality of this shop's offerings.
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