Sunday, March 28, 2010

NYC: Ippudo -Japanese Noodles and Pork Buns

Ippudo is by far my favorite ramen noodle joint and pork buns in all of NYC. I started going here when they first opened--back when they used huge chunks of flavorful pork belly in the pork buns and when you order a bowl of ramen noodles you could order extra pork belly which would also be a huge chunk.  But times are tough and the pork belly has gotten a bit thinner, still it's still awfully good!  Keep an eye out for a future Momofuku posting.

Keep in mind that you'll likely have to wait for a table for at least an hour.  We went on a Friday at about 6:30pm.  If you go between Monday and Thursday, they have beer specials: 2 for 1 until a certain time - maybe until 7pm.  If you go early enough when dinner first opens, you might get lucky and get seated right away (if you have only a couple people in your party).  Otherwise, just lean up against the bar and have a drink.  I unfortunately had two Kirin's at the bar, so by the time we sat down to eat, I was already a bit tipsy.

We ordered a couple Hirata Pork Buns at the bar, so we ordered the "Tofu Hot Pot" (I can't find their Japanese name from their menu online) when we sat down at our table - this is so amazingly awesome!  I haven't ordered this in a while, b/c we usually order the pork buns for our appetizer instead, but I guess that's another good thing for the wait...eating pork buns and overhearing a first date next to us ; )

We've been to Ippudo many times and Ethan and our friends often try all different kinds of ramen noodles, but from our experience and opinion, the Akamaru Modern Ramen Noodles are the BEST.  Akamaru Modern is described as "'the original tonkotsu' soup noodles with Ippudo's special sauce, miso paste and fragrant garlic oil, slices of simmered berkshire pork, cabbage, onions, kikurage & scallions".


I love how the bar countertops are made up of square bunches of ramen...very creative.





A bite out of my pork bun

Tofu Hot Pot in action

Akamaru Modern Ramen

Ippudo
65 4th Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street) (map)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0088

2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! I lve Ippudo! I actually went to the original one in southern japan when I was heavily heavily pregnant! Was just craving for Ippudo! Hopped on a plane to eat it. We need to go the next time you are visiting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I went their yesterday for the 1st time. I waited 1 and a half hour just to get a table. I love the noodles there. it was worth waiting.

    ReplyDelete