raji

like I said, hipster doofus!! Bahn Mi - yeah - that's the ticket - thank you! I go now!

Yeah I'd be at La Esquina in a second but I got a Qdobo burrito waiting for me for dinner at work. Yeah, well, they're not bad at least. They don't make my stomach ache like chipotle. I was thinking maybe hitting a super cheapo dim sum, but not sure where

Last night I hit Ippudo - even at an odd time like Tuesday at 10pm, me + 1 had to wait 10 mins for a seat at the bar. Seems like it's the honkies lingering around - move it along whitefolks! Same reason I always hear complaints only from the Americans about being rushed out of Yasuda - Had the shiromaru NY. Instantly we felt that the current ramen's are slightly smaller, bit less noodles, and those during opening week were slightly better - standard operating procedure if you ask me. I think I prefer the akamaru modern and now that I've had the shiromaru, I agree with whoever said they wanted more veggies and toppings. That would be cool. That said, I feel like the akamaru had enough. Still going to try the shoyu and miso ramens. All the ramens share the base tonkotsu (pork bone) reduction, so that is the mother "tare", but from there, they vary wildly. This is also SOP for a Japanese ramenya - they put a fanatical amount of effort into their "secret sauce" essentially - I've been to dozens all over Japan and most have a particular fish, chicken, pork, whatever stock, some kind of magic they claim is their own trade secret so some won't even say everything that's in it - As to the yelling - as some of you know it's customary for the entire staffs to greet customers on their way in and out. Furthermore, Japanese restaurants are fanatical about the attentiveness and swiftness of their service. Therefore, a lot of the yelling you hear is, say a waitress receives an order for an additional plate of noodles - she'll yell it out, and then the first line chef will repeat the order, and then down the line. It's so that everyone hears it, or at least so it gets to it's recipient. Think of all the submarine movies where the captain orders, the XO repeats, and then down the line from one end of sub to the other, military-style. Same thing here. So, they have to yell pretty loud because by Japanese standards this space is cavernous. yes - you can ask for them hard, soft, whatever you want. I didn't specify on my ramen order, but I ordered kaedama (extra noodles) and they immediately asked me (in Japanese) whether I want it hard or soft. I ordered hard as the broth was still relatively hot, so as the noodles swam in the broth for a bit, they reached perfect doneness. There is a zen to all of this.. I didn't ask because I wouldn't... but, they only provide black pepper and ground sesame, so yeah, if you want a more or less salty broth, I'd say it's worth a try.

OK, same situation, Centre and Broome (think epicenter, La Esquina) I wish I named this thread "Raji's lunch", cuz this will be an everyday thing, and I haven't lived downtown in a while so I'm relatively clueless. Good to be a hipster doofus again!

This raises an interesting question, best discussed on the reviewing topic not here. The question is: what's a review? If a mediocre writer like Platt writes a first-impressions piece about Ko, does it magically become a review by virtue of being in New York Magazine (or on its website)? What about Ruth Reichl's piece on the Gourmet blog? What about all the detailed, heavily photographed reports on various websites (this one included)? What makes something a review or not a review? ← That's funny, because reading this and the Bruni thread makes me wonder, why are there so many people reviewing the reviews??? I just take the reviews in context. My classic example is that Bruni just will never get Japanese food, and that makes reading his japanese reviews a lot more helpful.

Good luck with that! I also have a bridge to sell you if you are interested....

Dude, Jonathan's is the best. That's pretty much the best family restaurant you can go to in Japan. You get add'l credibility!

I thought they have food at the festival, and if so, get your takoyaki and yakisoba on! Nothing better than beer, yakisoba, under a cherry blossom tree. I've done this many times in Japan, so trust me please.

Ed Levine compared Setagaya to Ippudo and concludes Ippudo the clear winner http://edlevineeats.seriouseats.com/2008/0...aiting-for.html but the fact that he enjoyed momofuku's ramen is kind of a credibility-kill. But, in he went out in search of a real ramen and does a good writeup

Haven't tried Batten... I'll have to when and if I decide to bike the bridge. here's a pic, nb its not a misoramen, it's a tonkotsu ramen that happens to have some miso in it.. http://bp3.blogger.com/_XxeuiLHbZo0/R_q6iQ..._22c3ac70ab.jpg

Only 5 :laugh: ? You're welcome! But, me and my big mouth. I went there with my friend last night at 9pm, and it was PACKED... the poor waitress was there by herself. So service was really slow - good thing there's that BYOB, you can pretty much help yourself. Split the steak and tonkatsu with my friend, preceded by ebi shinjo and a plate of saba sashimi - 12 pieces. my head still hurts, I gotta quit the shochu So, I found out, the chef was actually a longtime chef at Hasaki, then opened this place a couple of years ago. Hence the heavy presence of sushi, which is fine, but I still strongly recommend the kitchen items.

The base of the shoyuramen should be the same base tonkotsu tare - just a lot less of it, plus the soy sauce. Probably the complexity you tasted was that you taste more of the fish or even chicken broth.. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a really good konbudashi in there, maybe ichibandashi. How did it take so long, I don't know, the Japanese business community just could not get it together. I bet you could get a good ramen in NYC in 1990. And the akamaru ramen I had at Ippudo had a big ball of red miso in there- aka = red I think Santouka also makes a misoramen with red miso

they call me grandraji

← apparently the gals up front are cute. The bartender is certainly cute. I'm not sure why people are fascinated by the yelling of Irrashaimase, this is pretty SOP at authentic places. Small and cozy? That places is humongous by ramen bar standards. And yes, the ramen is awfully, awfully good

Yah I was thinking Lupa - We were pressed for time, when I turned Thompson there was "Hiroko's Place", hence satisfying my Japanese craving... but thanks for all the reccs I'm going to be down here again this week and will do Snack or Lupa

If you showed up early and were willing to wait an hour or 2, they could probably fit you in, if you REALLY must go there. Why not try out Ushiwaka Maru?

Good thinking - but 9 blocks - bahhh - I'm on too tight of a schedule - Chanto was way up there anyway, so on that point, i f'ed up I wish Ushi served lunch. I got japanese or asian stuck in my head but it could be anything - or I'll follow lpshanet's reccs

That doesn't surprise me - they probably haven't had a good ramen since Mitsuwa, or Japan.... The spoons - you can get something similar at Mitsuwa, and/or probably Pearl River As for who is going there - the customers can be a majority of Japanese, at lunchtime and right after work, and then the later it gets, I'd say the more current, grad and alumni NYU-style asians come through, with sprinklings of "foodies" here and there - I'm happy to pay $13 for their ramen, at the bar or table, with water and/or tea, trendy or not.

I'm here, going to grab a quick lunch soon, nothing fancy or over $20, I think Chanto closed, nothing else is coming to popping into my mind, any suggestions?

Yeah I was going to say Soto, given that they feature so many dishes in the lobster and langoustine family

In certain Asian cultures serving living sushi (ikimono) is desired both for freshness and some kind of transferral of life force, I guess, but it's really what looks like it still living are really post-mortal muscle contractions. This is definitely true of how lobster sashimi is served by a proper Japanese sushi chef, who will often take into account minimizing the suffering of any animal they off in accordance with their buddhist, shinto and taoist beliefs. They probably inflict less pain than boiling them to death, no?

To your original question, I'd call Ushiwakamaru (212) 228-4181 and ask if and when they serve Lobster sashi (JP shorthand). When they had the tanks, naturally they did it best. Kathryn, the tanks are gone with the renovation, now that's where the hostess stands and checks your jacket. Yasuda might occasionally have it, I can ask, but I would suspect so as he sources a lot of shellfish from LI Sound and Maine. Like blowfish (fugu), knowing how to properly clean and serve raw lobster is an advanced sushi art and probably requires a specific license in Japan, which is why I'd probably want to eat it from a Japanese sushi chef who has relocated here after a fair amount of training, before trying it at, say, Oriental Garden. That said, I have eaten a lot of weird shellfish in Chinese restaurants and in China but it's all been cooked.

I think this debate is a can of worms... because then the question is the definition of consciousness, and some people don't consider lobster and shellfish to be all that conscious vs. cows, pigs and chickens do. But lobsters have eyes too, so they must have a conscious. But them some shellfish are big puddles of mud. So, a can of worms, or shellfish, as it were...

IMHO anyway, Candelight better than the city. It's unique. I should hope that Buffalo Wings are best in buffalo. If those weren't, what would be good there, hockey?

$$$? that's dangerous And I think it's closer to 40th or 39th