Setagaya

[dabestspooner]

I was at the Mitsuwa Santouka this past weekend, and my conclusion is that their ramen is nowhere in the same league as Setagaya.  We had both the miso and the shio ramen, and the broths for both were just not very noteworthy.  The toppings were pretty skimpy, and the pork itself was a little dry, and not grilled like Setagaya's.  The noodles were actually pretty good, possibly better chew than Setagaya, but I've grown fond of the uneven widths of Setagaya's noodles, and so the Mitsuwa noodles seemed a little overly uniform.

The only thing the Mitsuwa ramen has going for it is it's cheaper.

Oooh I think many people would disagree with you. Might be a matter of personal preference. It's discussed here too, but this is before Setagaya opened

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=53714&st=30

But I really suggest you try their torinikuramen, and compared to their miso and shio broths, the white, cloudy toriniku broth is simply more satisfying.

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Actually the torinuku is the same broth as the shio

[dabestspooner]

Oooh I think many people would disagree with you. Might be a matter of personal preference. It's discussed here too, but this is before Setagaya opened

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=53714&st=30

But I really suggest you try their torinikuramen, and compared to their miso and shio broths, the white, cloudy toriniku broth is simply more satisfying.

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Maybe it's just a case of me ordering the wrong thing, and I'd be curious to try the torinikuramen next time. Don't want to take this too far off-topic, but I felt the shio broth was inferior to Setagaya's, and the miso broth inferior to Menchankotei's, both in a very objective way.

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You cant compare apples to oranges.

Santouka is a tonkotsu broth and setagaya is a clear seafood broth. Only the shio tare and miso tare could be compared but you cant since its diluted in the broths. Menchankotei's broth is also seafood based.

A better comparison for santouka would be to compare it to Ichiran or Ippudo whenever they open up.

[raji]

You cant compare apples to oranges. 

Well now we're splitting hairs, aren't we.... ?

Apples and Oranges is Momofuku vs. Setagaya.. within the authentic Japanese category, though, you are right, and most Japanese towns worth their salt would have both a tonkotsu and seafood ramenya within walking distance of the train station. And if I didn't say it before; even in Japan I would pass over Setagaya ramen, even though it's a perfectly competent ramen, for a style I liked better.

That said, I think we're a dozen ramen shops away from being able to have that luxury, and I'd still rather have a really good seafood-based ramen vs. a bad tonkotsu ramen... I just think Setagaya's is underwhelming, especially when held against the exotic ingredients claimed by their menus and marketing...

[raji]

Well someone out there is reading...

Setagaya now offers gyouza for $4.50, set with a ramen $12

[Nathan]

I finally made it here for lunch yesterday.

the shio broth really is subtle and good. will return.

[dagordon]

The chasyumen at Setagaya was pretty lame last night. We hadn't been in several months. The color of the pork loin was an oddly bright white; it had virtually no fat, was tough, and had no grill flavor or color. The belly was limp and also showed little evidence of having been grilled. The broth was weak. Maybe they figured no one in their right mind would want to spend valentine's day at a ramen joint?

We barely ate our soup and bolted for Momo Ssam, which was great.

The ramen was apparently so disappointing that it aroused certain issues in my subconscious. I dreamt last night that the grill operator at Setagaya had a family emergency, and they decided to boil the meat in his absence...