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Hakata Ippudo

raji

By raji
in New York: Dining

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raji

raji

Posted
Posted (edited)

at 4th Avenue and 10th Street

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/hakata-ippudo/

So, nobody on here went to the soft opening a couple of nights ago?

I would have, but I lost my Japanese press credential a couple years ago. :sad::laugh:

Edited by raji (log)

http://www.raji.com/blog/

http://wrightandwrong.metsblog.com/

NYC and Tokyo

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feedmec00kies

feedmec00kies

Posted
Posted

Oh, they opened? Look at that!

Raji, I expected you to be the first one in the door (and to report back to us). :wink:

"I know it's the bugs, that's what cheese is. Gone off milk with bugs and mould - that's why it tastes so good. Cows and bugs together have a good deal going down."

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raji

raji

Posted
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Raji, I expected you to be the first one in the door (and to report back to us).  :wink:

Clearly a major error on their part! :wink:

It will be open to the public on 3/31. But I'd really like to grab one while it's still seriously cold outside, so I'm gonna ask around...

Either way, I think their bowl of ramen is gonna cost $13. That sucks, but the yen is trading at 97 to the dollar, so, better grin and bear it. Thank you our Premier Bush!

If you are a serious shioramen fan, you might still favor Setagaya, but theirs pales in comparison to Santouka. Hakata Ippudo specializes in Hakata-men; kyuushu-style, tonkotsu (pork bones) broth with skinny noodles, which I much prefer. Without tasting, I am still almost certain that they will seriously raise the bar and set expectations from a bowl of ramen in NYC much higher. They're known as ramen artisans; the fundamentals of a good bowl of ramen, which so many seem to have trouble nailing, will be second nature to them.

http://www.raji.com/blog/

http://wrightandwrong.metsblog.com/

NYC and Tokyo

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raji

raji

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Santoka is planning on opening a shop in Manhattan by the end of the year. :biggrin:

Really?? Where did you hear that? And where are they opening?

If so, then yes, 2008 is the year of the tonkotsu ramen!!! S

The Santouka Ramen in Shibuya, on an otherwise nondescript strectch Meijodori halfway between Shibuya and Ebisu train stations had a line out it's door 24 hours day, 7 days a week. I should know as my office in Tokyo was overlooking this destination. People would come from far and wide just to get a bowl of thir amen.

NY is to pizza as Tokyo is to ramen - so imagine you were in some far-off land - for instance, LA - and for the life of you couldn't get a decent slice let alone a JOE'S (before the move from bleecker and carming), and now suddenlyl Di Fara's cloned Dom and opened in your hood, and Joe's is on the way, that's a pretty good analogy to what's going on with our ramen iny NYC. night and day

http://www.raji.com/blog/

http://wrightandwrong.metsblog.com/

NYC and Tokyo

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Spoony Bard

Spoony Bard

Posted
Posted
Santoka is planning on opening a shop in Manhattan by the end of the year. :biggrin:

Really?? Where did you hear that? And where are they opening?

If so, then yes, 2008 is the year of the tonkotsu ramen!!! S

I worked at the Jersey Santoka for a couple months and that's what the manager told me. It seems to be in the planning stages right now, but they do seem serious about it since the Santoka bigwigs flew in from Japan pretty often. However, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if there's a long delay similar to Ippudo's.

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Spoony Bard

Spoony Bard

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Spoony, since you worked at Santoka, which do you think is the best in the area?  Will Ippudo reign supreme?

That's a tough call because I think its difficult to compare two different styles of ramen. I think asashikawa-style ramen has more layers of flavor than hakata-style, whereas the hakata-style will have a straight forward pork flavor to it. Plus I really can't be quick to judge since I had Ippudo only once in my life.

To give you another prosective, my manager would definately pick Santoka over Ippudo. He thinks that hakata-style ramen smells terrible. In his words, "it smells too porky". My manager believed that the yasahi (kind of like the mirepoix/aromatics when making a French stock), that we used help to not only add flavors, but to mellow out that pork "stench" he always ranted about. But then again, my manager might be slightly biased, since his hometown is Asahikawa and his first job in high school was at the original Santoka....

However, I would most likely prefer ippudo over santoka's miso or shoyu. The shio, I'm not so sure about.

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Spoony Bard

Spoony Bard

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To the Ippudo experts out there, does Ippudo serve noodles more raw than bari-kata? The one time I had Ippudo, bari-kata was my preference, but these days I developed a strong liking for konaohtoshi.

This one hakata-ramen shop (the proprietor was actually trained by an ippudo shop owner) I frequented while living in Korea refused to go any rawer than bari-kata. Is this a hakata thing or was it just that one ramen shop?

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raji

raji

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Well, hakatmen, the noodles are so skinny, I think that's part of why you might not find it rawer than barikata -

you worked at Santoka?! Maybe you can tell us why Santoka is so much better than any other ramen in NYC. I have offered my theories....

http://www.raji.com/blog/

http://wrightandwrong.metsblog.com/

NYC and Tokyo

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JWangSDC

JWangSDC

Posted
Posted
Well, hakatmen, the noodles are so skinny, I think that's part of why you might not find it rawer than barikata -

you worked at Santoka?! Maybe you can tell us why Santoka is so much better than any other ramen in NYC. I have offered my theories....

I've never enjoyed my ramen @ santoka and I didn't even know it was a "foodie" ramen place. I just assumed it was some cheap knockoff. To be honest though, the noodles have been chewey and my biggest issue is that I get a bowl so big that I stop enjoying it after the 3rd bite.

Setagaya has been my most favorable ramen experience in the tristate area thus far, though I admit I had just finished with a night of drinking before my meal.

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raji

raji

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Well, your experiences are suprising to me; I always found their noodles had the appropriate bite (unlike the uncooked ones I had a setagaya), and Santouka's bowls are pretty small by ramen standards...?? Certainly smaller than anywhere else in NYC. If you only went to Setagaya once, drunk, yeah, it might compare favorably to Santouka, but so would the whopper I had last night, which is the best whopper I've ever had.

To pull a Todd36ism, most of my dining companions have been Japanese, and whether or not they are tonkotsu-ramen fans, they seem to all highly rate that place....

http://www.raji.com/blog/

http://wrightandwrong.metsblog.com/

NYC and Tokyo

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donbert

donbert

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I'm not the expert Raji is on ramen and Japanese food having never been to Japan but I can definitely say that this is the best pork broth I've ever had. Looks like they're going with a shorter menu for the soft opening but I tried the regular tonkotsu and the spicy meat tonkotsu for lunch the past two days.

Shiromaru New York

gallery_26869_3940_98932.jpg

Karaka-men

gallery_26869_3940_124464.jpg

Noodle closeup

gallery_26869_3940_48677.jpg

The only place worth comparing it to is Santoka as it blows every other ramen place in Manhattan out of the water. Between the two thus far I like Ippuddo better with their super rich broth. The noodles were a thinner but had better texture as well. The toppings were a bit sparse compared to other places but who needs toppings with broth like this?

flickr
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JWangSDC

JWangSDC

Posted
Posted
Well, your experiences are suprising to me; I always found their noodles had the appropriate bite (unlike the uncooked ones I had a setagaya), and Santouka's bowls are pretty small by ramen standards...?? Certainly smaller than anywhere else in NYC. If you only went to Setagaya once, drunk, yeah, it might compare favorably to Santouka, but so would the whopper I had last night, which is the best whopper I've ever had.

To pull a Todd36ism, most of my dining companions have been Japanese, and whether or not they are tonkotsu-ramen fans, they seem to all highly rate that place....

Yea part of my post was a self-reflection that I don't personally like Ramen as much as I thought.

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feedmec00kies

feedmec00kies

Posted
Posted (edited)
...but so would the whopper I had last night, which is the best whopper I've ever had.

Hehehe. I just wanted to say that I liked that. :wink:

donbert, those photos make me drool.

Edited by feedmec00kies (log)

"I know it's the bugs, that's what cheese is. Gone off milk with bugs and mould - that's why it tastes so good. Cows and bugs together have a good deal going down."

- Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), Chef!

eG Ethics Signatory

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erha2

erha2

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Posted
Where did you say that?

Between the lines...

and grrr...my friends planned to go today for lunch but I informed them how the soft opening was apparently only for the press...based on egullet info.

i went for lunch yesterday...the soft open hours for thurs-saturday are 5 pm till 12 am. they are closed sunday and then officially open for both lunch and dinner on monday.

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raji

raji

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Where did you say that?

Between the lines...

and grrr...my friends planned to go today for lunch but I informed them how the soft opening was apparently only for the press...based on egullet info.

i went for lunch yesterday...the soft open hours for thurs-saturday are 5 pm till 12 am. they are closed sunday and then officially open for both lunch and dinner on monday.

Well thanks to you, I'm going tonight at 8:30. If anyone wants to join, look for the guy slurping his noodles! Anywhere to find their menu? what do you remember of it?

http://www.raji.com/blog/

http://wrightandwrong.metsblog.com/

NYC and Tokyo

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erha2

erha2

Posted
Posted
Where did you say that?

Between the lines...

and grrr...my friends planned to go today for lunch but I informed them how the soft opening was apparently only for the press...based on egullet info.

i went for lunch yesterday...the soft open hours for thurs-saturday are 5 pm till 12 am. they are closed sunday and then officially open for both lunch and dinner on monday.

Well thanks to you, I'm going tonight at 8:30. If anyone wants to join, look for the guy slurping his noodles! Anywhere to find their menu? what do you remember of it?

http://the-itis.blogspot.com/2008/03/ippudos-menu.html

this menu wasn't exactly what was presented to me yesterday for lunch but it's pretty close. i had a bowl of the akamaru shin-aji. broth was heavy and quite flavorful. the restaurant had a nice buzz. mostly communal tables which were about 3/4 full. there will undoubtedly be lines out the door when they offically open for dinner.

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