So, their thing is that each table is announced and cheered by the staff upon entry, bit weird, but to be honest, not even that noticeable. I expected it to be very in your face, but I actually think it's quite nice. Maybe because I was in holiday mode, rather than nipping round the corner from work to have a quick ramen lunch, but people need to lighten up if they find this intrusive. We scored a much sought after booth as we were a big group and only had to wait about 20 minutes, which we spent in a nearby vintage clothing shop. It flew by.
We started with an obligatory Sapporo ($6), mine didn't go down all that well tbh, it was too early and I was 2nd day hanging. Molly and I ordered exactly the same, starting with agedashi tofu ($10)
This is served in a dashi broth topped with aubergine, radish, spring onion and wasabi. Probably the best agedashi tofu I've ever had, the lightest batter encasing it, it was quite difficult to eat actually because the tofu was so soft it was impossible to grip with chopsticks.
Next up we went for the Tori tatsuta-age ($9), the fried chicken with daikon ponzu sauce. This was incredible. London has some amazing karaage chicken (Bone Daddies), Montreal too (Saka Ba), but this is the nicest I've ever had. I could have eaten all of this in a heartbeat, but I had to stop to save some room for the ramen. It pained me to leave any.
SMILEY FACE!!! The main event being this, the karaka men ramen ($15). Tonkotsu pork broth, noodles topped with chashu pork, minced pork, spicy sauce, sesame mushrooms and onions. Optional extra seasoned egg ($2) was added, obvs. Now, this was not a Clarence Court egg, so clearly inferior but everything else about this bowl hit the spot. I'm keen to try the London branch when I'm back in December, to judge for myself if the same formula works in another city.
Apparently these guys invented steamed buns, who knew. The starter dishes were really standout and the ramen ticks all the boxes too.
Ippudo, NY
65 4th Avenue
New York
10003
9/10
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