Firstwefeast.com's ramen bucket list

So, recently, i had a great opportunity to do a short writeup as part of this bucket list. I notoriously dislike ramen in LA, as we only have tonkotsu ramen (and varieties based on tonkotsu), so i wrote up on a place in northern Japan. I had no clue who else would be writing, so it was a surprise this morning to look and see who else did little blurbs. Anyways, thought some of you might enjoy the article.

http://firstwefeast.com/eat/best-ramen-nyc-tokyo-los-angeles-sf/

Enjoyed the article. It is making me hungry for ramen. Not really any great bowls of the stuff to be found in my neck of the woods though.

:hatsoff:

Nice piece, and good company to be in. You're right about diversity. It would be nice for North Americans to realize there's more to ramen than cup noodles and pork broth (even as much as I love tonkotsu).

ramen is one of the most pleasurable foods to eat, don't hate on tonkatsu! pork is the best, especially when you make it spicy and add miso.

cool article jon.
i feel the NYC ramen scene isn't too exciting either. Totto Ramen serves a damn good bowl (most of the time) for under $10, other than that, it's all meh. I will say i haven't tried Ivan's spot. He cooked for us at Noodle Bar and it was amazingly good but when i went to his shop in Roka-Koen it sucked. Ippudo is equal parts overpriced and obnoxious, sometimes its decent but never worth the wait.
As for David Chang, whatever with that guy. Everyone is so damn afraid of him or something no one can admit his ramen sucks. This is coming from someone who has made about 30,000 bowls of it (no joke). At $16 Momofuku ramen is dollar for dollar some of the most underwhelming in the city, considering the hype, the waits, and having to hear this guy blather on and on and on all over the place, all the time about Japanese food he doesn't even know how to make properly.
Momo ain't all bad, far far from it, but their ramen...

Jon,

Your Picture was the best part of the article.

TheDispossessed said:

i feel the NYC ramen scene isn't too exciting either. Totto Ramen serves a damn good bowl (most of the time) for under $10, other than that, it's all meh.

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Neat article! Ramen shops are popping up everywhere.

Have you been to Hidechan Ramen next door? It's my favorite even though I don't like tonkotsu ramen. I highly recommend the deluxe ramen with everything on it with ra-yu sauce. I need to try Totto Ramen, I hear great things about it.

panda said:

ramen is one of the most pleasurable foods to eat, don't hate on tonkatsu! pork is the best, especially when you make it spicy and add miso.

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Tonkotsu, no Tonkatsu.

tomato.

Broth ,cutlet

I see now Mrmnms explained, but since I looked up the Japanese charaters....


豚 is ton= pig/ pork

骨 is kotsu= bone/skeleton

カツ is katsu= Japanese way of saying cutlet

Tonkotsu= pork bone

Tonkatsu= a typically deep fried pork cutlet

different words meaning different things, all delicious!

:detective:

+1.

Castalia said:

I see now Mrmnms explained, but since I looked up the Japanese charaters....


豚 is ton= pig/ pork

骨 is kotsu= bone/skeleton

カツ is katsu= Japanese way of saying cutlet

Tonkotsu= pork bone

Tonkatsu= a typically deep fried pork cutlet

different words meaning different things, all delicious!

:detective:

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I'll tell ya guys, since I've been eating Okinawan soba, ramen just pales in comparison.
I'm talking traditional ramen...not that bastardized crap that these charlatans have been coming up with. I won't touch that.

potato, potato.....wait, that does not work so well over text

Sorry, could not resist.

Edit: Apparently a few posts since I typed that.

Jin Ramen (the one Kenji recommended) is a couple blocks up from my old undergrad college. Pretty solid ramen, but, personally, I prefer Totto and Hide. Those two just have something special going on.

ecchef said:

I'll tell ya guys, since I've been eating Okinawan soba, ramen just pales in comparison.
I'm talking traditional ramen...not that bastardized crap that these charlatans have been coming up with. I won't touch that.

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Wow thats going a bit far , no?
At the end of the day, everything "traditional" is still running its course in self evolution.

Maybe I should go check out some Ramen. I know there are a couple places in Cincinnati that are supposed to be good. The idea just makes me think of being super poor in college, though, and eating way too much instant stuff...

Nice article. It reminded me I haven't been to Kitakata is a long while (my daughter and mine's spot.)

Korin_Mari said:

Neat article! Ramen shops are popping up everywhere.

Have you been to Hidechan Ramen next door? It's my favorite even though I don't like tonkotsu ramen. I highly recommend the deluxe ramen with everything on it with ra-yu sauce. I need to try Totto Ramen, I hear great things about it.

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Mari, Evan at your shop tried to point me in the direction of Hidechan, but I couldn't find it, although I'm a little overwhelmed when it comes to NYC, next time I'm there I'll have to have someone walk outside and point me in the direction. Haha.