Tag: ramen

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ramen

Ichiran: Eating Ramen Alone in a Cubby Hole

A popular Japanese ramen chain, Ichiran, recently opened up their first US location in Brooklyn (East Williamsburg/Bushwick – Morgan L stop). They’re famous for their Tonkotsu Ramen (pork broth) and eating by yourself in small booth for one. It’s like eating in a closed-in cubicle.

I decided to try them out on Thanksgiving, thinking it would be empty. Then I could enjoy my solitude in even more peace. But there was actually quite a lot of people there. A lot of Asians. Maybe they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.

There’s actually two sections to the restaurant. The individual booths and another room with tables where you could sit with other people. I also noticed you can remove the wall between the individual booths so you can see the person next to you. But I’m not sure why anyone would want to do that.

Anyway, the ramen was surprisingly good. I ordered my broth strong and rich. It’s cool that you can customize your ramen. I didn’t think I would want that option. I rather have others decide what’s best for me. But what if that person decided my broth should be bland and dull? That would suck.

You’re supposed to be able to go through this restaurant without having to talk to anyone. You write your order in. Someone in a hole picks it up and brings you your food without you having to see their face. But I ended up having to make eye contact and talk to several employees. I feel like I failed.

The pricing seems expensive. But considering this is a non-tipping establishment, the price comes out about the same as any other decent ramen spot in New York. The beer though is expensive I think. $8.90 before tax for an Asahi draft that had a lot of foam. $41.05 for ramen, pork belly and a beer. Maybe this should have been more like $35.

There was a line out the door when I left. Asians ever hear of Thanksgiving?

Ichiran – 374 Johnson Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11206

Categories
ramen

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop

I met up with Yoshie, Justin and Joe at Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop in the Gotham West Market. Such a long walk from the train …but worth it. You know, after ready the Yelp reviews, I wasn’t expecting it to be any good. I was wrong …or they were wrong. I really liked the ramen.

04 Fully Loaded Roasted Garlic Mazemen - Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop

I got the Roasted Garlic Mazemen Ramen ($17 fully loaded – extra pork, egg and roast tomatoes). The broth was very garlic-y. Probably way too garlic-y for most people, but it was perfect for me. My breath smelled like garlic all day.

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop – 600 11th Ave (btw 44th & 45th St inside the Gotham West Market) New York, NY 10036

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asian

Suzume Japanese Restaurant

We checked out Suzume on Lorimer Street across the street from the pizzeria where Son of Sam used to eat. Coincidentally, we were eating with a Sam. He likes to eat Ramen. So this was his idea. I like sake, so I said yeah.

I ordered a large carafe of sake, but I think the joke was that it was just for me. The other guys assumed we were sharing it.

We started off with some sushi that was pretty good and then moved on to bowls of Ramen. It’s weird how I rarely eat carby meals these days. Like I used to eat spaghetti and mashed potatoes every single day. Now, not so much. So this was weird eating a bowl of noodles. I wouldn’t have imagined I’d be like this. But I thought it was pretty good.

They gave us Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with the receipt. Pretty unexpected. Too bad I rarely eat sweets anymore. Fuck. I never felt so guilty from a dinner.

Suzume - 545 Lorimer St (btwn Ainslie & Devoe St) Brooklyn, NY 11211

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product ramen

My Mom Made Me a Bowl of Ramen

Over the holidays, my mom made me this bowl of ramen noodles. I wasn’t hungry, but I ate it anyway. It reminded me of when I was a kid, my mom would make me ramen with bits of Oscar Mayer sliced ham on top. It wasn’t until around high school did I find out how cheap ramen noodles were. I think around ten cents a pack back then or less. It surprised me. How could it be so cheap? You know, I felt a little deceived at the same time …like my mom deceived me. That she was feeding me such cheap food. I didn’t hold a grudge, just felt deceived.

01 My mom made me a bowl of Ramen Noodles

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concert/event ramen restauranting

EMA and Minca Ramen

I met up with David who I met a few days ago at the 4Knots Music Festival. He got me into see EMA at Mercury Lounge tonight for her first NY concert. She’s got a lot of buzz going and the place was packed for this early evening show. She was pretty good, like a 90’s Alternative Rock combination of Portishead, Nirvana, Courtney Love, Sonic Youth and The Blow.

Then David, friends and I went for beer and Minca Ramen. Got the Toroniku Pork Belly Ramen. Three big blocks of delicious Pork Belly in my bowl. So good and big. I could only eat half. I’m working on my Captain America/Chris Evans figure, so half was plenty.

Minca - 536 E 5th St (btwn Avenue A & B) New York, NY 10009

On the way back home, I saw this guy Ben Simon play the craziest guitar (Guitar2D2) that he built himself. It sounded interesting (more so live than in this video).

I thought I learned a good lesson tonight that I was hoping to share with you guys —If the L train is running on one track during late-night construction, you might as well jump on even if it’s going the other way (and ride it back, securing a spot and standing in AC) …Because nothing sucks more than being on a packed platform and being the only one (seriously, the only person) to not get on the train. Lesson learned –I got on the next train going the opposite way 30mins later. There was even a cute girl that I was hoping to see on my way back and she’d be like “Whoa! How’d you do that? Let’s make out.” All was great, until I saw the another train going back into Brooklyn while I was still on the 8th Ave bound train at Union Square. So I got off at 6th Ave and waited another half hour on the sweaty hot platform to go back to Brooklyn. It took me 2 hours to get home only 4 stops away.

I’m trying to think what lesson I learned in all this. There’s always a lesson to learn in all of life’s struggles according to the self-help and development audio tapes I’ve been listening to these past 4 years. I couldn’t think of any lesson I learned out of this. It was just bullshit. I can’t believe the L train instantly fucked up all these years living optimistic and happy. FML …I get it.

Fuck everything, I decided I’m going to eat a balut.

Categories
ramen

Menkui Tei Noodle Restaurant

Killing time with Sam at this ramen spot, before I went back to my place for my roommate’s birthday. Unfortunately, I’m getting really lazy with bringing my camera with me. It’s just too bulgy in my tight jeans in the summertime. I did have my phone with the Camera360 app. It has a filter called “Japanese Style” which was very appropriate for the cuisine. It brings up the brightness, lessens the contrast and gives it a purple-ish tint. It’s so dark in Menkui-Tei, I don’t know how these people on Yelp got their bright photos.

The best thing was the Age Platter special –fried squid legs, fried octopus balls, and fried octopus. I could eat a whole plate of the fried octopus.

Tan Tan Men noodles was too soupy for me, but the flavor was right.

Afterwards, I brought home a cake from Grand Morelos. I’ve wanted to get the naked girl with the see-thru night gown topper, but I didn’t know how to ask for it. So I just got a dinosaur. Then things got crazy when I pulled out the guitar and cranked it up with the Happy Birthday song. Some dude called out for me to play Stairway to Heaven and ACDC. I freaked out and screamed “FUCK YOU!!!” then stormed off. He thought I was being funny and laughed.

Menkui Tei Noodle Restaurant – 63 Cooper Sq (btwn 7th St & Astor Pl) New York 10003

Categories
ramen

Paldo Dosirac Instant Noodle – Beef Flavored

Finishing up my old stash of instant ramen noodles. This is a cool package. It has little rubbery pellets in there.

Categories
ramen

Terakawa Ramen

After Sam gave me that Japanese Ramen Magazine, I needed to eat some. We went to the nearest ramen place near our work, Terakawa Ramen. My first time there. Not the most amazing ramen, but decent and a lot of food for the $11 lunch special (ramen with half chicken curry or gyoza dumplings). So stuffed. Did the job!

Terakawa Ramen – 18 Lexington Ave (btwb 22nd & 23rd St) New York, NY 10010