Ippudo NY

Ippudo NY |  65 Fourth Avenue New York, NY 10003


I guess it's fair to say that I'm pretty late in terms of being introduced to Japanese ramen.  When I was in college, I remember my friend/roommate sent me a NY Times review on this place and I didn't think much of it.  I scoffed at the fact that a place would charge $15 for a bowl of ramen, something I thought at the time was no different than what most of us would make at home.  A few years later, after watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations in Japan, I was intrigued to try it.  Unfortunately, while the city of Houston has plenty of Japanese restaurants that serve ramen, no such places dedicated to ramen or ramen shops exist.  With the help of my long time friend Asian Bourdain, I got the chance to try the real thing for the first time.

Ippudo is considered one of the best ramen shops in NYC.  Long waits are typical and for us it took 1.5 hours for us to be seated.  The restaurant appears to look small when you walk in, there is a bar in the front where people hang around and drink while they wait for a table.  The dining room opens up to be much larger and wider.  With the exception of the open kitchen, most of the restaurant is lighted very dim, with eclectic music played at a reasonable volume.  To my surprise, most of the people that worked in the kitchen weren't even Japanese;  it didn't seem to matter though because they seemed to have a decent grasp of the language as they were shouting orders while they were cooking. I ordered the Kasane Black "Special Limited Edition" ramen with a poached egg add-on.  The broth itself was a masterpiece.  Rich, full, and flavorful, it was obvious that the tonkotsu (pork) and chicken base took  considerable time in its preparation.  It was literally the best broth I have ever tasted.  The noodles, pork loin, and the other toppings were more than solid, but the quality of the broth made the dish.  You can literally put instant ramen noodles in it and it would still taste pretty good.

Kasane Black Ramen:  the broth was simply mind blowing.

Karaka Men

Asian Bourdain ordered the Karaka Men.  It also has a pork based broth except that it was spicy and had different toppings.  The broth was great in its own right, a right amount of spiciness but without 
the richness of the Kasane Black.


Ramen is typically not a dish that I would call "mind blowing".  My first try at authentic Japanese ramen was at Santouka the day before.  While the ramen itself was probably the best ramen I ever had so far, my expectations for Ippudo were tempered as Santouka did not blow me away.  I am happy to say that my experience at Ippudo NY fully exceeded my expectations and would definitely recommend a visit.

Rating:  One of the best Japanese Ramen shops in the country   
( * | One Fake Michelin Star Awarded)