NYC Roadtrip Roundup 2012: Ramen Edition

Ippudo

The instant noodle bar table.

Noodle bowl wall decor.

Hirata Buns (2 pieces) $9
Steamed buns filled with your choice of pork or chicken, served with Ippudo's original spicy buns sauce

The pork bully bun was good but it wasn't anything amazing. The price tag for it was definitely pricy too, not worth it. These buns were a little spicy and the big piece lettuce was not visually appealing. 

Shiromaru Hakata Classic $14 +  Nitamago Seasoned soft boiled egg $2  

This was the best ramen I had in North America. The noodle was al dente and the soft boiled egg was seasoned perfectly with the runny yolk. <3

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par

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Momofuku Noodle Bar

Please remember to check the opening time as we arrived an hour too early so we strolled around the area waiting for them to open. After we sat down, people started coming in. Have to say this place was not as busy as Ippudo. We didn't see any lineup at this place while lineup was already happening at Ippudo at 11:30am. People just can't wait to have their ramen fix. 

pork – hoisin, scallion, cucumber

 The pork bun at momofuku was slightly better than Ippudo. In the end, I think pork buns are just over-rated. As an Asian, we have these all the time in Chinese restaurant, maybe just not with pork belly.

momofuku ramen – pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg

This was a very bad bowl of ramen. I did not finished my bowl was ramen. The soup was salty and tasted like wonton noodle soup to me. The noodle was kind of eggy, didn't like that at all. Did not understand why they had to put sooooo much green onion in there either. It was just bad. And poached egg in ramen? Really? All I have to say is, if this was really how ramen is suppose to be... then I'm sorry. I don't like ramen then. Momofuku is actually going to open in Toronto (190 University Avenue, opening date has yet to be announced), I'm not sure how I feel about that... but maybe I will give it another try.

Final Verdict: Par/Sub-Par