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Ippudo – Pricey but Delicious

Ippudo is a ramen spot right on 4th avenue and the corner of 10 st. A few people I know swear by Ippudo but I am usually put off by its insane wait time and sometimes less than friendly staff. My first experience at Ippudo was marred by such rude service that I couldn’t really enjoy my meal.

That being said, after about a year of not having gone to Ippudo, it was time to go back for a fresh perspective. Lucked out with a decent wait and a very friendly waitress!

I had the Akamaru Modern Ramen (pictured above) - tonkotsu soup noodles with special sauce, miso paste, garlic oil, thick slices of berkshire pork, cabbage, onions, kikurage and scallions. I sprung for the nitamago (a seasoned hard boiled egg +$2), because what is a ramen without a hard boiled egg? The broth is absolutely amazing; thick and flavorful. The pork is incredibly fatty and succulent and honestly, the ramen is amazing. You can’t go wrong with the Akamaru.

Gao Di went with Ippudo’s Miso Ramen which our waitress informed us changes seasonally. The broth here was really good and I enjoyed the fact that it was something a little different – that being said, I have to hand it to the Akamaru for just being awesome.

Since we were already blowing money we sprung for desert. We got the Matcha Brulee, a green tea flavored creme brulee with gelato. This was amazing. I had no idea Ippudo had such good deserts. The perfect texture with a really awesome green tea flavor – I will have to stop myself from getting this on subsequent visits. ($7)

With ramen at a base price of $13-14 dollars missing a key ingredient such as an egg, your general ramen bowl will come to around $16-17 dollars. This is a lot of money to pay for ramen when you can get awesome ramen at Menkui Tei. That being said, honestly, Ippudo has some of the best ramen I’ve had in NYC. I mean, the broth, it’s just so damn good. Great place to go, a bit pricey.

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Menkui Tei – My Love for Ramen

Like I said a long time ago in my post on alphabet city’s ramen joint, Minca, Menkui Tei on 3rd avenue between St. Marks and E. 7th street has a special place in my heart (it’s actually technically Cooper Square). I have been coming here with Thomas since freshman year of college. Located just a little ways from NYU’s jazz building, Menkui Tei offers some great ramen at a much better price than our good friend, the overpriced Ippudo.

So what’s to love here? Pretty much everything. The wait staff is ridiculously nice (they always remember me!) and I love the wooden environment + mix of 90’s hip-hop and pop music. My two favorite ramens that Menkui offers are the Kyushu Ramen and the Sutamina Ramen. The Kyushu Ramen, pictured above, is a “Special Menu” item that happens to always be on the menu – this is a good thing. The Kyushu features sprouts, bamboo, fried garlic, scallions, a half a soft-boiled ehh, and of course – two thick and tasty slices of pork, along with thin noodles in a delicious pork bone broth.

The Sutamina Ramen has a spicy miso-based broth with sliced pork, egg, garlic and scallions. Yum! I need to get a photo of this one because it’s quite wonderful.

Anyway, I love Menkui Tei and you should too! Among pricier places like Ramen Setagaya, Ippudo, and Minca, Menkui Tei is a delicious and affordable contender in the ramen market. They also have a really good mabo tofu and pitcher deals that come with hot wings!

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Minca – Alphabet City

Minca is a small ramen shop I stumbled upon when I lived in alphabet city. It’s located on East 5th Street between Avenues A and B. Minca and Kambi on 14th st are apparently owned by the same person but I think Minca is far superior. Minca is small and because the place gets packed it can feel very cramped even though it seats a few more people than tiny ramen shop Rai Rai Ken. The wait isn’t too bad but you certainly do feel awkward when you stand around waiting for your seat because it’s too cold outside and end up hovering over diners’ tables.

Aside from the lack of personal space, Minca offers a nice ambiance and seats at the bar get a nice view of the open kitchen. I have had some of the more extravagant ramens here but this time I kept it simple with the Minca Shoyu Ramen and Pork Gyoza.

The menu at Minca is simple, they pretty much stick to ramen and gyoza. The pork gyoza is really, really good with a nice thin skin and tasty pork filing. An order equals 6 hand-made dumplings for $4.85, highly recommended to complement your meal (pork overload yes!!!). Minca’s website states “We Take Pride in Our らーめん” (Ramen), and they do. It’s obvious the love and care put into these ramen bowls. The minca shoyu ramen features a pork & chicken mix broth with a soy sauce flavor  and is ridiculously delicious- thick and meaty! The charshu pork is amazingly fatty and tender, it seems to melt in your mouth. It’s such a shame you only get two pieces- lucky for me Eileen isn’t so down with fatty pork and gifted me with some extra pork- YUMMMMM. The ramen is also topped with a soy sauce infused half of a hard-boiled egg, scallions, mushrooms, seaweed, and bamboo shoots. This ramen is, simply put, fucking delicious. Also, the bowls seem to be pretty low on the MSG and I never leave with that weird after-taste MSG gives you. The standard Minca Shoyu Ramen is $9.50, a better deal and better tasting than Ippudo. Some of the more intricate ramens at Minca range up to $14.

Minca is an amazing, authentic ramen shop and places in as one of my top places for ramen noodles in the city. I’m also a big fan of Menkui Tei and Ramen Setagaya and will get to reviewing them at another point! If you know of any amazing ramen places in New York that I may not have heard of please leave me with a suggestion!

Minca can be found at 536 East 5th Street between Avenues A and B in Alphabet City.