i am not sold on ippudo. there, i said it.

Bar area at the front of the restaurant. It is stylish as hell, but certainly not even close to the best bowl of noodles I've ever had, much less in New York.

Bowl of Shiomaru ramen, hold the kikurage, please. Maybe I shouldn't have made that request, because the bowl looked a little pathetic and spare. The slices of berkshire pork were dry and the portion very stingy. For $13 I want succulent pieces that are thicker than a fruit roll-up. The broth wasn't anything to freak out over either. Maybe I should have gone with the thicker tonkotsu style Akamaru broth. To top it off, I think they lost our order because everyone seated around us was getting their food and our bowls took forever to appear. I couldn't flag down a server, so I didn't have a chance to inquire about the status but we easily ordered before some of the folks even sat down.

This photo isn't very good, but you can see DMR's short-lived summer stache.

I was very ready to love this place, but it fell way short of expectations. Will give it another try, but for the price, I'd much rather have a bowl at Momofuku Noodle Bar, where the pork practically melts in your mouth. The one plus was watching the guy make noodles in a little room downstairs by the bathrooms.

catching up on june eatings

Fort Lee, NJ: Somyun in homemade dashi, with zucchini and a semi-poached semi-scrambled egg. You add spoonfuls of a sauce of soy, sesame and chilies to taste. I can be heavy handed with this condiment.

Palisades Park, NJ: Pile of veggies and fishcakes ready to get Shabu Shabu'ed at Pho 32.

Hot tub time for a piece of napa cabbage, a clump of enoki mushrooms and a fishball.

Thinly sliced beef ready for dunking.

Park Slope, Brooklyn: The house omelet at Moim is filled with kimchi, steak, onions and mozzarella cheese and partially bathed in a sort of demi-glace sauce you'd find in a yoshoku style restaurant. The home fries were perfect - super crisp on the outside without a trace of wetness, soft and warm on the inside. And most importantly, they were well-seasoned.

Inside view of the omelet. I'd definitely get this again, but would probably ask for it without the cheese.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn: The fruits of a quick trip to the Brooklyn Flea. Even with the chili pepper on the label, these are a lot spicier than you'd think.

Cobble Hill, Brooklyn: A pre-bocce dinner at Hibino started off so positively, with this duo of obanzai. The chicken meatballs were moist and had a pleasing char. The eel croquettes were like arancini with a decidedly Japanese twist (panko breading, tonkatsu-style sauce drizzled over). Unfortunately, our main dishes took nearly an hour to arrive and one of our orders didn't even make it from notepad to kitchen. We had to rush and were late to the start of the game And we wound up losing.

Edgewater, NJ: Gyoza and congee combo from China Table Tokyo Hanten at Mitsuwa. I almost always opt for ramen here but was in the mood to expand my horizons. This was yummy, but not as satisfying as a bowl of noodles. I did really like the mug of consommé.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn: Pupusas (whoops, I've been spelling these with two As) from a Red Hook ball field vendor at today's Brooklyn Flea! Brought home a bean and cheese and zucchini and cheese a little before it started pouring. Only $4.50!

The bean and cheese pupusa was dry and seemed like it may have been sitting on the griddle for some time, but the zucchini was wonderful. Maybe the water content of the zucchinis helped to keep it moist? By the time I got home, some of the sour cream had melted and mixed in with the salsa to create a delicious cream sauce. Pickles make everything better, and in this case, it was pickled cabbage.

$6 Bad Lunch, $6 Good Lunch

My lunch totally sucked yesterday. I went to the normally dependable Cafe Zaiya near my office and was excited to see there was one chicken oyako-don left. These seem to sell out quickly here and I generally eat lunch later than most. When I got back to my desk and opened the container, I couldn't find any chicken. After double checking the label confirmed it was a chicken oyako-don, I poked at the yellowish-grey mass and unearthed three tiny nuggets of poultry. The dish was overwhelmed with bamboo shoots and julienned strips of pink-edged fishcake. There's a very good chance I don't know what I'm talking about, but I've come to expect chicken oyako-don to be composed of onions, scallions and egg. Nothing more, nothing else. After a few bites of rice and chicken, I dumped the rest into the garbage. What a disappointment.

Today I decided to go out for lunch. I took the bus up 5th Avenue to Koreatown and settled on Woorijip, which is a sorta fast food place with lots of prepackaged items, as well as a small hot and cold buffet. In the back they have a little counter called something like the Noodle Hut. You place your order with the ahjuma and a few moments later you have a freshly prepared bowl of noodles or hotpot. I ordered sujebi, which is a type of Korean noodle. The chewy sujebis kind of look like a cross between a flattened piece of gnocchi and dduk, Korean rice cake. The sujebis are served in a very basic fish-based broth (dried anchovies most likely), which gets thickened by the noodles. There are lots of scallions along with thin slices of zucchini and carrot. A small dish of kimchi and ohdeng accompanied. Completely satisfying, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect lunch.

P.S. This totally made me have garlic breath for the rest of the day, hooray!

Minca Ramen Factory

Around the holidays, we ate at the Minca Ramen Factory, a tiny ramen restaurant in the East Village (536 E. 5th St b/w A & B). It's cozy, but definitely not as cramped as Rai Rai Ken. At Minca, you can choose to site at the half dozen or so tables, or at one of the seats at the bar, where you have can observe the ramen production firsthand.

The Minca mise en place.


Pork gyoza. These were served piping hot and with a lovely layer of crispy on one side. DMR burned his tongue, I think. I for the life of me cannot replicate this at home. My gyoza always winds up sticking to the pan. Am I just not using enough oil?


We both opted for the house Minca ramen, which centers around an earthy broth made with pork, chicken and dried seafood. The noodles are imported dried from Japan and were more toothsome than I've been accustomed to. Topping the noodles were handfuls of marinated bamboo and black mushrooms (I picked all of these out, I hate these mushrooms despite being a mushroom lover), half a soy-sauce marinated hard boiled egg, a couple thin slices of tender pork and a sprinkling of scallions. A square of seawood is placed upright in the bowl as well. Next time, I'll probably order a different soup base and ask them to hold the mushrooms.

Momofuku Ando, R.I.P.

We have just learned of Momofuku Ando's passing (thanks for the heads up, Martin). The inventor of instant ramen died on January 5 at the age of 96 after suffering a fatal heart attack. Fittingly, his last meal was chicken ramen, the product that started it all.

The Park Slope Gastronome is grateful to have been able to visit
The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Ikeda City while vacationing in Japan last summer.


Momofuku Ando
March 5, 1910 - January 5, 2007

Asia Report #10 - Use Your Noodle Pt. 2

After our little field trip to the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, how could we be in the mood for anything but those delicious noodles in broth. Luckily, a fantastic ramen joint was just a stone's throw away. The restaurant turned out to be Menou Momofukutei, a lovely serene space inside and out, staffed by super cool, young Japanese men and women. It was fairly empty but we still sat at the counter that faced the kitchen. There was no English menu, but we managed to place an order for 2 bowls of shoyu (soy sauce based broth) ramen.

We were presented with small glasses of iced tea while we waited for our ramen. Meanwnile, I looked through all the little bamboo bowls and containers filled with various condiments such including pickled plum and mustard greens, and chili oil. There was also a grinder full of multicolored peppercorns and one full of sesame seeds.

Our ramen was earthy and delicious. It was centered around two pieces of succulent pork and joined by a chicken meatball, a white square of fishcake, some brown wood ear-esque mushroms (that I didn't particulary care for), spinach stalks, pickled bamboo, green onion and burdock root. Additionally, there was a gorgeous half of a soft-boiled egg, its golden yolk just barely set. It wasn't just the bowl of noodles that made our meal, it was the atmosphere, the Coltrane on the stereo, the friendly waiter who kept refilling our iced tea glasses at the right moment (and eventually giving us a pitcher, which seems to be the norm there).

We should have been sated, but I am a pig and I hate not being able to read a menu. So when I saw some gyoza pass by, I had to order some. Little did I know, we would be served baby gyoza!

They were amazingly crispy on the edges and tender on the inside. I added some chili oil, cracked pepper and ground sesame seeds to the dipping sauce, as well as a dab of the ball of green stuff you can see in the top right corner. I'm not really sure what that was.

And then it was off to Koshien Stadium, home of the Hanshin Tigers and where Dan and I would have a completely unreal and unparalled baseball experience.

Asia Report #9 - Use Your Noodle Pt. 1

I love Osaka! With the colors, the food, the store that's devoted to all things takoyaki, how could I not? Add to that an unrivaled fanaticism for their baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers. This might be the city of my dreams.

While our hotel room in Osaka was tiny, it was still very clean with all the amenities you'd want - flat screen tv with more than 3 cable channels, automatic toilet, hot water maker for tea and coffee, and the hotel itself offered a really fantastic continental breakfast, Japanese style. While Listmaker was snoring away (oh wait, that was in Seoul), I was an early bird not willing to forfeit my free breakfast for a few extra winks. Any complaints one might have about the room size is mitigated by the bounty that was offered. There were a couple different varities of onigiri - rice balls with center fillings ranging from bonito (okaka, I would later learn...who knew bonito isn't a Japanese word!) to salmon to sweet and sour pickled plum. Also provided were a couple of instant soups, including miso in paste form, which is so much more superior to the powdered form. Guests could also opt for a nice little salad with a yummy sesame soy dressing, rolls, American cereals like Cocoa Krispies and Corn Flakes in boxes with Japanese lettering and this delicious vanilla yogurt. To drink, coffee, juices and teas were offered. I'll take this any day over wan bagels and insipid pastries. This was a great way to start off my day.

Dan, using his noodle, discovered the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in one of the city guides the night before and we decided to take a visit. Momofuku Ando invented instant noodles. Only in Japan would they have a shrine to this sort of thing (good thing). Ando founded Nissin, the company that makes Cup O Noodles, you know the white styrofoam cup filled with little bits of dehydrated egg and vegetables that was a staple of your college years. We took a couple of trains out to an area in Osaka called Ikeda and while I was able to locate the museum on a map of the town in the station and orient ourselves in the proper direction, I couldn't pinpoint the street it was on. Most of the streets on the map were unmarked as were most of the streets in the town. We walked down one street and I could feel the museum, but no dice. We headed back to the train station and tried to get a cab to take us. Despite the cab driver not being able to speak English, I'm pretty sure he said something along the lines of, "It's right over there, you can walk, you don't need me to drive you!" We then headed into a bakery and a kind young lady gave us directions in her halting English. At least we knew which street to walk down.

Finally we found the museum! It was small and nothing was translated into English, but I loved the wall of ramen. Little did we know we were only a few days shy of qualifying to be their millionth visitor! Upstairs they had a ramen making workshop, which unfortunately you had to sign up in advance for. Oh well. Dan took some great shots, including this one of the cross section of a Cup O Noodle!


This is a portion of the great wall of ramen. The bullseye indicates the start of something big.


Our visit to the museum was brief, but totally put us in the mood for some ramen. On the way there, we had passed a great looking ramen joint and decided to eat there on the way back. More on the ramen and the rest of our day in Osaka in the next post!

Asia Report #3 - Famous Suwon Kalbi, "Knife Noodles," Everybody Ramen

Before we hit the World Cup Stadium in Suwon (nicknamed Big Bird for its design) for a Blue Wings game, Dan and I were treated to some World Famous Suwon kalbi. Of course I forgot to grab a business card so I could tell you the name of the restaurant. I kept forgetting to do that a lot on this trip. Anyway, Suwon is known for its kalbi preperations and the kalbi here was indeed super tasty, but we've had just as good or if not better in New York. We're so spoiled living in a city like New York, where with the exception of maybe cheap Mexican, you can get excellent versions of so many ethnic foods. What made the meal for me with the unbelievable number of small dishes (banchan) that accompanied the beef. There must have been about 20 small dishes including super tasty mini pancakes that I think were made with some sort of yellow bean and maybe some glutinous rice? It had a bit of a spongey texture to it. There was also a few different types of kimchi (your standard cabbage to a variation on water kimchi (mul kimchi), which is not spicy at all. Additionally, we were offered small plates of various marinated vegetables, a scoop of tangy mashed potatoes, and mook, which I had blogged about earlier on the trip. The piece de resistance was the bowl of piping hot bean paste stew (denjang jigae) - which you never get for free in an American Korean restaurant. There were huge chunks of tofu and zuchinni, as well as clusters of enoki mushrooms floating around the slightly spicy, densely colored broth.

I found it really interesting that in Korea, you often share drinks. So when we all ordered some Pepsi, we were brought one bottle and three glasses. This is so much better than drinking all those oversized portions in the states. Also, the waitress kept insisting that Dan make a ssam with his kalbi. Ssam is like a Korean version of a wrap. In this instance, a piece of lettuce acts as the wrapper, with rice, kalbi, roasted garlic chips and hot bean paste making up the contents.

Oh, let me add that this was a soot bul kalbi joint - no gas grill here. All charcoal!

Wow, in retrospect we had a very long day in Suwon. Before the kalbi lunch, we took a city tour, which included stops at various points of the HwaSeong fortress, Royal Palaces, a drive by of the World Cup Stadium and a military training facility, and a KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) set that included recreations of Korean villages at different points in history. Pretty silly! After lunch, we were going to head off to a Korean Folk Village, but I had enough sightseeing for the day, so we rested a bit before dinner and the game. The room I rested in was the same room that 8 years prior, I was the victim of a relentless mosquito gang.

I had been promised a dinner at a kal guksu (which translates to knife noodles) house the moment we arrived in Suwon. The whole world knows I love my noodles. Unfortunately for Dan, this restaurant only had floor seating so he had to make due despite his pretzel rod flexibility. At the table were a couple of gas grills which the waiter filled with broth. Once it started boiling, we added various seafood (including mini-clams, mussels, abalone, and this one thing I was told would squirt out when bitten into. I do not like foods that squirt so I kept away) and vegetables. After letting that cook for a while, the handmade noodles were added. The starch in the noodles helps to thicken up the broth. The noodles are referred to as kal guksu because that's how they're prepared. You roll out your pasta dough and fold it over a couple of times and then use a knife to cut the thin strands. My mom makes a mean version of this dish.

Listmaker does a great job of going through the game for you - from the accident we witnessed prior to getting to our seats to the mad dash for the hot water coolers at half time to cook the instant ramen. The ramen scene was amazing! There was a trio of water dispensers every few gates or so and people, mostly kids and young adults were lined up 5 deep!. We were told that some people bring their ramen, but the stadium also offered them at concession stands too. The cost? About a dollar, I think. Beats a $5 hot dog most of the time!

p.s. Dan has become even more maniacal about baseball on this trip. He is crazy.

Noodles at Mitsuwa with Linda

Mitsuwa is a huge Japanese supermarket complex in Edgewater, NJ, not to far from where I grew up and where my parents still live. On visits back to Jerz, I try to get a trip to Mitsuwa into the itinerary. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but it's been there long enough that my brother worked there in either middle school or high school and has endured a name change (originally Yaohan). I'm goint to guess at least 15 years. It's rows and rows of brilliant packages tagged with adorable cartoon characters and Engrish, as well dozens upon dozens of items you had never previously realized you had a need for. Another key selling point of Mitsuwa is their awesome food court. It's undergone some changes recently, but the types of foods offered remain the same for the most part. The two main additions are the Italian Tomato counter and the Ito-En Tea island. The various ramen, katsu and red bean cake counters are still there though.

One of the best times to hit Mitsuwa (which, you can get to via shuttle bus from Port Authority) is when they are having a regional food festival, where they feature special foods and always have tons of samples. The last time I was there, okonomiyaki was celebrated. I don't think this was the Osaka kind, as it was a variation with noodles and an egg crepe I had never had before. I stood on line, I mean "in line" for nearly an hour to get my okonomiyaki (to go!) and it still tasted great back in Brooklyn. This past weekend, they were celebrating the Kyushu / Okinawa region. Linda (my mom, for those of you who are new), and I sampled seafood buns, salty fish roe and a variety of Japanese rice cakes. They were also pushing mackerel. At lunch, she was disappointed to find out her favorite type of ramen with scallops was nowhere to be found. So we both wound up getting Hidechan ramen from a special stand that was set up for the weekend. Hidechan ramen was unlike the other types of ramen I've previously tried. The thick broth (made from pork bones which have been simmering for a very long time) came as a big surprise and reminded me a lot of the broth in the Korean dish gom tang (ox tail soup). It almost felt too heavy at first because I was expecting a lighter broth. This broth almost felt three-dimensional, if that makes any sense. And like gom tang, Hidechan ramen is best served with lots and lots of black pepper. Another big difference was the type of noodle used. It wasn't your typical curly noodle with a yellowish tint. This noodle was much thinner, straight and white. Accompanying the broth and noodles were a large handful of chopped scallions and three slices of pork fanned out on top.

I didn't finish it. While it was delicious, I can't imagine eating this on a regular basis. It seems more like a special occasion meal. I also didn't take the photo, but thought the post needed a visual. It's exactly the same ramen I ate - down to the styrofoam bowl and plastic soup spoon.

Another Tonight's Dinner (But Really Last Night's): Momofuku

I love noodles. They are my favorite food and most noodle dishes belong in my deliciousness hall of fame. So when Dan and I found ourselves in the East Village for dinner, which doesn't happen all that much, I proposed Momofuku, a noodle bar and much more on 1st Avenue between 10th and 11th streets. I've wanted to try Momofuku for a while, and the curiosity has been heightened by the recent articles in the Times dining section, where chef David Chang has been a guest columnist. The space is tiny, basically a kitchen and an H-shaped counter but we got there early enough that we weren't elbowed out.

We split a 22oz Orion - the beer of beers - as our beverage. To begin, we got an order of chicken steamed buns and I got a single Moonstone Oyster on the half shell with kimchi puree. The latter I got mainly as a novelty. The steamed buns were awesome. The buns, which looked like fluffy oversized oyster crackers, were split open and spread on both sides with a hoisin sauce (I probably could have used a bit less) and then thinly sliced cucumbers were fanned out. A sprinkle of finely chopped scallions were scattered about. The vegetables were topped with a shredded chicken mixture that had been heating up on the grill and developing a delicious golden brown crust. The combination was awesome.

For our mains, Dan got the Tsukemen - a bowl of chilled noodles, shredded Berkshire pork, poached egg, scallions, bright green spring peas, nori and cucumbers. Accompanying it was a bowl of salty shoyu broth into which you dip everything. I got the house ramen, which came with a poached egg, Berkshire pork combo (belly and a shredded delicious mass), scallions, those gorgeous green peas, nori and menma (pickled bamboo shoots). Momofuku makes the most gorgeous poached egg, perfectly shaped with this beautiful translucency to them. I poked the yolk of mine and swirled it around the broth to thicken it and to also further cook the yolk a bit.

The shredded Berkshire pork was amazing. When I first looked at the mass in my bowl, I expected it to be fatty and unsavory, which it wasn't at all. I gobbled up bite after bite.

Also, this doesn't happen often, but the bowl of noodles totally kicked my ass and I wound up sharing some of my pork belly and noodles with Dan cause I was stuffed! I ate most of his peas because for some reason, he hates them. I think like bleu cheese, if he gave them a chance, he'd change his mind.

By the time we left, the place was packed and there was a line outside as well. Annoying East Village wanker had to stand right by the door and when I was exiting, the door hit him and even though I apologized (totally unecessary - don't stand by doors), he gave me a dirty look. It would be a harbinger of East Village stupidity to come (check out the Bibimbop for the scoop).

Park Slope Gastronome #8 - Field Trip to Seattle: Cheap Eats

We took a field trip to Seattle over the holidays and we ate a couple places worth mentioning.

First of note is Red Mill Burgers. Listmaker, J.E.R.C., B Zissou and I had lunch at the Phinney Ridge location (there's also one in Interbay). This had been a favorite of Listmaker's during his last visit to the Emerald City (I think that's Seattle's nickname and I'm too lazy to fact check at the moment) and he was quite eager to relive that burger experience. Red Mill Burgers is a made-to-order fast food joint. It looks like fast food, but it sure doesn't taste like it. You place your order and then you mill around while it cooks. They call your name when your food is ready and you hope you can find a seat. I ordered the bacone deluxe with cheese, which came with pepper bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, red onion, american cheese and something called Mill Sauce. It's some homemade conconction that's sort of like Thousan Island dressing, but totally not. I also got an order of onion rings and they were some of the best I ever had. Unfortunately Listmaker and I had a tangle and some dropped to the floor. I was really tempted to invoke the 5 second rule and pick them up and pop 'em into my mouth. Ok, so let me tell you about these onion rings. They were coated in this delicious cornmeal batter that was light and crispy. It created a perfect seal to keep the onions moist while they cooked. I wish I had some to eat right now! Someone was disappointed in the burger, saying it didn't compare to Bonnie's, but I thought it was an unfair comparison. Red Mill's burger is a thin, unseasoned patty, while Bonnies, is a monstrous circle that's dipped into a blend of spices. It's more like an In-N-Out burger. Also Listmaker got the barbeque burger, sans lettuce and tomato so it was just a mushy, saucy mess. Oh, his fries were delicious too.

Food: A
Service: n/a (although if it were, i would take off points cause they called me Susan when my food was ready. boo).

We also ate at a pho restaurant called Than Brothers. It's a chain in the loosest sense of the word - there are about a half dozen locations spread out Seattle and I'm sure all have the same mirrored interior and glass covered tables. Underneath the glass are clippings of reviews the restaurant has received over the years. The place endeared us immediately because as you sit down you are presented with a plate of creme puffs made by the owner! I tried to save mine for dessert, but I gobbled it down as an appetizer. Than Brothers serves a variety of pho in 4 sizes: small, medium, large and x-large. We were warned that the portions were quite generous and to order on the conservative side. My medium portion of Pho Bo Tai Nam was enough to feed two and less than $5! The broth was fragrant and tasty enough to stand by itself but I am never one to say no to sriracha sauce. I usually overdo it with the sriracha, but luckily at pho restaurants, there's plum sauce to balance it out. All the pho trimmings come on a communal plate, so it's this overflowing bounty of bean sprouts, hot pepper slices, lime wedges and thai basil that's presented before you. I don't really know much about the intricacies of pho to go on further.

Food: A
Service: again, not really applicable. the waiters and waitresses bring you your food and then pretty much leave you alone. you walk up to the cashier when you are ready to pay.

In the next installment of the Park Slope Gastronome, I'll discuss the other places we ate at in Seattle that do not qualify as cheap eats.