Ippudo

Our first meal after landing in New York City was Ippudo, a Japanese ramen bar with locations all over the world.

I’ve been wanting to visit the famous ramen restaurant for years, as many people have told me it’s the best ramen they’ve ever eaten. Ipuddo specializes in Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen. The ramen features thin straight noodles sitting in a rich, milky pork-bone tonkotsu broth seasoned with garlic, sesame seeds and pickled ginger.

There are two locations in NYC and we went to the one in Midtown. There was quite a crowd when we visited, but the turnover is pretty fast.

Pork Buns

We started with their popular pork buns. The steamed buns are filled with thick-cut pieces of pork slathered with their signature sauce, mayonnaise, and lettuce.

These were tasty but I didn’t think they were as good as Momofuku’s version.

Shiromaru Hakata Classic

The original “Tonkotsu” (pork) broth with Ippudo Westside’s signature Dashi; thin noodles topped with pork loin chashu, sesame kikurage mushrooms, menma, red pickled ginger, and scallions

Akamaru Modern

A more bold translation of the original pork broth; thin noodles topped with Ippudo’s secret “Umami Dama” miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil

We thoroughly enjoyed our bowls. The noodles were still firm and the broth was rich, milky and fragrant. The eggs had a still-creamy yolk. The Modern one had more flavors and was bolder and saltier. I preferred the classic but Mr. K preferred the modern.

Overall, we enjoyed our ramen here. We thought it tasted as good as the ramen we ate in Japan, though not necessarily as good as some of our favorites in Japan. Outside of Japan though, this was the best ramen we’ve had.

Ippudo
321 West 51st Street, (Between 8th and 9th Avenue)
New York, NY 10019
https://www.ippudony.com/