During my recent Tokyo visit (late March), one of my friends sent me an email clipping from Urbandaddy that was about a Japan based ramen chain that was opening up a branch in the East Village. I skimmed over the article (“hmm, that’s interesting. New York gets ALL the good food”) and then left the hostel for the day. Later that night, I would be one of 100 or so A’s fans inside Tokyo Dome watching the A’s lose to the Red Sox, much to the delight of the rest of the crowd inside.
I met up with my friend Takeshi later that night after the game. He told me over the phone that he wanted to take me to one of his favorite ramen shops that’s nearby his work. So I jumped on the Yamanote and got off at Ebisu. It was a 10 minute walk to the Shibuya branch of Ippudo.
Ippudo is a Fukuoka based ramen chain that specializes in Hakata style ramen. If you’ve been patient and are a long time reader of my ramblings, you don’t need an introduction to the creamy, decadent richness of Hakata Ramen. Ippudo is considered by many as being one of the top purveyors of Hakata Ramen in Japan.
So we walked inside and took a seat. Ordered from the small menu. The ramen came out. Takeshi ordered the standard Akamaru Shin-Aji, with a big glob of red pork fat in the middle to be stirred into the broth for that extra measure of pork flavor goodness.
See that red glob? You stir it into the broth…
I, being the purist, ordered the Shiromaru Moto-Aji, which is a pure white broth (no extra pork fat) with pork belly. Delish! The garlic and the negi add a nice kick to the broth which should be classified as a a food group. The noodles were springy and tasted fresh and snappy. They were proper Hakata style, meaning thin egg noodles. Yum!
Look at this bowl. Now imagine it empty 20 minutes later. Burp.
Even at 2200 on a weeknight, Ippudo was 80% full, with a rustic old-school kind of feeling. They were definitely going for the nostalgic look of “back in the day”. It was a great nightcap as this Tokyo trip was winding down.
As we were leaving the restaurant, I picked this up.
Ippudo was opening a location in the East Village! Then my brain began to wake up. When I got home, I pulled up that email that my friend sent me. And yes, it was about the New York location of Ippudo opening up. What were the chances of that? I get an email about Ippudo NY opening up in the morning and I wind up at Ippudo Shibuya at night with a flyer about Ippudo NY opening up.
Talk about coinkidinks…
Ippudo
1-3-13 Hiroo
Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo
03-5420-2225
http://www.ippudo.com
Musings of a Food and Travel Addict