the ramen blog & other goodies!

My favorite iron chef has always been Masaharu Morimoto. Maybe I’m biased because I had the opportunity to meet him in person at his Morimoto restaurant in New York, but I’ve always preferred his quiet, unpretentious style over some of his counterparts’ tendency to be more flashy. And unlike some other “celebrity” sushi restaurants that are more hype than substance (cough, Nobu, cough), Morimoto the restaurant is not only amazingly good, but (relatively) reasonably priced, but I digress…

NY Magazine recently featured a two part article on ramen, featuring Morimoto’s tips on ramen and his pick of the 5 best ramenyas in New York City.

I’ve only visited Rai Rai Ken, his number five choice, but was a bit surprised (spoiler alert) to see him choose Momofuku as #1. I’ve never eaten there before, but from what I’ve heard, Momofuku Noodle Bar (emphasis mine) is really more of…well, a noodle bar than a ramenya.

So can any NYC ramen patrons out there chime in? Does Morimoto-san know ramen? Is a trip to NYC in my future?

Feeling a bit hungry after that bowl of instant ramen? Maybe it’s because there’s a bit less ramen in that bowl.

Even gourmet chefs like ramen. Here’s a gourmet ramen recipe from 20 year veteran chef chefRob.

If sumo champions recommend a ramenya, it’s gotta be good, right? Sumo great Konishiki and yokozuna (grand champion) Musashimaru both rave about Tenkaippin Ramen in Kapahulu, Hawaii.

Ma Ru Yu’s kurogama (black sesame) ramen: what lurks beneath its murky surface? No less than three brave souls weigh in on this ramen’s darkest (get it? get it?) secrets.

If black sesame ramen isn’t special enough for you, you can make your own buttermilk ramen!

If anyone’s in China for the Olympics next week and finds that special someone, remember to take them out for ice cream, not ramen. Ramen was rated the least popular place to take a date. Least?! Whaa–?!?     (Oops, sorry folks, I’ve had this link since March and it looks like the article is subscriber-only now.)

Garlic ramen at Minca, in New York City. Need I say more?

It seems like Santouka Ramen is everywhere now. Here’s a review of San Diego’s Santouka, and two takes on one in Singapore.

The SF Chronicle has a great guide to cold noodles for a hot summer in the Bay Area (including recipes!).

Heading out to Japan? Arm yourself with the Washington Post’s guide to ramen in Tokyo.

Recent ramen reviews and tidbits:

There’ve been a lot of reviews and news about Ippudo in New York City. Walking-ixus goes one step further and gives a behind-the-scenes look.

Join a “local girl” as she goes to Yotteko-Ya Ramen/Kyoto Ramen in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Have you ever wanted to combine ramen and sushi? Now, you can!

AsianWeek goes to Katana-Ya in upscale Nob Hill in San Francisco.

Is Kintaro the best ramen in Vancouver? Read Eat, Snap, Repeat for the details.

Everyone’s so focused on Ippudo in NYC. What about Ramen Setagawa?

Even the Associated Press knows that “Ramen noodles are hotter than ever”. Read what they, and AP darling Rameniac has to say about our favorite food!

I don’t normally shill for ramenyas that haven’t opened yet, especially one that I haven’t tried first hand, but in this case, I’ll make an exception.

Shigemi Kawahara, “Ramen King”, will be opening the first American outpost of his famous Ippudo in New York City at the end of the month. Kawahara-san gained fame by taking 1st place in televised ramen battles 3 years in a row, and then won the title of “Ramen King” in a TV competition in 2005. Ippudo was first opened in Hakata in 1985, and has grown to 34 locations throughout Japan.

Big in Japan has a recent review of Ippudo’s hakata ramen in japan while the Feisty Foodie and Eater report on last Tuesday’s sneak preview.

Hakata Ippudo NY
65 Fourth Avenue
New York, NY
212-388-0088

via gridskipper and rameniac

My wife and I were in New York for a few days, and of course had to check out the New York ramen scene. After spending far too much time slogging through online postings about the best ramen house in NYC, we finally settled on Rai Rai Ken in the East Village for 2 reasons: their specialty is shoyu ramen (most of the other highly touted ramen houses specialize in tonkotsu), and the place just plain looked cool from a picture I found on the net. (more…)