一風堂 ippudo ny: hakata hotnights
The American novelist Sinclair Lewis once called writing “the art of applying the seat of one’s pants to the seat of one’s chair.” If that’s so, I’ve been doing a whole lot of standing around lately. The truth is I’ve been on something of a diet; ramen isn’t exactly health food, and the combined fat, sodium, and carbs from even a bowl of light broth assari-kei ramen is enough to warrant a few bottles of water and some laps around the track.
There’s also the fact that writing about Ippudo NY has become a task akin to completing the Beach Boys’ legendary “lost album,” Smile, wherein Brian Wilson was under such tremendous (imagined?) pressure to top the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper that he simply sat on the songs for thirty-odd years.
This is largely due to the Fukuoka-based ramen chain’s near-mythic stature among noodle aficionados. The late nineties saw a tonkotsu boom that popularized Hakata-style ramen across Japan; Ippudo, under the helm of “Ramen King” Shigemi Kawahara, spearheaded the trend. Like reviewing a seminal work of sixties pop, writing about Ippudo in 2009 seems less a critical proposition than an attempt to do it justice in the grand scheme of of slurping.
Already, within the past year and a half, Ippudo NY has become the de-facto standard by which North American ramen shops are judged. In hushed tones and on message boards across the nation, foodies have long since hipped themselves to this East Village tonkotsu ramen mecca, the one with the bowls on the wall, the nightclub vibe, and the unfailing ninety-minute wait for a table.
Such was the case when I finally made it out to the restaurant one Saturday night. The place was jumping, and given that the bartender at the front of the house was pulling drinks as though Prohibition were in full effect, I doubt anyone actually made it to their tables sober enough to enjoy Ippudo’s famed akamaru shin-aji “red sea” ramen with any degree of clarity on their palate. Which is only a mild travesty, as the dish that put Ippudo on the map is a splended and magnificent creature more often than not enjoyed during the fourth or fifth stage of an enkai office party (after dinner, karaoke, some innocent fondling at a hostess bar… you get the picture).
There are far better bowls of Hakata-style ramen in the world, and yet Ippudo NY’s signature take on tonkotsu ramen, loaded with a dollop of fragrant chili oil, is rich and luxurious by tri-state standards. To be fair, it’s a slightly innacurate approximation of the real thing. Apparentrly, New York management actually consulted famed chef Noriyuki Sugie (of Tetsuya in Sydney), who helped with the sourcing of North American ingredients for the new shop.
The result is a premium bowl of ramen with a mellow pork bone soup and passable umami, if not quite the wow, of a tonkotsu slobberknocker from a proper Nakasu yatai. The toppings are posh; in the classic Hakata tradition, there’s even kikurage wood-ear mushroom. Ippudo NY’s chashu is tender and luscious, although the shredded cabbage - a decidedly local touch - warrants a big “wtf” no matter how many beers you’ve downed. This drunken diner made sure to eat it all first and pretend it was never there.
On the day of my visit, however, it was the noodles themselves that somewhat undermined the structure of an otherwise solid interpretation of Hakata ramen. Though admirably custom-crafted (via an imported press in the restaurant’s basement) these thin, unrisen strands left something to be desired, perhaps for a lack of kansui or an issue of the restaurant simply needing to gain some sea legs. A bit too floury and a touch south of toothy, they’re still far better than those served elsewhere in Manhattan.
If anything, most of the complaints I’ve heard regarding Ippudo NY seem to concern its prices, as though thirteen dollars were too much to pay for a bowl of noodles. It’s an absurd quibble really, with Momofuku just a few blocks away. Despite the slurp factor, what Ippudo offers is very much fine dining, and this is evident not only in the ramen but also in the side dishes, a selection of Japanese stalwarts like Kobe beef tataki and buta kakuni that goes far beyond the déclassé accompaniment of gyoza and greasy-spoon fare. Ippudo is upscale noodling for the 21st century, and judging by the appreciative crowds and the long waits, the North American noodle market is clearly there, waiting to be tapped like a spigot at a ramen-themed bar. Here’s hoping other top-tier Japanese noodler follow suit. God only knows where we’d be without them.
additional photogs courtesy of yuji h.
| mellower and smoother than many a tonkotsu ramen soup, Ippudo NY approximates the signature flavor of its Japanese counterparts with local ingredients, and does so admirably if imperfectly. | 8.5 |
| thin, white and unrisen, hakata-style ramen noodles are the japanese analogue to al dente pasta. unfortunately, ippudo's house-made noodles are a little limp and floury, though still a cut above the competition. if only kansui were importable! | 7 |
| ippudo sources premium ingredients for their menu, the toppings are no different. luscious pork and wood-ear mushroom lend an authentic hakata feel to the akamaru ramen, and that spicy oil adds depth and zing. | 9 |
| kobe beef tataki, buta kakuni, a decent approximation of pork buns (although momofuku admittedly takes the gold medal with the pork buns - what's with these things anyway?) you could go to ippudo and have yourself a perfectly fine small plates meal without actually eating any ramen. | 8 |
| raucous, packed, and jumping with a party-like atmosphere, ippudo NY is as much a bar as a noodle shop. is that a good thing? after a few beers on a saturday night, surely. | 7.5 |
| i've been wishing for ippudo to set up shop in america ever since visiting the fukuoka honten in 1996. kudos to kawahara-san - upscale, next level ramen is something america definitely needs more of. | 8 |
65 4th Ave 11a - 3:30p (mon - thu) 11a - 3:30p (fri - sat) 11a - 10:30p (sun) | 24.5 |
I agree about the floury noodles, though kaedama was very katamen when I had it, better than the first bowl. But then again, it always is.
I thought their chasyu was a little dry, only slightly better than SSG’s and not as good as Asa’s. The buta kakuni made up for it though - not quite Kyusyu Jangara good, but close. And I was disappointed they don’t offer mentaiko, although I suppose the Akamaru ramen has a similar effect.