I can finally say that I have eaten at Ippudo Ramen. (4th avenue, between 9th an 10th street). If you remember a few posts down, I did a comparison of Setagaya and Rai Rai Ken. However, a "Battle Ramen" ain't complete without Ippudo Ramen. What is the rave about this place? Why is there a 30-40 minutes wait during rush hour? Why does it garner a 4 stars review on yelp (1538 reviewers, last check)? The answer...
The noodle and the broth.
It is like going to an Italian restaurant and if someone ask you why do they have the best spagetti and you say "the pasta and the sauce" or at a pizza place and you say "the dough and the cheese".
I am sure it takes years to make the perfect bowl of ramen or pasta or pizza. I am not saying that Ippudo Ramen is perfect since I don't even know what "perfect" means. But i have to say, Ippudo Ramen is very very good.
I went there at 5.30pm on Thursday and there wasn't any wait. (by the time i left at 6.30pm, there was probably a 10 minutes wait). If you really want to try their noodle, i suggest going before 7pm. I ordered the first ramen on top of the menu - the classic shio ramen (ramen with salted broth). The noodle is very chewy and "melts" in your mouth. A good sign of freshly made noodle. Other ramen places probably uses dried noodle (don't quote me on this). The broth, ah yes, the broth makes or brakes a bowl of ramen. The flavor of the broth is very complex. I tried my best to figure out what i am tasting. Something tells me they cooked the broth with shiitake mushroom (among maybe 1000 other ingredients).
Will I go back to Ippudo ramen? Yes. Do I want to wait 30 minutes of a bowl of ramen? No.
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