Golden Ticket to Minca Ramen Factory

Minca: Pork Gyoza

We recently had dinner with a friend and not surprisingly, the subject of Ramen came up (we're a little obsessed). He mentioned that his brother lived in Japan for a time, so is a ramen snob and chose Minca Ramen Factory as the destination the last time he visited NYC. We quickly bookmarked Minca and headed there at our next available opportunity.

Tot-totally Digging Yakitori Totto

Yakitori Totto: Sake

We finished a Knife Skills class at Sur La Table and were absolutely starving. I pulled up my "To Try" list and found we were a mere few blocks away from Yakitori Totto, which would officially round out the "Totto" trio of restaurants (or quartet if you count the new Totto Ramen).

Shabu-Tatsu Not Too Shabby

Shabu-Tatsu: Sake

Today we were headed to Sunrise Market in the East Village to pick-up some ramen making supplies so we finally got to try a restaurant that's been on my list for a long time now: Shabu-Tatsu. We've never had hotpot before Japanese or otherwise, so this was an exciting new adventure for the Newbie Foodies. We started with a lovely bottle of unfiltered sake and settled in to see where the meal would take us.

Gee You Should Try Yuji Ramen

Yuji Ramen in Bowery Whole Foods 

Being a huge ramen fan, I'd been hearing great things about Yuji Ramen located in the food court on the 2nd floor of Bowery Whole Foods. However, I had also heard it was a temporary pop-up shop, so I wasn't even sure if it was still there. I did hear that they were opening a second location in another location in Williamsburg though, so figured it was pretty likely. We needed to go shopping (for ramen ingredients no less) at Whole Foods so decided to find out.

Ra! Ra! for Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop: Shio Ramen 

I was pretty excited about the opening of Gotham West Market, since well, 11th Ave is pretty much no-man's land at the moment. But then we got pretty darn excited when we learned that it would be home to Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop. We'd seen Ivan Orkin on "Mind of a Chef" and couldn't believe that we'd have an outpost within a mile of our apartment.

Izakaya MEW: Must. Eat. Weekly.

MEW: Potato Croquettes & Sake

We absolutely love our neighborhood Izakaya, Izakaya Ten and would really like to be able to say "It's our favorite Izakaya in NYC" except up until tonight, it was the only Izakaya we've been to in NYC. When we found ourselves hungry in midtown tonight it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try another so I whipped out my smartphone and off we went to MEW Izakaya.

Gotta give it up for the Ippudo Westside

Ippudo Westside: Shishito Pepper

Ippudo is one of our favorite Ramen places in the city, so when we heard they'd be opening up a new location on the Westside we made sure to head there as soon as we could. We took our seats at the bar, ordered a couple of Sapporos and the Shishito Pepper, and settled in.

A New Go To: Kyotofu

Kyotofu Goodies

I was wandering around Hell's Kitchen with some friends, when one of them suggested getting some desserts from Kyotofu. I was intrigued by this tiny Japanese restaurant/bakery packed with people. I hadn't heard of it before, but I seemed to be in the minority. We fought our way in the door to get our little snacks and ate them out on the sidewalk. I was extremely full from dinner, so just got the cute little Matcha Green Tea Mini Cupcake, but everything looked AMAZING. I have mentally bookmarked this place for a romantic date night with The Mr. sometime in the (hopefully) near future!

Ten outta Izakaya Ten

Izakaya Ten

We walk past this sign almost every single day. But I've never heard anything about this place, so never checked it out. One night we were looking for a date night, but were really hungry, so wanted something close, convenient and without much of a wait. On a whim, we decided to take a chance on Izakaya Ten.

Hasta Headsta Basta Pasta

We've walked past Basta Pasta countless times, but I didn't know much about it other than the fact that it had pasta. A coworker was having a going-away lunch and chose this spot. and I was very intrigued to learn that it is pasta done by Japanese chefs. A Japanese/Italian Fusion of sorts.

The Mr opted for a penne with bacon (no surprise there) and really enjoyed it:

 Penne with Bacon, Onion, Egg Yolk and Cream Sauce

Gotta buy-a Tebaya

Jasmine Tea,  Karaage Sandwich, Katsu Sandwich, Potemochi, & Wings

If you are lucky enough to be in Tebaya's delivery zone, run to your computer, open up Seamless Web, and do yourself a big favor. These are some of the best wings you will ever eat. I've heard several people who didn't even think they liked wings, wax poetic on these little pieces of soy sesame chicken heaven. 

Now the wings would be enough on their own, but they also have the most amazing chicken sandwiches. This is coming from someone who doesn't usually like chicken sandwiches. The Karaage comes with a double stack of slightly sweet, crunchy, battered chicken while the Katsu has a single layer of savory, crunchy battered chicken with some lettuce and secret sauce. The Katsu is my personal favorite, but I think this is going to come down to personal taste since they are both filled with amazingly moist and tender flavorful bird- so go ahead and order both and conduct your own personal taste test.

The Mr is also obsessed with the Potemochi which are sort of potato pancake like things with a mochi texture. This sounds like something I should go nuts for, but I find them a bit too oily. If oily doesn't bother you, go ahead and throw in an order of them too.

You are welcome.

Dai-oh-kay

Sushi Sashimi Combo

Gallery Roll

A friend and I were having a girly movie night and wanted to start the evening with sushi. Daioh Sushi is down the block and came with a recommendation so we figured what the heck. We wound up being indecisive, so we decided not to decide and let the sushi chef pick for us with the Sushi Sashimi Combo. We also liked the sound of the Gallery Roll of spicy white tuna and avocado topped with golden abiko and snow crab. Everything was good, the service was great, and it was your typical little sushi place decor. I am alarmed to see some negative reviews though, and given that nothing screamed 'I have to come back here', I am going to have to do some more investigation before I return. That being said, we had a very pleasant dinner with absolutely no issues.

Best Ramen: Totto Ramen

Totto Extreme Spicy Ramen

Totto Ramen has been recommended to us as a good post theatre dinner spot. After showing up at 5pm one night (when they open) and already encountering at least an hour wait, we found out why. So this time we showed up post-show on a frigid night. We braved the wait in the little shelter provided outside of the door. When we were finally ushered inside we understood the wait time- this place only seats about 12 people! But they have the routine down pat. They were ready to take our order the moment we sat down. Once we did the bowls were on our table within 5 minutes. We had to have been in-and-out of there within 30 minutes, although we never felt pushed or rushed.

The Mr. decided to go with the Totto Chicken Paitan Ramen and I ordered the Totto Extreme Spicy Ramen (which is the same as his, just with tons of extra spicy stuff!). We were both wowed right away. It was a good thing the extreme spicy stuff was served on the side, because I only used half of it and that was plenty. After a few silent minutes in the cab on the ride home we both wound up admitting that this was our new favorite ramen. We felt guilty and wrong betraying our often professed love for Momofuku & Ippudo, but our taste buds could not lie. Totto Ramen has stolen our hearts (and stomachs).

Ramen without the wait at Terakawa

A hairstylist from Japan told me about Terakawa Ramen. He said it's just as good as our beloved Ippudo, but minus the two hour wait. Add in the fact that it is only a few blocks away and we knew we had to give it a try. Our reaction was very similar to Menkui-Tei. No doubt that it is authentic and seems to be well liked by their Japanese patrons, but there is just something missing for us. It was a good meal, but we agreed that for our next ramen craving we would rather brave the lines at Momofuku or Ippudo.

Pork Dumplings

Terakawa Ramen

Miso Ramen

Yakitori Taisho: Righteous

A great little yakitori place on St. Mark's with emphasis on the little. Space is tight so you will be cramped and you will get jostled and you WILL have to wait. But you'll also get a tasty little meal. We got the avocado appetizer special, some teriyaki pumpkin, Mentai Potato (french fries), and the yakitori combo A and it was way too much food for the three of us. Highly recommend the avocado thing if they have it.

Totto does Soba

I have Totto Ramen on my list of Ramen places to try, but just found out that Totto also has restaurants for Sushi, Yakitori, and Soba. Now I can't say for sure since I'm extremely white, but Soba Totto felt very authentic. I was highly appreciative of a little 'how to eat soba' menu insert which made me feel much more welcome to ask questions of our very sweet waitress. We asked for her recommendations and wound up going with a cold and hot soba dish. So good. I definitely don't think that the fresh, subtle flavors of soba translate as easily to American taste buds as other Japanese cuisine, but I find it deliciously light and refreshing.

As a bonus Soba Totto is only a couple of blocks away from Grand Central so we went over to get an eyeful, pick up some Magnolia cupcakes, and catch the subway back home. We got a red velvet cupcake and a coconut cupcake from Magnolia and wanted to compare it to Billy's, but didn't feel equipped to claim a winner without having them side by side. I think it's safe to say they are both very yummy.

Ya, Ya, Soba-ya!

Soba-ya came with some high recommendations from a coworker and we were eager to try some authentic Japanese soba. We sat at the bar and decided to sample so ordered the Moriawase which allowed us to pick 3 vegetables:


Then we had the plain cold soba noodles with dipping sauce (Mori) and the Nabeyaki Udon.

We finished up with Black Sesame ice cream which was an unexpected yet delicious flavoring. A delicious, light, and wonderful meal for anyone looking to explore other Japanese cuisine.

Ippu-DO

After our sailing lesson we were freezing and starving, it was definitely time for a treat and a big, piping hot bowl of ramen sounded like pure heaven. Decided to give Ippudo a try since they are world famous and all. Started with their pork buns and philadephia cheesesteak spring roll. The buns were good, I found the spring roll a little too fat-tastic for my taste, but the Mr was pretty into it. Then we split some ramen, or as they put it, Japanese soul food. Everything was fantastic- great atmosphere, great food, but let's face it, our hearts belong to Momofuku and it's going to take something truly phenomenal to tear us away.

Authentic Ramen from Menkui-Tei

After discovering the wonder that is Ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar our Japanese co-worker explained that their style is more of a modern take on ramen and suggested that we try more authentic Japanese style. One of her favorites is Menkui-Tei and wouldn't you know that when we went to the restaurant we ran into her there! Apparently the shop itself is also very authentic to ramen places in Japan, which is no thrills. The ramen was still delicious and confirmed that this is one of our new favorite cuisines, but our American taste buds still prefer Momofuku's.