Mu Ramen

A visit back home to New York! I don't get to visit too often these days, so I like to eat a lot of food mixed in with some general walking around the city.

ニューヨーク！あまり帰る機会がないので、行くときにいろいろ食べたり散歩したりするのが好きです。

Black and white cookie

黒白クッキー

Ample Hills ice cream

Rainbow bagel

And of course ramen! This time I visited a long heralded shop, Mu Ramen. Mu Ramen first opened as a pop-up in a bagel shop, and then switched to a permanent location in Long Island City. I went with some friends and ordered a handful of appetizers, in addition to the namesake ox-tail Mu Ramen.

で、ラーメンも！今回噂の「Mu Ramen」に行ってみました。最初、ベーグル屋さんでのポップアップでしたけど、今ロングアイランドシティーに移転しました。友達と行って、いろいろな一品と牛骨の「Mu Ramen」を頼みました。

Spicy edamame

ピリ辛枝豆

Fish and syrup "okonomiyaki"

魚介とシロップがかかっている「オコノミヤキ」

Clean and slightly spicy clams

あっさりとしたあさり

The Bowl
The cloudy tan broth was filled with unusual toppings: a half-sour pickle, and cabbage, and a couple of slices of what tasted like corned beef. The broth itself tasted light and pickly too, reminding me of the deli ramen I had tasted in a previous visit to NY. The noodles were pretty fat and curly, surprising thick for the thinner soup they were in. The beef was a nice blast of New York flavor. It felt a little out of place in the ramen, but it tasted good nonetheless.

スープが濁っている薄茶色で、ピックル、キャベツ、コーンドビーフみたいなチャーシューが乗っていました。スープ自体はあっさりとして、昔ニューヨークで食べたデリラーメンと似ていたピックルの味もしました。麺は太くて縮れ麺でもうちょっと細くてもよかったかなと思っていました。牛肉はニューヨークらしい味がして、ラーメンと違いましたけどうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

また行く興味があります。

Should You Go?
If you're in NY looking for ramen, it's one of the best.

ニューヨークでラーメン食べたい場合は、行ったほうがいいです。

Information
むラーメン

Ganso

After my jaunt to Vancouver, I was back to my home of New York. Once again, there was so much food to eat, getting ramen was hardly necessary. But, I was with some friends who wanted it, and who was I to say no?

Ganso in Brooklyn offered a variety of ramen: classic shoyu and miso to crazier short rib and shrimp ramen. I went with the limited time duck ramen.

晩キューバーの旅行に行ってからニューヨークの故郷に帰りました。今回も、食べたい物がいっぱいあったのでラーメンを食べる必要はありませんでした。というのに、ラーメンがめっちゃ欲しい友達と一緒にいて、そういう言い訳でラーメンを食べることになりました。

シャレおツーのブルックリンに「元祖」という店がありました。いろいろなラーメンを提供していました。スタンダードな醤油と味噌からリブとか海老のラーメンまでありました。私は期間限定かもラーメンを頼みました。

 In America, people treat ramen like it's proper restaurant food. Which means they take their time. It took us almost an hour just to get seated.

アメリカでラーメン屋さんが普通のレストランの感じで行きます。というと、みんなゆっくり食べます。一時間ぐらいまたされました。麺が伸びてまうで！

Ganso's chicken wings, made with special Ganso Sauce

自家製元祖ソースが付いた手羽先

Crispy gyoza, filled with chives

ニラがいっぱい入っている餃子

The Bowl
What an umami broth. It was a bit salty, but other than that the dark, garlic oil covered broth was roasty and delicious. The thin noodles matched well, as they captured just enough of the garlic to bring the taste home.

That was the just the beginning, though, as Ganso's bowl was covered in toppings. Of course the duck was there, laid out in tantalizing strips covered in sauce. It had a good bite and just a bit of chew. Almost even more exciting were the fried lotus chips, cutting against the soup and meat. And the final piece of umami were the earthy shiitake mushrooms. This was a strange and meaty bowl, the likes of which you would never see in Japan. I suppose that's how they do ramen in New York.

うまみ！って感じがしました。塩辛かったですけど、けっこうマー油が入っているスープがうまかったです。細麺がよくスープとあって、ちょうどいい分のニンニクを持ちました。

でも、このラーメンには具もいっぱいありました。当然かもがあって、いい噛みごたえでした。揚げたレンコンもあって、スープと肉と合いました。で、最後に旨味の香りの椎茸が入っていました。このラーメンは変で日本のラーメンと全く違います。ニューヨークならではのものですね。

Would I Go Again?
I wouldn't go above trying another place, but I'm definitely curious about their other bowls.

次回ニューヨークに帰ったら、他の店に行ってみたいですけど、元祖の他のラーメンがきになります。

Should You Go?
Yes, if you live in New York.

ニューヨークに住んでいる人は行った方がいいです。

Information
Ganso Ramen

Ramen.Co

My native New York is home to much good food, and many high profile ramen shops, but none has caused so much buzz as Keizo Shimamoto's ramen burger. A ramen fan himself, in his time in Japan he crossed to the other side of the counter as the manager of Tokyo's Bassanova. In 2013 he took America by storm with the ramen burger, debuting exclusively in limited time venues. It's been some time since then, and Keizo has opened his own ramen shop in New York: Ramen Co.

I visited New York in September, and this was the only place on my mind I knew I had to stop at. I was very tempted to order a bowl of ramen as well, but Ramen Co. was but one of many stops on my New York food tour, so I ordered the one dish I had been waiting for: the ramen burger.

私の出身、ニューヨークにいろいろな人気になってきたラーメン屋さんがありますけど、やっぱり最近一番話題になったのはしまもとけいぞのラーメンバーガーです。しまもとさんもラーメンファンで、日本に住んでいたときに東京にある「バサノバ」の店長になりました。２０１３年にアメリカで数量限定のラーメンバーガーをデビューしました。しばらく作ってから、ニューヨークに「Ramen Co.」というラーメン屋さんも作りました。

９月にニューヨークに遊びに行って、絶対いかなあかんと思っていました。実はラーメンも食べたかったですけど、他のレストランに行く予定があったので、今回ラーメンバーガーだけを注文しました。

The Burger
A ramen burger is not something I've never tried before, but Ramen Co. presents one that's easily the top of the bunch. The burger itself was simple enough, but the rich sauce kept the image of ramen in mind. The noodles were a little tough to eat as a bun, but their springiness worked well with the rest of it. It's not something I would want as replacement for ramen every time, but I'm glad I got to experience it.

ラーメンバーガーという食べ物は食べたことがないことはありませんけど、Ramen Co.のは他のより全然うまかったです。バーガーがシンプルで濃いソースのおかげでラーメンという印象が強かったです。麺はちょっと拾えずらかったですけど、もちもちで肉と合いました。ラーメンの代わりに毎回バーガーを食べることじゃありませんけど、普通のラーメンともバーガーと違っていて、食べたのがよかったです。

Would I Go Again?
I would, and next time I would get the ramen.

また行きたいですけど、今度ラーメンを食べたいです。

Should You Go?
It's a thing, and one worth trying, for you Americans reading this blog.

話題になってきたラーメンバーガーを食べてみた方がいいです。

Information
Ramen.Co

Dassara

Home, sweet home! I love Japan, and I love Osaka, but as a true New Yorker, my heart will always remain at home. Fortunately, recently that does not mean I will be deprived of ramen. The boom that took me to Totto Ramen but a couple years ago has continued, and on this occasion it brought me to Dassara in Brooklyn.

I was originally hoping to try Keizo Shimamoto's ramen burger, but it turned out to be a dinner-only item, so I stuck with the standard ramen sets. I went for the chicken ramen set that came with a pork belly sandwich. My brother went for the strange deli ramen; chicken broth with a wide range of deli toppings, including diced celery and matzoh balls.

出身に帰って安心ですね。日本も大阪も大好きですけど、ニューヨーカーなのでやっぱり心はずっとニューヨークに残っています。最近ラーメンブームに乗って一昨年に鳥人ラーメンに行って、今回「ダッサラ」という店に行きました。

話題になったラーメンバーガーを食べてみたかったですけど、夜限定と言われたので食べられませんでした。角煮サンド付きチキンラーメンセットにしました。兄が変わっているマッツァーボールなど入っているデリラーメンにしました。

Pork belly sandwiches, fatty, tender, and covered with a sweet barbecue-like sauce

油っぽいとろける角煮サンド

The deli ramen was a strange concoction; matzoh balls, roast beef, and diced celery made it really taste like something out of Jewish kitchen

デリラーメンはほんまに面白かったです。マッツァーボール、ローストビーフ、セレリーで本当のでリの料理の感じがしました

The Bowl
Dassara's chicken ramen was an interesting presentation; toppings in their own corners with a poached egg covered in red pepper on top. The broth itself was a light and clear chicken soup, with a good dose of pepper from the poached egg. The thick and curly noodles stood well on their own, but the broth wasn't quite thick enough to make use of their soaking power. The pork belly in the ramen was, like the sandwich, well spiced, juicy and delicious.

ダッサラのチキンラーメンは見た目でもよかったです。トッピングが全部別々おいてあって真ん中に玉子が乗っていました。スープがあっさり鶏ガラですっきり一味の味も結構しました。麺が太くて縮れておいしかったですけどスープに比べるとちょっと太くて薄めのスープがそんなに吸収できませんでした。角煮はサンドと同じようにジューシーでほんまにうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yeah; I still need to try the ramen burger.

はい、またラーメンバーガーを食べたいです。

Should You Go?
Yeah, it's a good place in New York.

ニューヨークにおいしいラーメン屋さんなので、行ってください。

Information
Dassara

Totto Ramen

I recently stopped by Tokyo on my way out of the country for the holidays, so it only makes sense that the next place I would end up eating ramen in was my home city of New York.  Now, like a true New Yorker, I usually savor my time at home with a bagel for brunch, pizza for lunch, and, let's be honest, pizza for dinner.  These days ramen has been getting popular in New York, so I felt it was my duty to try a bowl and see how it compares to ramen in Japan.

I did some research to figure out which place to check out.  I knew I didn't want to go to a shop that was originally from Japan - that feels like cheating, and I'd already been to the Ippudo in New York anyway.  More of the shops were Japanese chains than I thought: Rairaiken, Misoya, Hidechan are all from the mother country.  I narrowed it down to two places: Totto Ramen and Momofuku Noodle Bar.  I haven't been to any Momofuku, and I'd love to check out the noodle bar, but I thought that a comparison with a more classic ramen shop would be more appropriate.  Totto it was.

I headed over there with my brother and a couple friends, and not-so-surprisingly found a decently long line.  Waiting on line for ramen is nothing new to me, but I was shocked by how long the wait was.  We were there for a good hour and a half before being able to sit, albeit separately.  I think that's the longest I've ever waited for ramen, come to think of it.

Totto specializes in chicken-based ramen, and there are a number of different variations you can order.  After chatting with the waiter a little bit about ramen in Tokyo and Japan vs New York, I asked him for a recommendation and settled on the chicken miso ramen, forcing my brother to get the spicy chicken ramen so I could try some.

Information
鳥人ラーメン
366 W 52nd St

The Bowl
The broth was a thin but rich chicken soup.  It got a bit thicker and grainier after I mixed the miso in, and while I've had better chicken ramen in Japan, it was still quite good.  The noodles were medium-thick curly yellow noodles, a bit firmer than I usually get in Japan.  They reminded me a bit of lo mein even.  The chashu was quite good; it was a little chewy and tasted like it was barbecued.  Otherwise in the bowl were bean sprouts, an egg, and scallions.

Would I Go Again?
I'm not in New York very often, so if I try ramen there again, I'll probably pick another place.

Should You Go?
Totto Ramen was quite good, and while I wouldn't put it at the same rank as my favorite places in Japan, it's easily worth a trip.  If you're in New York, and you have time to wait on line, go to Totto!