Following up on my Ramen trail

It has been a excellent day out for me, making a journey to Brooklyn for the famous Di Fara pizza (Will follow up with a review of this and Grimaldi pizza, 2 of the best in NY) followed by coffee at the Red Horse Cafe near Prospect Park. After which was a first to a NBA match where the New York Knicks against Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately it started to go wrong from there. First came the rain instead of the predicted snow, and followed by my worst ramen experience in NYC.

Sapporo restaurant, been recommended by a friend, we decided to check it out as it was my last night in New York and really want to a good ramen to finish off this trip. Situated at midtown (Map), it was a short distance from Madison Square Garden where we attended the match. We ordered Gyoza, Miso Ramen and Shoyu Ramen and we were surprised that all 3 dishes came in less than 2 min after our orders.

Gyoza - Link to flickr orginal

Miso Ramen - Link to flickr original

Shoyu Ramen - Link to flickr original

Unfortunately everything kinda went from bad to worse from there. Gyoza was still acceptable, better than Wagamama in London, ramen was worse than the instant noodles that I cook, and the soup taste awfully of MSG! We hardly finish 1/3 of what was in our bowls and left in extreme disappointment. If you have read my previous reviews of the other Ramen places, I rate Sappora as completely off the list. Avoid at all costs unless you are lost in midtown and have nowhere else to go (Sorry Tommy, they probably had an off day or maybe you went to a different place!).

Current rankings:
1. Ramen Segataya
2. Rai Rai Ken
3. Momofuku

Unranked:
1. Sapporo Restaurant

On a Ramen Trail in Manhattan

I always like coming to New York for many reasons. The hustle and bustle, the shopping, the pretty Williamsburg/Brooklyn area, Central Park, and most of all, the 24hrs food that you can get regardless of where you are staying. One of my favorites in the city has to be the taste of ramen, something that I do not get in London.

From my last trips, I discovered a new place that opened in June last year called Ramen Segataya (Map) serving very authentic Shio Ramen. The broth is always delicious and the cha shiu (sliced pork) is tasty, both crunchy on the outside but soft and tender once you bite into it. Watching the chefs cooking behind the counter is always fascinating and prep you up before the waitress brings your bowl of ramen to you. The texture of the noodles is still the best that I have tasted and the runny egg is another personal favorite. Some might find the broth to be too salty, but I will argue that this is what Shio Ramen is all about, although I suspect they might change the taste slightly to accommodate to the local taste-buds over time. Costing slightly more than $10, it has remained the top of my list whenever I am back in the city.

Recently, I decided to check out the other recommended ramen stores in this city, with Rai Rai Ken and Momofuku highly recommended by friends. I stopped by Rai Rai Ken (Map) last night and peeped into the outlet. It was tiny, looked just like those Japanese ramen outlets that I see on TV back in Singapore. I was impressed and prompted found a seat by the counter and ordered a Shio ramen. Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures this time round as it was quite crowded and I felt slightly embarrassed to be snapping my food whilst the rest are busy slurping down their ramen. First taste was a slight disappointment; the ramen was nowhere the same feel as what I had at Segataya. The broth was reasonable, but the pork was also disappointing as it does not have the same slightly "charred" taste which I like. Clearly it was just left in the broth and cut up to be served. Price wise, it was the cheapest of the 3 outlets. Not the best, but I still have Momofuku to taste to complete my test.

So off to Momofuku (Map) this afternoon, only to find out that they have moved to a bigger outlet few steps from their previous. It was the biggest store as compared to the other 2, so it might be a better option if you are planning to lunch out with a few mates. I heard their pork buns were the specialty, but this been a ramen test, I had to go with their Momofuku ramen instead. Looking across the kitchen where the food was cooked, I did not get a good feel of the food to come as I hardly see a Japanese looking person in it (I like to associate good Japanese food follows authentic Japanese chefs). When my ramen arrived, it looks like a "mix-mash" in my opinion! There was the ramen, a poached egg (what is a poached egg doing in a ramen???), some sour vegetables, few slices of pork belly, separate pork shreds and chopped spring onion. First taste of the noodles seems to give the same texture as the ones I had at Rai Rai Ken, but still nowhere close to Segataya. The taste did not have any shio or miso taste, but that might be due to the house specialty that they have, although it was not to my liking. Charging $14 a bowl was slightly on the high side for me as well, although one might argue the amount of ingredients in the bowl justify for that.

Overall, after 3 ramen for 3 days, this is my personal recommendations if you want to have a good ramen in Manhattan:

1. Ramen Segataya

2. Rai Rai Ken

3. Momofuku (You might want to try the pork buns appetizer instead)

Do you a Ramen place to recommend?

New Year, new flu

Most of you would probably be still nursing the hangover from the New Year celebrations, whilst I am still nursing my last flu of 2007 and and first flu of 2008 (The strike was timely enough to stop me from going anywhere on New Year's eve). I am not sure if it has anything to do with the recent cold snap but it sure cost me enough misery to not look forward to the new year, let alone any resolutions!

On a side-note, my pursuit of snow seemed to pay off this week when temperatures started to plummet on New Year's day. The thermometers slipped to minus 11 degrees centigrade the day before and was so cold that puddles of water on the roads were frozen up to a amazing sight for me. Since it was so cold, and not wanting to go outdoors, I decided to test how cold it was.

I filled a container of water and left it out by the window ledge.

1 hour later, the surface was already frozen up.

3 hours later, ice block for that Ice-Kacang in winter!

On the downside, there was only a minor snow shower during one of the mornings to show for. And worse, I heard it has started to snow in London instead! D'oh!!!

Happy New Year to All!