When I arrived in NYC, everyone and their uncle was raving about this ramen from Ippudo. I didn’t get to try it during 93 Plates, but I ended up checking it out days after it ended in February when I didn’t have my camera. Back then, I tried two different types of ramen the pork buns, but didn’t take one picture. I’ve probably been to about five new restaurants per week since the project, but I’ve chronicled just one of them. And I call myself a foodie!
Well today that stops. I’ll be on a posting rampage for the month of May, one a day every weekday leading up to a site redesign and a new project that Michelle from Spa Week Daily and I are unveiling in June. Details coming soon!
So I hadn’t seen Andy since the 93 Plates wrap party, and that was way too long. He presented a list of options and this one looked the most interesting. I always look on Yelp for reviews, but I don’t know if I can trust them anymore. I can’t find this review, but it was of some wildly popular sushi restaurant around NYU; it was two stars. It said something to the effect of, “I went to this sushi place with a couple of friends, but I don’t like sushi, so I had the steak. It was terrible! I’ll never come back.”
I would say that not only the post but the person posting are entirely worthless to that site.
Now, when I get ramen/pho/noodle soup, I usually enjoy it with chicken. I’ve never really loved one with beef as much as I have the chicken, so when Andy told me his favorite was the beef, I suspended judgment and ordered the Gyu Suki Menchanko (above) and asked for it extra spicy with an egg (thanks, Catherine!). Andy got the Tori Kara Menchanko (fried chicken – none of my pics of this one turned out any good)
The Gyu Suki Menchanko has sliced beef and vegetables in a sweet soy broth, I think I should have said extra spicy, because spicy just wasn’t that spicy, but everything else was on point. There were so many surprises in there – tofu bricks, mushrooms, glutenous rice balls – I set upon my bowl like a wolverine.
Andy had told me before that this was one of those dishes that you burn your mouth on and just keep plugging away at it. He was right. About a minute after receiving the bowls and taking the pictures, Andy offered me a piece of the fried chicken, which I promptly popped into my mouth. I did the hand-to-mouth-heavy-breathing-this-fried-chicken-is-burning-%&#@ing-hot dance for a second and I was ok after that, save a few taste buds lost.
And it turns out that I liked the beef better – go figure. Nice work on changing my perspective on things, Mr. Freedman.
Menchanko Tei
43 W 55th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 247-1585
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=55+W+111th+St,+New+York,+10026&ll=&spn=0.016415,0.038238&z=15
Thanks for the recommendation. I just had the lunch Menchanko with mini don. Excellent!
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