A Ramen Setagaya Review

22 April 2009 No Comment posted by Kin

Ramen Setagaya At University Place
90 University Place
(between 11th St & 12th St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 229-1489
www.setaga-ya.com

Continuing on my quest for great ramen, I went to Setagaya Ramen at University Place for dinner. There are two other Setagayas in the city, but this one was the closest at the time.

It was around 6pm on Saturday and there was only one other person in the place. By the time I left, half of the restaurant was filled with customers. The setup is comprised of large communal tables and stools, and I was seated towards the door, right in front of the TV that was airing incomprehensible but intriguing Japanese commercials. The weather was amazing that day and the door was open. The amount of light and breeze that came in made the meal more enjoyable. There’s nothing better than sunlight and fresh air while you’re eating.

I ordered the large Shio Ramen, which comes with noodles, seaweed, half of an hard-boiled egg, and four slices of fatty pork. When the bowl came out, I immediately noticed the presentation. The noodles could hardly be seen and the fixings were floating close to the surface. Gorgeous. Perhaps what I liked the most was that the hard-boiled egg wasn’t completely hard boiled, the yolk was left runny, which I thought was a rather nice touch because I dislike fully cooked egg yolks. Win.

A great bowl of ramen in my opinion has three important components, the broth, the noodles, and the pork. The broth I can say is average, nothing really to right home about. The noodles on the other hand, outperformed the rest of the ingredients. Perfectly cooked, chewy and bouncy, I loved it so much that I ate all of the ramen before I ate anything else! Also maybe the lighting at the place was good, the noodles just glistened underneath the light. Dare I say the noodles are better than those of Ippudo? I do. The slices of braised fatty pork were also well prepared. The meat was tender and the fat just melts when it hits your mouth. I also enjoyed that there was no wait.

Final Thoughts
When you get the ramen crave, you want it fast! I would’ve given the ramen a higher rating, but the broth just wasn’t up to par with the rest. I would definitely come again, and I look forward to visiting the other two sometime soon, but I heard the quality amongst the stores isn’t too consistent. Recommended.