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I wrote this while I was dining at Ippudo NY on Saturday between 5:30pm and 6:30pm.

It’s hard to imagine a ramen lover like me took so long to finally come to the much heralded Ippudo NY. Well, here I am, waiting for my food to come. This place is where the ramen is supposed to end all ramens. I’ll be the judge of that.

As I was brought to my seat by the hostess, one of the waitresses went ahead and pulled out one of the bar stools to seat me. Seeing as I came alone, I was seated in one of the six seats located in front of the open kitchen. I get to watch the Japanese cooks prepare the hot food.

It’s dimly lit in here, as expected. I can hear Guns and Rose’s November Rain being played in the background. The music is actually quite loud. What quickly caught my attention was how the kitchen and waiting staff all say good bye to leaving customers in unison.   They’re loud, but that makes it fun.   And in Japanese no less. I thought that was awesome. I can’t wait until I leave.

My first dish, the avocado and tofu tartar has arrived.

It tasted very clean and refreshing. It comes with a pair of sauces. One looks to be a simple syrup made of brown sugar, and the other one is a sesame sauce. One of the waitresses asked which sauce I preferred. I was digging the sesame sauce over the brown sugar syrup.

Here comes the Akamaru Modern Ramen. It’s pictured in the banner above.

So I just finished the ramen. I was not disappointed, nor was I blown away. The broth was unique and tasty. It was fragrant, not too oily, and was not overpowering. There wasn’t anything special about the ramen noodles, even though they are made in-house. For $13.00, they could’ve thrown in a bit more fatty pork.

It looks like it’s still raining cats and dogs outside. I knew that I should have brought the umbrella out with me.  I guess I’ll wait it out with dessert.

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I ordered the mochi dessert.  It was dusted heavily with matcha powder and served with a powdered soy dust and with the brown sugar simple syrup.  It was pretty good, but I think 4 pieces were enough.  I struggled to finish the rest.

Right after my plates were removed, one of the waitresses came up to me to converse for a few minutes.  She told me how the entire kitchen staff and chefs are from Japan.  She was also proud to tell me that the broth and ramen were all made in house.  This prompted me to ask about how business was doing and she said they were doing so well in fact there are plans to open one up in midtown.  She then asked me if I’ve been to Ra Ra Ken for ramen and asked which one I preferred.  I told her Ippudo, of course.  Ra Ra Ken is still good, but Ippudo so far leaves a far better impression on me.

I just received the bill, and the total is approximately $30.00 including tax.

I don’t often say this, but I plan on returning.  Part of the reason is the little things they did.  They were proactive in serving me what I needed.  It also wasn’t that busy when I got there, so I guess they were able to give some additional attention to their customers.  Another reason?  Well, some of the hostesses and waitresses are pretty cute.  Haha.

Quick Rating
Food - 4 out of 5
Service - 4.5 out of 5
Price - 3.0 out of 5
Ambience - 4.0 out of 5

Well, so ends my experience at Ippudo.  I can’t wait for the group goodbye!

~ Kin

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