Setagaya Ramen

Setagaya is a chain of ramen shops in Japan which just opened a location in the East Village this week. I was going to catch a Johnnie To flick in the afternoon with Kat and Rick anyway, so we decided to go and grab some ramen beforehand. We got to Setagaya at 11:50am and they were not open yet, so we stood out front and waited. By noon, there was a decent sized line forming behind us already. Lucky we got there early! We were soon seated at one of the counter tables at the front. On the wall next to us was a flat screen tv showing a repeating reel of an Iron Chef-like tv show except it was a ramen battle. One of the contestants was of course the man behind Setagaya Ramen. We watched the show in between placing our order, watching the line to get in continually grow and eyeing lots of those waiting customers taking pictures both inside the restaurant and out. We noticed that almost all of the customers were Japanese, always a good sign.

I ordered the cha-syu ramen with the $1.50 add-on of extra noodles, and the Deluxe Zara appetizer which was basically a side order of the items that would top our ramen- bamboo shoots, a half of “salt taste egg” and four pork slices (two from what appeared to be the tenderloin, and two from a pork belly roll). The tenderloin pieces were a tad dry, but still very good. The pork belly slices were fantastically moist, fatty and lightly char grilled. The bamboo shoots were perhaps the best I’ve ever tasted. I’m not usually a fan of bamboo shoots as I find they are usually lacking in flavor and substance. These however actually had flavor. They must have been prepared in some type of broth that gave them a depth I had never expected from the lowly bamboo shoot. For those of you familiar with the term umami, that’s the flavor profile I’m referring to. In fact all elements in the meal turned out to be strong with umami. The “salt taste egg” was similar to the Chinese salt eggs (“hom don”) but much more subtle and refined. It was cooked perfectly, with just the very center of the yolk still soft enough to run. Now, onto the ramen itself…

Setagaya Ramen

I began by tasting the broth. Absolutely wonderful. It had pronounced seafood flavors, and again that umami that gave it a palate filling richness while not being salty or overbearing. It was deep in flavor yet somehow also delicate and refined at the same time. The bowl was topped with a mild variety of green onion and some fresh and bright tasting seaweed. I moved them aside to get to the noodles. One taste and it was clear, this was the best ramen I’ve yet to have here in the states. Each strand was perfectly cooked and gave just enough resistance when you bit into them. They did not clump together in the least, and they also carried the flavor of the broth well. I really enjoyed my bowl, and as I was finishing it, the waitress brought over another bowl with just noodles. Apparently this was the extra-noodle add-on that I had ordered. I had no idea that the extra noodles weren’t already in the original bowl to begin with! I was already pretty satisfied, but hey, when ramen is this good, I have no problem finishing a second helping of it. I added the extra noodles to my remaining broth and happily slurped my way through it. What a great lunch. A big thumbs up for Setagaya Ramen!

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