Like Ippudo, this was supposedly another must-try ramen place that was highly raved by the NYC food scene. I got to this spot right when they opened, and there was already a small line outside in this frigid cold weather. Inside, they have counter top seating for 1-2 people as well as a some picnic table setups for larger parties. There was no David Chang spotted here, but how was the food?
Food
Momofuku ramen (pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg). The noodles surprisingly were just how I like them. They are similar to top ramen thickness if not slightly thicker and cooked al dente. The broth was actually pretty salty. I almost feel as if the broth was drenched in soy sauce, and that they didn’t infuse it with the pork. Don’t get me wrong, the broth did have tons of pork meat in there, but it wasn’t as oily or tasty with pork flavors as Ippudo. All I could taste was salt. So that made eating the soy sauce egg even more difficult.
Soy sauce egg (crispy shallot, chive, maldon). I ordered this to eat along with my ramen. I was expecting this to be a decent complement to my ramen, but I was terribly disappointed. Because the ramen was very salty, this was also salty too. They infused the yolk with too much soy sauce, so it ended up tasting like a salty boiled (creamy centered) egg. It was painful to eat and was not enjoyable at all.
Final Verdict
The ramen so far that I’ve experienced in New York has fallen below my expectations. Los Angeles has far better ramen establishments unfortunately, so I’m a pretty disappointed. If I had to choose between Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ippudo, I would easily choose Ippudo. Momofuku Noodle Bar lacked flavor in their broth, was too salty, and was also expensive for what you get ($15+ for the ramen, and $3+ for the egg).
Revisions
- Dec 16, 2012 - Initial revision.