Slurp slurp: Ramen!!

I am a college student. Therefore, I eat a lot of instant ramen. And don’t get me wrong, I love that stuff! You should see my kitchen cupboard. I have instant ramen of all different flavors and brands from a variety of countries. But real Japanese ramen is on a whole other level of delicious-ness.

Ramen has taken New York by storm in the past couple of years with all kinds of ramen joints opening up all over the city. I got pretty addicted to it this summer and was fortunate enough to satisfy my cravings at many different restaurants.

Menchanko Tei has two locations in Midtown, one of which is right next to my office, so I ended visiting this place several times during the summer. And every time, I ordered the same thing: Kurobuta Hakata Ramen. A classic.

Kurobuta Hakata ramen

It’s a Tonkotsu ramen, so the broth is made from pork bone, which is THE BEST THING EVER! The soup is rich and flavorful and my favorite part of the dish. The noodles are topped with pieces of berkshire pork, pickled ginger, black mushrooms, and a soft-boiled egg. Make sure to order the Kurobuta rather than the regular Hakata ramen, as the Kurobuta comes with berkshire pork which is more tender and fatty than regular pork. Mmmmm. I love fat!

Fatty pork!

Menchanko Tei - Hiyashi Chuka

Also, they have a great cold ramen dish, which is great for the summer when you aren’t in the mood to have piping hot soup. My friend ordered this, and she loved it.

Another well-known ramen place is the extremely popular Ippudo. There is always always a crazy long line here at any hour of the day. I came at 3 pm once and there was still a half hour wait. This time, a friend and I came at 8 pm and waited for about an hour to get seated, which really wasn’t that bad. They had a bar, so we just ordered some drinks and edamame and chit chatted for an hour. Once you got seated, the service was pretty fast.

Akamaru Modern with soft boiled egg

Here, I ordered the Akamaru Modern, which is still a Tonkotsu ramen but with this dark garlic umami oil. Absolutely delicious! I added a soft-boiled egg to it as well because I can’t imagine ramen without some type of egg with the noodles.

Miso ramen with soft boiled egg

My friend got the Miso Ramen, also with a soft-boiled egg, and she loved it so much that she will not stop talking about this meal. She swears that she can’t go back to instant ramen anymore, but I think I will always have a soft spot for instant ramen no matter what.

Lastly, I also paid a visit to Ise, another Japanese restaurant with several locations across Manhattan. I went to the one on 49th St. and had their Shoyu ramen, which has a soy sauce based broth. It was fine. I’m just not a fan of shoyu ramen as much because the broth is too flat and bland compared to a tonkotsu style ramen. But that’s just personal preference.

Shoyu ramen

I wish there were ramen places in Charlottesville or in Virginia Beach but sadly there is none. Why oh why?? Will someone come down here to open up one? Pretty please??

Ramen!

Menchanko Tei
131 East 45th St.
btw Lex and 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10017

43-45 West 55th St.
btw 5th and 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10019

Ippudo
65 4th Ave.
btw 9th and 10th St.
New York, NY 10003

Ise
151 East 49th St.
btw Lex and 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10017

 

Zushi

Some friends and I were planning on going out for tapas, but that fell through when we couldn’t  find the tapas place. It must’ve moved or closed or something because it was definitely not where it was supposed to be located. So instead, we decided to try out the Japanese bistro in Town Center: Zushi.

The restaurant was adorable. It was chic and modern with gorgeous decorations. The orange and yellow accents worked really well with the quiet, meditative feel of the place. The service was also wonderful. The menu had a wide range of food from sushi to kalbi. The prices weren’t on the cheap side, but it was affordable and not too ridiculous.

All three of us ordered 2 appetizers rather than one meal, which actually worked out really well because I got a greater variety of food, and the amount of food was perfect. At some restaurants, you may be able to get a whole lot more food for a small price, but I always leave feeling entirely bloated and weighed down by the huge amount of butter, oil, and grease. Here, everything was fresh and light, which I enjoyed.

I ordered the Scallop Batayaki and Vegetable Yakisoba. The scallops were delicious. I loved the miso sauce, and the bed of seaweed and cucumbers were great as well. The yakisoba was also very good. I really liked the type of noodles that they used. Most Asian restaurants use those egg noodles, which I hate. These noodles were chewy and thin and absolutely delicious.

Scallop Batayaki

Vegetable Yakisoba

SS ordered the Vegetable Tempura and Vegetable Yakisoba, and AN ordered the Gyoza and Vegetable Tempura. The presentation was beautiful. I wasn’t able to get a picture of it, but we got a huge kick out of SS’s curvy soda glass.

Vegetable Tempura

I will definitely be coming back because there are a lot more things on the menu that I want to try. Highly recommended for a more elegant but still affordable night out!

Addresses

Zushi

4540 Main St
Virginia Beach, VA 23462