Ippudo 5th Avenue

It was very crowded on a Wednesday night but after putting our name down we were called about 30 minutes later, much sooner than the Thai place we originally tried for. In terms of the food, it was all very delicious! I had never tried a soy milk-based broth but it was so flavorful I don't think I could tell the difference if I didn't know. There was also an enoki mushroom tempura which was very nice to look at and eat. I also tried the lychee lemon mint drink, which was nice and sweet. For the table, we shared shishito peppers (hard to go wrong with these) and the takoyaki, which were nice. I especially liked that there were no pesky pickled ginger bits as most places have in their octopus balls. Would come back again if I'm in the area!

Quaint hole in the wall place for fabulous ramen and top notch appetizers, we had a pork bun that was kind of amazing and the ramen dishes both exceeded our expectations. The restaurant was small and easy to walk by but if you got a table it was well worth it, lunchtime got pretty busy so plan ahead because seating is limited. Bring your appetite because the portions are big and the flavor is dynamite.

I heard a lot about this brand of Ramen but the closest location I knew before had closed down. So I had been eagerly anticipating a visit to this location. Overall, it was a very crowded lunch hour at about 1 so I ended up coming back two hours later to find a seat. The interior is wooden decor with calligraphy decorating the walls, and you can see the chefs in the back. Staff are friendly and attentive. You can flag them down easily since one or two tend to stand midway through the restaurant. Onto the food, I got their basic tonkotsu (shiro) and the noodles were the best part. The broth is not exceedingly rich but you will feel the grease on your tongue by the end. The pork was a bit negligible since I didn't get a lot of unctuous fat from the piece on my bowl. The noodles however had great texture and chew. I also ordered some dessert and got the yuzu. The dessert sat atop a soup of tangy citrus, decorated by a rather tasteless foam and sugar shards. The shards were unnecessary in my opinion as they are far too sweet. The yuzu flavor is concentrated in syrup and can be a bit overwhelming after a few bites. I wasn't really impressed and wish I had just gotten mochi. But I am glad I tried, at least. All in all, the Ramen is the main centerpiece of the restaurant and that should be the focus of your meal. Everything else is extra.

I would say it is a nice place to get ramen. We got in towards the end of the day and the employees understandably look pretty worn out. Ramen they served had generous items in it. Price point wise it is typical NYC tax. I ended up getting the Potara Miso with the extra treasure toppings. Definitely generous serving but I wanted to add more noodles for the excess which was overkill. Not really sure how I was able to walk it off because it was a lot of food. Even though my group stayed a little while talking past closing the staff were ok with it. Overall it was a decent experience.

Everyone Loves ippudo.. but this particular location is transports you to Tokyo just best ramen. Food is exceptional. I absolutely love that they can make such good ramen with vegetarian broth. the spicy chili paste is a must try. We also tried the Bao bun with Tofu. They have excellent sake (hot/cold) selection along with other cocktails and beer. I would highly recommend a visit here as it's so close to touristy places near midtown. There will be a wait time like 20 mins+ and you can order some good Japanese style coffee while waiting.

Overall, the food was DELICIOUS. We had the vegetarian bao buns, Akamaru ramen, and the karaka spicy ramen. The only negative was the price of the meals. For example, one bao bun was $6 whereas some places will give two bao buns for $6. A bowl of ramen with only an egg and no meat was $26. Despite the inflated price of the meal, the food and service makes it worth it. The waitresses were incredible friendly and checked in frequently. The meal was brought out quickly despite the restaurant being packed. This is a cute date night spot. 9/10 would recommend.