I have been dying to try one of David Chang’s spots. One because I dig his approach to cooking and two because I seriously love Asian food; particularly RAMEN! I think that is in part due to the fact that I watch and read far too much Naruto manga. Itadakimasu!!!!! But, this guilty admissions aside, I really do humbly receive — a great bowl of ramen.

I guess my own and many other people’s first introduction to ramen noodles are those prepackaged mass grocery store variety. Containing dried noodles, a flavor/seasoning pack and instructions on how to boil on the stove or nuke in the good ol’ microwave. Containing around 800mg of sodium, good enough to send you into an early onset of hypertension, unless you are genetically gifted at intake and expulsion of salt. However, ramen the real stuff could not be more different. The broth is rich, deep and umami delicious. Yes, I said umami, arrest me now. I know it is one of those trendy words these days, that is attaching itself to everything. But, umami is one of the five basic taste closely associated with the often inducible savory flavor in food. The noodles are legit, the accoutrements; traditional and the egg — oh, the egg — a soft poached sack of goodness.

I went with one of my most trusted advisors when it comes to all things Asian, funny thing is that she is muslim and couldn’t even have the ramen. Nonetheless, she sampled the shrimp buns and soft serve salted peanut butter ice-cream (which by the way is freaking delicious).

The restaurant is open, very modern, wood everywhere and cool. It’s a great spot to eat. Warning the lines can get long and the chicken dinner is elusive (I am still in search of it with Doc). It is another L.E.S. eatery, I think between Smith St. in Brooklyn and the lower east side I may never have reason to eat elsewhere again. Deuces.

• ABOUT
• LUNCH
• DINNER
• LATE NIGHT
• BEVERAGE
• FRIED CHICKEN
• TEAM
• QUESTIONS