A hot bowl of noodle soup is the winter cure, so it’s definitely time to test out the ramen places, as I said I would. So far, my search has been rather disappointing, with places like Ajisen Ramen, Menchanko-tei, and Men Kui Tei. The only place we actually like is Ippudo but the line is really too long there to ever go during dinner time.

So last night, I checked out Ramen Setagaya Ramen Setagaya with Rachel, Brandon, and Olivia. I tried the Shio Ramen, their salt broth ramen, and it was satisfying. The noodles had a nice bounce, the broth was flavorful, and I enjoyed the tender salt egg and marinated bamboo as well. As much as I like pork belly, this is not the best way to use it. The meat becomes chewy and the fat seems like blobs in the way, but it probably helps to flavor the soup so I would’t want it removed.

Shio Ramen

Although it’s not perfect, it’s hard to complain when you get the bowl of Shio Ramen, a bowl of minced chicken on rice (with a raw egg yolk), and gyoza for $12.50 (for dinner). I actually didn’t like the chicken on rice or the gyoza, both very boring flavors, so I would skip that combo next time and just go for the ramen.
chicken egg rice

The bamboo salad is pretty good too, although a few piece are fibrous, possibly not peeled well.

bamboo salad

Ramen Setagaya is small so you may have to share a table with people you don’t know, or eat at a counter by the doorway. I felt rushed so it’ s not the best place to catch up with friends as I was trying to. It’s not fancy, and the menu doesn’t have much variety, but still, it’s #2 on my list so far, but I guess that’s not saying much when the others weren’t that good.

posted by jessica at 03:08 PM Filed under Asian, Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.