I love trying new restaurants but sometimes, I think I shouldn't go to soft openings because the menu looked like this:
All the side dishes were marked as "COMING SOON". But you know what? I went for the ramen, and that's what they were serving. So I'm not complaining.
Totto Ramen is a very tiny noodle shop: counter seating and a couple of small tables. It kind of reminded me of Momofuku Noodle Bar when it first opened - it was all about the ramen.
- It was 2 guys behind the counter preparing your ramen order. Counter Guy #1 cooked the noodles and readied the bowls.
- Counter Guy #2 attended the ramen broth that you see in the big pot on the left. Interestingly, the ramen broth was chicken-based rather than pork-based. (Upon reflection, it's not so surprising because Totto is known for its chicken dishes.) As a result, the ramen broth tasted like a cross between regular ramen pork broth and chicken soup. I think the bigger pot on the right is either broth they were cooking for the next day or vegetarian broth for the vegetarian ramen dishes.
- I couldn't not post this picture of Counter Guy #2 blow torching char siu pork!
I ordered the Totto Miso Ramen:
It was good but definitely not as good as the Akamaru Modern Ramen from Ippudo (for my Ippudo review, see this post: Food Therapy: Ippudo Ramen Noodle). I think Foodette's Totto Spicy Ramen was tastier (albeit slightly oilier due to the spicy oil):
The wait was about 30 mins, though we were quote 45 - 60 mins. Am I going back? Yes...to try the side dishes. Totto Ramen won't be replacing Ippudo for me but it's a welcome addition to Hell's Kitchen.
No comments:
Post a Comment