Ippudo, you-ppudo, we all scream for Ippudo.

A couple weekends ago Nick and I were in New York with my parents, celebrating our engagement. On the last day, we braved the rain and crowds to try to squeeze in at Ippudo, anecdotally acclaimed to be one of the best ramen restaurants in Manhattan. Situated in the East Village, Ippudo is always crowded, but the food is phenomenal. I had been once before with a friend, who warned me of the long wait times because of its popularity and limited seating area. On that particular rainy Sunday, the front entrance was packed with people and umbrellas, held captive by the tantalizing smells from the kitchen. For two, our wait was just over an hour (not bad!), and were seated -- ravenous -- at about 2:30pm.

Everything in Ippudo is a blur: the servers whiz by with steaming bowls of noodles and rich broth, and everyone is always shouting to greet customers and call in orders, adding to the buzzing atmosphere.

We started with flash-fried shishito peppers with yuzu salt:

(The citrus salt cut the hot oil and gave that zing that makes the corners of your mouth turn up.)

I ordered the Akamaru Modern with a seasoned, soft-boiled egg -- an umami explosion with lots of garlic and sesame:

Nick ordered the Miso Ramen with a GIGANTIC ball of ginger on top and a poached egg:

The anticipation and long wait had made me extra-hungry...I ordered extra noodles halfway through. Extra noodles, or "Kae-dama," is a common offering in ramen restaurants, but this was the first place I had ever seen a policy:

"When you have almost finished your first serving of noodles, order by saying 'Kae-dama, please.' In a few minutes the server will bring you another 'ball of noodles,' and put it in the soup. At that time, you must have enough amount of the soup in the bowl to accommodate the new noodles, that is, you shouldn't drink much of the soup if you are going to order the Kae-dama."


Well, I got my Kae-dama, and I still managed to finish:

It's easy to see why Ippudo is so wildly popular.