Ramen Setagaya

Winter has officially arrived in New York City. I want to go into hibernation mode and sleep in my comfy bed and never deal with New York snow! Don’t worry, I’m not going stay in my apartment and sleep all winter – I’m just going to find more savory soups to keep me warm and toasty! On a recent field trip for soup, Chris and I stopped by Ramen Setagaya, a small shop in the East Village to enjoy some of their hot soup.

Ramen is a big deal in New York; I mean, why do people pay $10 for stuff they can get in the supermarket for 0.95? I ordered the ramen with pork and Chris went with the special – a bowl of ramen with pork and a side order of gyoza, hoping it was worth the $10 we just forked over:

The broth had a distinct seafood taste and was salted perfectly and the ramen noodles tasted like they were dipped in hot water and finished cooking when placed in the broth. Perfect! I love ramen when it’s slightly cooked so you get a good bite to the noodle. Chris ordered the same soup and wasn’t impressed with the seafood flavor – he wanted something with a heartier broth. The pork was good, not great, and I think the ramen would’ve been better with some shrimp or prawns to echo the seafood broth.

For an extra $1.50, you can add gyoza to your order to make it a combo. Chris added the gyoza since I only wanted one or two. Chris’ gyoza:

The skin of gyoza is too thin for me and I prefer mandoo or the Chinese equivalent. Chris thought the gyoza at Ramen Setagaya were pretty well done and liked the meat filling (I think they just pan fried freezer section dumplings).

I’ll stop by Ramen Setagaya again if I’m ever in the neighborhood to warm up with a nice bowl of HOT ramen!