{"id":1761,"date":"2013-09-19T17:43:08","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benbansal.me\/?p=1761"},"modified":"2013-09-19T18:45:24","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T18:45:24","slug":"japanese-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benbansal.me\/?p=1761","title":{"rendered":"Japanese food"},"content":{"rendered":"

The food has been one of the major perks of our time in Japan. The variety, the freshness and the dedication and love with which almost any meal is prepared is second to none. Since arriving in New York, we took a variety of ramen stops and enjoyed one kaiseki<\/em> dinner. It’s been OK, but no match to our time in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\"japanfood01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Beef avocado sushi, near Shibuya station<\/em><\/p>\n

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Each time we arrived in Tokyo or had visitors, we usually went to Ippudo<\/a>, a Kyushu ramen chain that had a branch close to where we were living. The more famous ramen restaurants<\/a> in Shibuya and further afield were saved for later.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, Ippudo has two branches<\/a>\u00a0in New York. The one we went to on the East side of town was on the pricey side, felt like a nightclub, had really excellent tonkotsu<\/em> ramen but fairly average veggie ramen (!).<\/p>\n

Setagaya ramen<\/a> on St. Mark’s isn’t worth venturing out to, while Menkui-Tei<\/a> around the corner was only marginally better. I won’t even mention the name of the place I went to in Queens. Anyway, while NY seems the “ramen central” of the Western hemisphere, it is no match to Japan unless you count the expensive Ippudo ramen to your staples.<\/p>\n

Great footage from Tampopo, the first-ever ramen western to be filmed (1985):<\/p>\n