3 Days in New York City-2-6 to 2/8/2022
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Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Day 3 cont. |
Day 2- Ivan Ramen,clinton street, New York -2/7/2022
Chef Ivan Orkin is the chef/owner of Ivan Ramen. Orkin, a self-described “Jewish kid from Long Island,” is not Japanese. (He’s a “Japonophile,” as he put it in an interview with Bon Appétit from 2015, who moved to Japan after graduating from college in 1985 and then again to Tokyo in 2003.) Shortly after that second move, Orkin opened the first location of Ivan Ramen in Tokyo, an intimate, 10-seat noodle shop in 2007 that “proved an immediate hit.” He followed up with a second location in Tokyo in 2010. By the time Orkin opened Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop in New York City in November 2013, his reputation had long made its way to the United States. Gotham West Market approached the chef to see if he would open his first international noodle shop in the yet-to-be-opened food hall and he obliged. Slurp Shop was never a replica of Orkin’s work in Tokyo: He did not make his own noodles at the new restaurant, sourcing them instead from Sun Noodle in New Jersey, and toned down the heat of his spicy red chile ramen for his American clientele — but if New Yorkers noticed the changes, they didn’t seem to mind. The Hell’s Kitchen ramen counter couldn’t keep pace with the city’s growing interest in Japanese noodles at that time, and the following spring he opened a sprawling, 50-seat flagship restaurant on the Lower East Side. Seated throughout that dining room, food critics debated whether the restaurant’s bowls of mazemen ramen or its non-noodle dishes were the main attraction, but they agreed that an undeniable hit had been born. “So good it will make your eyes explode,” in the words of Eater critic Ryan Sutton.
The Clinton Street location of Ivan Ramen on the Lower East Side is reportedly still “going strong,” according to Orkin. “We hope to be open for years to come.”
Ivan's Flagship full-service restaurant was featured in Chef's Table Season 3.
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Ivan Ramen's store front.
The right side of the restaurant is colorful and looks like a "to go" window.
It looks like the main entrance but it is locked so you have to enter from the side.
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Side entrance and they also set up an outdoor dinning area during Covid. Now that the Covid rate is going down and dining inside is permitted, there is nobody outside, plus it is super cold.
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Ivan Ramen sign at the entrance and entry door.
The restaurant is long and narrow with large colorful Manga mural
Closer look at the Manga cutout mural.
Kitchen and counter. They do not let people sit at the counter during Covid.
The counter is used to put all the "to Go" orders, and while we were there, the orders keep coming and the counter was always full of orders.
Chefs working in the kitchen.
Hanging above the kitchen is a large, colorful "The art of the Slurp" mural illustrating how to eat ramen.
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Hoa ordered a beer.
We ordered 3 type of appetizers and I also order a hot green tea served in a can.
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toasted garlic caramel, togarashi, shiso ranch
Very tasty chicken
Hot tea and beer.
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soy-plum glaze, pickled daiko
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green beans, slow-roasted tomato, piquillo pepper, and tobanjan, sunflower rayu, and charred scallion powder.
On the spicy side but very tasty.
Hoa enjoying all the dishes.
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rich chicken broth, minced chicken, egg yolk, crispy togarashi chicken
Our server recommended the Chicken Paitan. He told us that it takes about 10 hours to make the broth.
Really delicious and not too salty.
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View of the room on our way out.
The restaurant was full of people. Service was excellent, the server was very friendly and he took good care of us. We had a very satisfying meal. Wish we could have taste more ramen but since we also wanted to try the appetizers we just did not have enough room for more ramen.
NEXT.... Day 3-The High Line
Filed under: Restaurants
