Ippudo Westside Is Now Offering Gluten-Free, Vegetarian Ramen

Photo by Tasting Table
Photo courtesy of Tasting Table

During our first look at Ippudo Westside last July, we mentioned that Ippudo would be offering vegetarian options in the future, and the day has finally come! In the main dining room (not the secret upstairs, we had mentioned back in July), Ippudo Westside is now offering hot and cold special “Shojin” ramen ($18) made with koshihikari rice noodles. According to the Tasting Table, the shojin ramen, which is also gluten-free, contains gentler flavors including a base-broth composed of soybean and seaweed, and toppings such as Japanese sweet potato, chestnuts, Chinese wolfberry seeds, and a rotating cast of seasonal specials.

Most of us are obviously going to stick with the Akamaru Modern, but for vegetarians or people with celiac this is huge news. If you’ve had a chance to try it, let us know what you think in the comments.

Ippudo Westside, 321 West 51st Street (btw. 8th and 9th Ave)

1 Comment

  • I was a bit wary of this item due to the sweet potatoes, but went ahead and tried it anyway. Oh man, it’s incredible how a place that serves something so amazingly good (e.g. Karaka Men), could produce something so bad. The broth was WAY too sweet – it had a syrupy consistency. The toppings only added to the sugar rush… it seems like they went over the top with soy sauce in order to compensate, but somehow none of the salt comes through, so the sauce only serves to add to the syrup-yness. Stay away. I love vegetarian food and eat mostly veg, but this is an Ippudo aberration that should go extinct asap.

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