Archive for 'Totto Ramen'

Go East and the Wait for Totto Ramen is Much Shorter

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One of the reasons I rarely find myself at Totto Ramen is because the lines are massively intimidating. The ramen is good, but who’s got time to wait in those lines? Don’t New Yorkers work?

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Totto Ramen Opens New Location, Dinner Only So Far: It has been so long since we last talked about Totto Ramen's expansion, I almost forgot it was happening. But, Eater reports that the new location of Totto Ramen quietly opened last week. Unfortunately for ML'ers, they're only open for dinner so far, but if we hear if that changes, we'll let you know. The new restaurant sits on 51st and 10th avenue, just a block from the original.

Deerhoof is a Big Fan of Totto Ramen

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Food is the New Rock, Zach’s podcast featuring bands talking about food and food people talking about music, this week is a good week to start.  Seminal noise rock band Deerhoof is the guest, and their lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki recommends Totto Ramen as her favorite ramen in NYC.  She also talks about her first visit to Chuck E Cheese, and her favorite places to eat in Japan (if such things interest you.)  Past guests include Mike D from the Beastie Boys, David Chang, Marcus Samuelsson, Henry Rollins, Amateur Gourmet Adam Roberts, My Morning Jacket and Michael Voltaggio.  And all the episodes are available for free in iTunes>>>

More Ramen Descends on Midtown

Tan Tan Men @Tabata RamenSummer is not when I crave ramen, but we are about to blessed with some serious noodle additions to Midtown. Grub Street announced yesterday that the second locations of both Totto Ramen (on 51st and 10th), which we mentioned a few months back and Tabata Noodle (39th bw 8th and 9th) will be opening very soon. Both are just slightly out of bounds, but if the food remains as good and the locations are indeed larger, it will certainly be worth the walk. Back in Midtown proper, but a bona fide splurge, comes the exciting discovery that Ma Peche now seems to be offering both beef and duck ramen on their delivery menu.

Totto Ramen to Expand!: Great news from Zagat this morning... Totto Ramen (on 52nd btw. 8+9th) is going to be opening a second location in the West 50s.  The bad news?  It'll be closer to 10th Ave. than Midtown.  The good news?  Maybe it will at least make the original location a bit less packed.

$25 And Under Ramen: Today's New York Times has a review of both Hide Chan and Totto Ramen.  The writer wasn't as excited about either as us or Serious Eats ("Neither spot has nearly the brilliance of Ippudo... or the breadth of other Midtown ramen shops like Menchanko-Tei") but she did have good things to say about Totto's chicken paitan and Hide Chan's black ramen.

Ramen Totto is Serving a 9 Chili Soup!


Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth

About a month ago Chris H. declared his love for the spicy paitan ramen at Ramen Totto (on 52nd btw. 8+9th). But if spicy is what you’re looking for, you might want to go for the Totto Extreme Spicy Ramen instead. It’s the same price as the spicy paintan ($10.25) but has 9 chilies next to its name on the menu (compared to 2 on the other soup!) How hot is it? We think the photo says it all. [via Food in Mouth]

Totto Ramen’s Spicy Paitan is Worth The Splurge

Totto Ramen Spicy Paitan Ramen

Since my initial write-up of Totto Ramen, I’ve become somewhat of a regular customer. Customer may be too light of a word – ‘devotee’ is more like it. At the ever so slightly out-of-ML price range, this ever so slightly out-of-bounds restaurant has enraptured me, besting my former #2 ranked ramen shop, Minca in the East Village (Ippudo remains steadfast at #1… for now).

While I was previously constrained to the plain bowl of chicken paitan ramen ($9.25), in keeping with ML cost guidelines, I found true love in the spicy chicken ramen ($10.25), made even more tasty with the added crunch of kikurage mushrooms (+$1), and the opulence of a seasoned hardboiled egg (+$1). Impossibly decadent and deliriously spicy, this nearly perfect bowl of chicken noodle soup is worth the >$10 splurge. They say that perfection has a price, but for $12 and change, I’ll buck the trend of being a lunchtime cheapass and indulge.

Related:
Totto Ramen Is the Closest Thing We’ve Got to the East Village

Sapporo Serves Midtown’s Best Ramen: Fork in the Road put out a list of their 9 favorite bowls of ramen today, and Sapporo (on 49th btw. 6+7th) was Midtown's highest ranking entry at #7, just one slot ahead of the newly open Totto Ramen (at #8).  Agree or disagree if you like, but we can't argue with one thing.  Ippudo is without a doubt #1.  (Too bad it's in the East Village!)

Totto Ramen Is the Closest Thing We’ve Got to the East Village

Lunch’er “Chris” is on fire! Yesterday he gave us a rundown of all the decent options at Taste of Summer in Rock Center (today is the last day, btw.) Today he files this pretty amazing report on Ramen Totto, which is now open for lunch. I think it might be time to make this guy official. Please welcome the newest contributor to the fold… Chris H.

Few would consider ramen to be good hot weather food. Even fewer would consider a restaurant located on 52nd btw. 8+9th to be within midtown lunch bounds. However, with Totto Ramen’s recent announcement that they would start serving lunch I felt compelled to schlep (schvitzing all the way) to the outer regions of Midtown to check out Ryuichi “Bobby” Munekata’s latest offering. Was the journey worth it? We noodle over the answer after the jump…

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