For the Love of Ramen(Ramen Setagaya)

Anyone that knows me, KNOWS...KNOWS that I have a weakness and love for Ramen. Check out my first post on trying ramen out in NYC here..
One of the things I love most about New York is the diversity in food. I can find almost anything here in the city where it would be impossible back home in Akron Ohio. Knowing I can find ramen here has prompted me to try and taste as many different bowls of ramen from as many different places in NYC as I can. This leads me to this post where I'll be sharing my experience at a Ramen place in the East Village called, Ramen Setagaya




East Village/St. Marks place, is well known for their many Asian restaurants. When I first visited NYC back in 2006 this area was one of my first destinations for Japanese food, and I wasn't disappointed with the food I had there. I had often walked past Ramen Setagaya, stopped , and took a look at their menu, but never actually entered until this past week. I had already been to almost every other restaurant in the area and felt it was time for me to try the Ramen here. It was an overall good experience.

Just like the many Japanese restaurants around, it was small, cozy, and well-decorated on the inside. They even have a TV overhead with Japanese programing playing while you eat! When I went however, I sat in front of the huge window so I could people watch :-p Service was great as well! My server came to check on me quite a bit and they were fast about getting my meal out!

The menu though is pretty simple, consisting of only several types of ramen, gyoza, and some other appetizers. Humm about the ramen itself... well, Setagaya appears to specialize in salt ramen, one of my favorite types of ramen, although I ended up ordering the syo-yu ramen ($10 for just the soup but $14 for a set (aka combo) in which you can order curry rice, gyoza or some meat dish).

Setagaya's noodles are perfect in texture, thicker then what I've had in the past, and they give you good quantity for the price. The noodles had to have been my favorite part of the meal! The grilled pork slices were good and not overly fatty but they did give me fairly thin slices. My ramen also included boiled eggs, some bamboo shoots, and nori. The Soup, which to me seasons and texturizes everything else that's in the bowl, was just alright. I know I've had better soup as this one lacked richness and complexity. I will say the greasiness of the broth was turn off for me. I've only been here once, so I'm not sure if it's always so oily but this bowl had a ton!

Just to make sure that I had the full experience I ordered ordered the pan fried Gyoza which were nothing special just the run of the mill type filled with a mixture of chicken and pork.

OVERALL,It is pretty good, but not top-tier level. I will go back to try some of the other items on the menu! I think it's not at good as other places I've tried but it's great if you are in that area and are super hungry, or if you can't get into Ippudo because of the wait!

Here is the info for those in the NYC area looking to try out their ramen
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Ramen Setagaya

Neighborhood: East Village
34-A St Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 387-7959
www.setaga-ya.com