Ramen date with Angela! We decided to check out Totto Ramen after stumbling across this article about top ramen spots in NYC. We waited for over 2 hours in the cold. Over 2 HOURS!!! Gargh! Luckily, Angela had a snack bar in her purse, and we had plenty of catching up to do. Angela’s miso ramen with pork ($10.75) – “The finest Koji Miso and ground pork in a scoop atop slightly wavy noodles in original Paitan soup. Topped with a seasoned hardboiled egg, scallion, bean sprouts, onion and char siu pork.” Mmm, looks good!
My spicy ramen with pork ($10.75) – “Original Rayu, Spicy Sesame Oil, adds a spicy kick and refreshing aftertaste to our original Paitan ramen. Topped with scallion, char siu pork, bean sprouts, and nori.” I got a hardboiled egg as an extra topping (+$1).
The spiciness was perfect. Added a nice kick without being too overwhelming. The broth at Totto Ramen is made with chicken instead of pork. Tastes delicious, without having an overly rich flavor. Perfect noodles. Love that there’s so much scallion! Most ramen places (even in Asia) only have thin slices of scallion. Totto uses big chunks!
Getting the char siu pork instead of chicken in my ramen was a huge mistake. I’m used to thinly sliced, not super fatty char siu pork in my ramen. The first few nibbles of Totto’s pork were great. After that, it was all downhill. Too rich! It was like biting directly into fat.
In addition to our ramen dishes, we (stupidly) ordered a side of char siu mayo don ($5) – “House special broiled pork with yuzu mayonnaise on a bed of rice.” More of that fatty char siu pork we both weren’t big fans of! The side was big enough for an entire meal. Angela ate a little of the pork; I didn’t touch it at all. Angela had it packed up to go.
Totto Ramen apparently has a meat lovers ramen for $15. Haha. This scares me a little.Overall, I like Totto Ramen more than Momofuku. Last night, I was leaning toward Momofuku, but now… nah, Totto is better, especially if you take price into consideration. I’d be interested in returning to Totto to try the paitan ramen with chicken.
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