Hide-Chan Ramen, Midtown East

Angela and I recently visited Hide-Chan Ramen for our monthly dinner date. We had originally planned to check out Ivan Ramen, one of the newer ramen shops, but we switched to Hide-Chan to reduce our walking time in the cold. This is my first visit to Hide-Chan since I’ve cut meat out of my diet entirely.

Unfortunately, they don’t have many vegetarian appetizers at Hide-Chan. Lots of gyoza to choose from, but they all contain pork. We ordered the homemade tofu ($5), and that did not disappoint. Possibly the best homemade tofu I’ve had at a ramen/soba shop.
The tofu was firm, but tender at the same time. Even the tiniest pieces were easy to pick up with chopsticks. So tasty with the soy sauce and scallions. Bonito flakes are technically not vegetarian, but they’re so light and thin that I decided to just let it slide.

I ordered the Vegetable Ramen ($13), which had a konbu seaweed and shiitake based broth with an assortment of veggies, seasoned avocado, peppery yuzu paste, sesame oil, salted kelp and lime. For the noodles, I asked for medium firmness. Love how veggie ramen bowls always look like a salad. I was surprised to see avocado as a topping, but it worked well with the broth. The thin noodles were a good match for the delicate veggies and light veggie broth. Added some black pepper and sesame seeds as the broth could use more seasoning. Overall, it was tasty enough, but not the most memorable.

Save