Hide-Chan Ramen, Midtown East

While Hannah was in town, we stopped by Hide-Chan Ramen in Midtown East for a late lunch before taking advantage of free Friday nights at the MoMA. I really wanted to take Hannah to Totto Ramen as she doesn’t eat pork and they specialize in chicken broth. Too bad they had just closed when we showed up, but Hide-Chan was right next door!

This was my fourth visit to Hide-Chan Ramen. On my first and second visit, I was still eating meat on occasion and enjoyed Hide-Chan’s silky tonkotsu broths. For the pork-based broths, you can specify light, medium, or rich broth. On my third visit, I tried their vegetable ramen, which was pretty good at that time.

Hannah and I both ordered the Vegetable Ramen ($11). This is a konbu seaweed and shiitake mushroom broth, which is light, but tasty. The ramen is topped with seasonal veggies, avocado, yuzu paste, sesame oil, salted kelp, and a lime wedge. When our bowls of vegetable ramen arrived, Hannah exclaimed “It’s a salad!”

The noodles and the broth were the best part. I got the wavy noodles, which had a good bouncy texture. Love how the lime brightens and enhances the flavor of the broth. Most of the toppings could use more seasoning, which is unfortunate because the toppings often make it or break it. It was disappointing to discover that the end of the sliced bell peppers that were not sitting in the broth were icy cold!

Every ramen-ya in the city now serves at least one veggie option, and they’ve pretty much all stepped up their game in the past year. I realize that we showed up at an odd time of day and that Hide-Chan’s specialty is porky tonkotsu broths, but on this visit, Hide-Chan’s vegetarian option just wasn’t up to par. That’s too bad.

On a side note, what’s with all the masks on the wall?! It’s fun, but so random too.