Totto Ramen, Hell’s Kitchen

Shortly after I moved to NYC, Angela and I started a tradition of monthly ramen dates. Since our ramen journey started with Totto Ramen, it was only fitting to visit Totto again as one of our last ramen outings before I move away next month.

The last time we were here, we waited for over 2 hours outside in the middle of winter. (P.S. I’m cringing at that old post. Feels like a lifetime ago.) We’ve learned our lesson and decided to lunch here instead. When I got there at 12:05pm, just minutes after they opened, there was already a wait, but it moved quickly.

While Totto is known for it’s chicken broth, they offer one of the prettiest vegetable ramen ($12) bowls. Their veggie broth has a seaweed and shiitake mushroom base — light, but very enjoyable! Topped with a mountain of seasonal veggies, yuzu paste, and a lime wedge. The veggies were fresh and tasty, nothing was limp or soggy. It seems weird to have avocado in this, but it was deliciously seasoned and worked well. The noodles were good, but a little softer than I would like.

I’m surprised I had to pay an extra $1 for scallions. I also got spicy bamboo ($2), which was served on the side. It was too spicy for me and when I asked to get it to go, I learned that they, unfortunately, no longer offer takeout boxes. After my visit, I reached out to Totto Ramen on Facebook to ask if the noodles contain egg. I could see that they saw my message, but they didn’t respond. Assume this is just vegetarian, not vegan.

Angela got the chicken paitan ramen ($10), plus $1 for the egg. This is the Totto signature ramen with straight noodles, chicken paitan broth, onions, scallions, nori, and your choice of pork or chicken for the char siu and pulled char siu. Angela noted that the broth was tasty and that the quality at lunch seems to be much better than dinner.

Save

Save

Save

Save