{"id":2233,"date":"2012-12-06T10:24:30","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T10:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/?p=2233"},"modified":"2017-03-20T01:52:20","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T01:52:20","slug":"tabata-noodle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/06\/tabata-noodle\/","title":{"rendered":"Tabata Noodle, Hell&#8217;s Kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This post is way overdue! Sometime in October, Angela and I visited <a title=\"Tabata Noodle\" href=\"http:\/\/www.menupages.com\/restaurants\/tabata-noodle-restaurant\/menu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Tabata Ramen<\/a> for our monthly ramen fix. Not sure what neighborhood this is&#8230; it says Hell&#8217;s Kitchen on Yelp, but it&#8217;s kinda far away from the areas I normally consider Hell&#8217;s Kitchen. The Port Authority bus terminal keeps Tabata hidden. You don&#8217;t just randomly stumble across this place, you have to seek it out. Not too far from the subway, and the location helps keep the prices reasonable. There are a few classic ramen bowls on the menu, but it seems like the fusion ramen bowls are the most popular items.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/06\/tabata-noodle\/1-75\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2299\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2299\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/13.jpg\" alt=\"Tabata Noodle - Agedashi Tofu\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/13.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/13-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/13-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a>Appetizer #1: Agedashi Tofu ($5). Lightly fried silken tofu topped with scallion and daikon. Hmm, isn&#8217;t agedashi tofu normally deep fried until golden brown? Either way, the light batter was good. I love silken tofu, but why must it be so difficult to pick up and eat?!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/06\/tabata-noodle\/2-74\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2300\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2300\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/210.jpg\" alt=\"Tabata Noodle - Karage Ponzu\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/210.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/210-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/210-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a>Appetizer #2: Karage Ponzu ($6). Your usual Japanese fried chicken over a bed of red onions and grated radish. Nice and crispy, but a little too greasy for me. The onions and radish were a nice touch though. It helped refresh the palate for more chicken. I brought the leftovers home, and John enjoyed the karage with the onions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/06\/tabata-noodle\/3-59\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2301\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2301\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/36.jpg\" alt=\"Tabata Noodle - Lava Men\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/36.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/36-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/36-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a>Ramen #1: Angela looked up Tabata on Yelp and noticed that several people described the Lava Men ($11) as a must try dish. The broth is made of both pork and chicken. The noodles are topped with an egg, bean sprouts, scallions and char shu pork or chicken. I ordered it with the pork because I&#8217;m all about porky goodness. On the menu, the Lava Men had not one, but two chili peppers. They mean serious business.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/06\/tabata-noodle\/6-36\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2302\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2302\" src=\"http:\/\/letsnomnom.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/10\/62-e1353342594542.jpg\" alt=\"Tabata Noodle - Lava Men\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" \/><\/a>The noodles were on the soft side, which I enjoyed. The char shu pork was mediocre. Loved the big pieces of scallion. The Lava Men is clearly all about that hot and spicy broth. I love spicy food, but this was just too much for me! Even with multiple glasses of water, I just couldn&#8217;t handle it. It was so spicy that it was painful, but I just couldn&#8217;t get enough. After slowly nibbling at my ramen for a while, I decided to get the Lava Men to go and just order another bowl that I could actually enjoy at the restaurant. I was hungry and desperate for my ramen fix!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/letsnomnom.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/06\/tabata-noodle\/7-29\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2303\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2303\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/71.jpg\" alt=\"Tabata Noodle - Miso Ramen\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/71.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/71-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/71-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a>Ramen #2: Miso Ramen ($10). Miso broth with char shu pork or chicken, cabbages, bean sprouts, carrots and scallions. I was impressed with how quickly this was prepared. Cabbage and carrots are not usual ramen toppings, but they were nice with the miso broth. It was a very light miso broth. Didn&#8217;t really wow me, but it&#8217;s also possible that my taste buds had been completely numbed by the Lava Men. Honestly, I was just happy to eat without my tongue catching on fire. I wouldn&#8217;t order this again though. Miso is one of the classics, and this just didn&#8217;t live up to my usual expectations.<\/p>\n<p>P.S. I had the leftover Lava Men for dinner the next day. I added an entire cup of water to the broth, and it was still hellishly spicy! Even John, who is all about spicy food, found it pretty intense. I was worried that the noodles would get all mushy and disgusting after sitting in the broth overnight, but that was not the case at all. Maybe next time I&#8217;ll order something that only has one chili pepper&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c  no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 172px; left: 20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post is way overdue! Sometime in October, Angela and I visited Tabata Ramen for our monthly ramen fix. Not sure what neighborhood this is&#8230; it says Hell&#8217;s Kitchen on Yelp, but it&#8217;s kinda far away from the areas I normally consider Hell&#8217;s Kitchen. The Port Authority bus terminal keeps Tabata hidden. You don&#8217;t just randomly stumble across this place, you have to seek it out. Not too far from the subway, and the location helps keep the prices reasonable. There are a few classic ramen bowls on the menu, but it seems like the fusion ramen bowls are the most popular items. Appetizer #1: Agedashi Tofu ($5). Lightly fried silken tofu topped with scallion and daikon. Hmm, isn&#8217;t agedashi tofu normally deep fried until golden brown? Either way, the light batter was good. I love silken tofu, but why must it be so difficult to pick up and eat?! Appetizer #2: Karage Ponzu ($6). Your usual Japanese fried chicken over a bed of red onions and grated radish. Nice and crispy, but a little too greasy for me. The onions and radish were a nice touch though. It helped refresh the palate for more chicken. I brought the leftovers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3355,3359],"tags":[42,201,378,431,491,539,1498,1851,2318,2489,2681,2686,2824,2825],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/62-e1353342594542.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wazwu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}