Totto Ramen and Ippudo Ramen were both on my ‘want to try’ lists during my visit to the Big Apple. We made it to Ippudo Ramen on the first night, and also was able to try Totto Ramen a few days later! Both places are extremely popular in New York, making the wait times pretty long.
After going on the Circle Line sightseeing cruise (click link for my experience with them!), we walked over to Totto Ramen to their Hell’s Kitchen location around 9:30 pm on a Friday night. Since it was already late, we didn’t think it would be busy so we were a bit shocked to see a big crowd outside the tiny noodle joint!
We had to wait a total of 30 minutes, I can’t imagine how long you would have to wait during peak hours. If you don’t want to wait during peak hours, I suggest coming on a weekday around 5pm or something like that. Luckily, I met a couple in line who were visiting from Israel so the line went by quickly.
I love Japanese culture because of how efficient everything is. While we were waiting, one of the workers went around and we all placed our order in line. As you can see, the restaurant is really crowded and small. We shared a four person table with two other customers against the wall, and there was no room for us to really move around.
So, don’t come here if you are claustrophobic! There is also really loud metal/screamo music playing.. my theory is that it makes people eat faster because of the intense music. I definitely found myself eating pretty fast, partly due to the music and because I was hungry.
Chicken paitan, $10: Totto Ramen’s original straight noodles in a rich and creamy chicken broth. This was immensely delicious, and super warm and comforting. It was raining in New York that night, so it was the perfect bowl to have. The pulled pork was also really delicious and really tender.
I found the chicken to be slightly bland, it tasted like it was just boiled but it’s still good to have some protein regardless.
There was also lots of fresh chopped onions in the broth as well. 10/10 would recommend. So good.
Miso Paitan, $12: The miso paitan has the same chicken base as mine, but with miso added to it. Again, this bowl was very delicious and flavourful. The pork was very tender and melted in my mouth, I wish we had also ordered pork on the other bowl as well!
In addition, the onions, scallions, and bean sprouts were very fresh and crunchy as well.
Here’s a closeup of the ramen noodles in the chicken paitan. They were cooked perfectly and were slightly chewy. This was my first time trying the thin ramen noodles and I really liked it!
The noodles in the miso paitan were a bit different, and were more like the ramen noodles I was used to eating back in Vancouver. Again, these were cooked perfectly and had a lovely bounce to it.
All in all, Totto Ramen was really good and worth the wait. The broth is rich and flavourful, while the noodles are bouncy and cooked perfectly. I can definitely see why there are such long waits for this place. Coming from Vancouver where ramen is already plentiful, I have high expectations for ramen and Totto definitely surpassed my expectations!
Yay!
Thanks for reading,
Carmen
One of Sekkisei’s main selling points is that it claims to whiten skin, and make it more translucent. Fair, white skin is considered one of the most beautiful features a woman could have in the Asian culture. There are so many Asian products out there that are marketed towards whitening your skin.
Anyways, back to the review. The powder wash comes in a sturdy bottle with one small opening, so that the powder does not spill everywhere. The powder is very fine, and very light. One small sneeze can send the product falling everywhere! =P
I used to frequent this neighbourhood a lot, but I actually never noticed Zest and was so surprised at where it was. It is tucked behind/beside the Starbucks on 16th & McDonald.
The restaurant was pretty empty, but we had an early reservation. The restaurant slowly filled up near the end of our meal during regular dinner hours. The restaurant was very clean and the seating was very comfortable.
Wild Sockeye Salmon Sashimi, $15: Every time we go to a new Japanese restaurant, we order their sashimi and use it as a basis for comparison.
Assorted sashimi salad, $15: I’ve been having sashimi salads more lately wanted to see if Zest can make a stellar sashimi salad as well. It came with one thick piece of seaweed tempura, sashimi, fresh greens, seaweed, and grapefruit.
This is what it looked like on my plate, with the dressing on the side. The greens were very fresh and crisp, as was the seaweed. Everything about this dish was so refreshing and delicious. We would definitely order this again!
Miso Cured Grilled BC Wild Salmon, $16: This dish originally came with quinoa, but I substituted for rice as I was really wanting plain, warm white rice that day.
Roasted Duck Breast Carpaccio, $14: This was the boyfriend’s entree, I don’t think we both expected it to be that small.
Zest Roll, $13: We were glad that we ordered this since the duck carpaccio was quite small, albeit delicious. The zest roll came with albacore tuna, grilled salmon skin, cucumber, and tobiko.
