I'd come prepared to dislike the Momofuku Noodle Bar (First Avenue, and 11th Street, New York City). With skepticism, I walked into Momofuku on Wednesday night to try their ramen. For the uninitiated, ramen is the traditional Japanese dish of noodles served in a meat-based broth (sans Styrofoam cup). While the description may sound very generic, the taste of a great bowl of ramen is anything but. Ramen - yellow noodles served in a hot, rich broth accompanied by various other goodies -is the quintessential Japanese comfort food and more recently the subject of the latest East Village food scuffle.

Over the years I've seen some pretty fierce battles. I recall the dumplings wars of 2005, when the already established Dumpling Man on St. Marks Street faced competition in the upstart Plump Dumpling. The competition was violent with charges of copyright infringement -Plump dumpling's logo suspiciously resembled a female version of Dumpling Man's logo. Insults were hurled, lawsuits were threatened and now both have settled down in an uneasy detente - perhaps united in their dislike of the newest dumpling competitor, Vanessa's Dumplings.

Now the food battle has shifted to ramen. In the span of a few short years, ramen competition has come fast and fierce. Aside from the numerous Japanese restaurants, all serving their versions of ramen, Japanese ramen chains have begun transplanting themselves to the streets of the East Village, spurred on by the already significant Japanese food presence and public's appetite for something more than just another spicy tuna roll.
I digress. Like, I said, I had come prepared to dislike Momofuku. It always seemed too trendy, too overpriced and way too overhyped. Besides, my heart belonged to Setagaya, one of the aforementioned Japanese ramen transplants. After having their Shio (salt) ramen, I was convinced that it was the be-all and end-all of ramen and loudly proclaimed it to all. Rightly or wrongly, in my head, there was no way Momofuku could ever be as good, but to cover my bases, I had to try it out before I started talking smack to the Momofuku fans out there.

Walking in with a friend on a Wednesday night, we were seated directly at the bar facing the kitchen. Even though I've spent most of my life in a kitchen, watching food being cooked never gets old. There is something about the smells, the sizzling sounds and the clatter of plates that sets me right at home. Enough context, let's talk about ramen. Quickly, two large bowls of Momofuku's signature ramen (named, appropriately enough, "Momofuku Ramen") are set down in front of us. Quashing my immediate visual comparison to Setagaya, I proceeded to dig in.

To anybody I've ever bad-mouthed Momofuku to, I'm sorry. I was wrong and I will gladly eat my crow- just as long as it's shredded in a bowl of Momofuku ramen. It's good. And by good, I mean very good.

Let's first start with the visuals. The first thing I noticed was the criss-crossed (makes you wanna jump?) sheets of nori (dried roasted seaweed) that stick out the backside of the bowl as if providing an artistic backdrop for the rest of the ingredients. Arranged around the bowl, small groups of fixins' await your mixing pleasure- large mound of scallions, shredded Berkshire pork neck and sliced pork belly, seaweed, bamboo shoots, Japanese fish cake- and in the center a single poached egg sits (It's actually a bit hard to see the noddles upon first glance). The noodles, coming out of a carefully regulated hot water bath, are flavorful and al dente. The broth is one of the best I've tasted. Flavorful and rich, it filled every spoonful with hot, porky goodness. In 15 short minutes it was over. That bowl of ramen never stood a chance.

Verdict: Expensive ($14) but you'd be hard pressed to find a more satisfying meal on a Fall day.

For more on the dumpling wars: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/11972/

Ramen in the East Village: http://events.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/nyregion/thecity/22rest.html

Labels: Food, good eats, ShoutsOfAdoration