Christine and I visited Ippudo when in New York a few years ago and visited in Tokyo during this trip. In New York, Ippudo is a painfully trendy affair with $20 bowls of ramen and hour wait times to get in. Ippudo is actually a chain from Japan, and it's not uncommon to find them in Tokyo, where they are much less of a hassle. The ramen is, however, great and costs about $10 a bowl. Also, in Japan, Ippudo doesn't accept credit card. I had to run back to the Airbnb to grab the cash notes I forgot; the wait staff was very confused why I had deserted Mum and Babe. Maybe they were more confused when I came back.
Japanese food is having a moment in U.S. cities, with trendy ramen places popping up in Chicago over the years I've been here. There were very few when I moved here in 2012 and now there are several, mostly all are self-consciously trendy. There's no ramen in Cedar Rapids yet; I expect Iowa City to pave the way, but as yet, I believe there is still no dedicated ramen restaurant there either. Stay tuned, Iowan noodle lovers.
 |
| Delicious tonkotsu ramen. Thank you, pigs, for the delicious broth your fatty bellies give us. |
 |
| The Tokyo Ippudo decor, above, is not altogether untrendy, but in Tokyo, Ippudo was definitely less affected than in New York. Rather than the moneyed hipsters of the St. Mark's Place (New York) branch, the Tokyo one we visited was filled with salarymen, which is to say, Japanese men in business suits. Perhaps a hipster could ironically appropriate the salaryman aesthetic, but, really, a salaryman may be thought of as the opposite of a hipster. Then again, both are seeking to conform to a certain standard, even if one these groups believes themselves to be unique and non-conforming. Only one of these groups would sport beards, however. |
 |
| We liked Ippudo enough that we went back a second time, this time with cash notes, plus our Australian friend, Amanda, who lives in Tokyo now and works for Greenpeace. Bobby, as usual, was not altogether impressed with the dining selections of the grownups. |
Comments