Ramen: I think Momofuku is overhyped

I went to eat at Momofuku Noodle Bar in Manhattan today, and I really have to say I'm not impressed.

While the restaurant seems to capture the idea of the typical ramen stand (Coziness, benches, long countertops, ready availability of booze) the quality of the ramen, soup, and fixins was surprisingly mediocre. The only salvation was that the bowl was huge; enough for me to mentally half-justify paying what I did for it.

I got their house ramen: Momofuku Ramen ($14)

Noodles: Rather generic. No intrinsic flavor per se, or at least not one that I'd really want to eat again. Kind of generically starchy. Lacks chew, but that's a personal preference. Didn't take up soup well, as I mostly got the flavor of the noodles, which masked the soup rather than complemented it.

Soup: Also surprisingly untasty. When i think of ramen, I expect a sort of pungent soup, or at least one that doesn't taste muddy (i.e. cloudy, or overcooked). Still, it's a passable soup. Hot, savory, but really nothing extraordinary.

Fixins: Peas in ramen works fairly well, though a few of them felt undercooked. The pickled bamboo was standard fare. I don't think poached egg works as well in ramen as hard-boiled, especially when the poached egg is cold. There were two types of pork. One was a trilayer pork, seemingly roasted. The other was pork shoulder, with a texture not unlike southern pulled pork. Both were actually pretty good, but neither of them set off my palate. I don't know if it was because the flavor diffused into the soup, or if the pork itself was unremarkable. The seaweed and fish cakes were as expected, but my friend indicated that the latter were "very salty."

If anything, it reminds me of a joke about Starbucks; You're going in to pay 10 bucks for the ramen, and 4 bucks for the hipness of it.

For $14, it's worth getting if you really want ramen/fixins. It's not bad, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to get again. At some point, I'd rather buy curry ($6), two hand rolls ($3), and a drink ($2), at the cafe above JAS Mart and still have enough for some baked goodies to take home from Panya ($3+tip).