Totto Ramen @ NYC

I thought the ramen at Ippudo was great, boy was I wrong. The ultimate ramen place in NY that I found was at Totto Ramen, which is this really small restaurant over by the Theater District. If you go to the MoMa and spend hours there looking at art and then get hungry, walk about 3 blocks and you'll be at Totto. However be prepared to wait in line (we waited for 30 minutes), and remember to bring cash!

So what makes Totto better, besides the bowls of ramen! Well there's the fact that there are legit Japanese people cooking the ramen, and the chasu is seared til crunchy! Ok let's break down the different categories in ramen:

Broth: great at Totto, full bodied, full of flavor, and I liked the little globs of oil, I knew it was real and had been stewing for hours if not days

Ramen Noodles: cooked perfectly, it wasn't all soft and mushy, it had a nice bite and the soup wrapped around it well when I slurped

Chasu: pork belly, the type of pork that should be used. There was a nice balance of fat and lean meat, where it all marbleized together. Then there's the fact that you see the guy using his hand-held torch searing the meat into crispyness

Other ingredients: perfect balance! seaweed, the egg, yums

Totto Spicy Ramen

[Original Rayu, Spicy Sesame Oil, adds a spicy kick and refreshing

aftertaste to our original Paitan ramen. Topped with scallion,

onion, char siu pork, and a nori.]

Totto Miso Ramen

[The finest Koji Miso and ground pork in a scoop atop

slightly wavy noodles in original Paitan soup. Topped with

a seasoned hardboiled egg, scallion, bean sprouts, onion

and char siu pork.]

done!