Ramen Hakata

One recent day after class, I realized I was running errands on a completely empty stomach (I didn’t pack bento!) and needed to fuel up.  No shortage of options in Flushing, I was just very indecisive and finally decided to wander over to the Flushing branch of Ramen Setagaya, my favorite ramen place.  I hadn’t had a chance to visit the Flushing location – actually, I’ve yet to visit any location of Setagaya besides the original, because I’m weird like that – so I made my way to Prince Street and discovered the above.  Oh.  It’s now Ramen Hakata. 

I was drawn in by the wireless internet access sign.  Woohoo!  I can eat my lunch in peace and surf the internet on my netbook.  Which I did, and I note here that when I’d finished eating, they cleared my place but didn’t bring me the check until I requested it later.  Very nice!  It wasn’t busy , but still a nice touch that they didn’t rush me as soon as I’d finished eating. 

As for what I ate, a very standard shio ramen – salt broth, my preference – which was satisfying in its own right, though by no means better than Setagaya. 

Maybe on par… the noodles with a nice heft to them, the egg floating serenely and the pork, not bad at all.  Will it replace Setagaya as my favorite?  No.  Is it nice to have a ramen place in Flushing and not have to trek to E. Village for my ramen fix?  Well… Flushing is still a pain in the butt for me to get to, if only because driving takes 10 minutes but parking is a beeyotch, and taking public transportation takes like 45 minutes despite it being one exit away on the highway…

Yvo says: Happy to have them in Queens… tasty, inexpensive (markedly cheaper than the locations in Manhattan – this with a pretty generous tip came out to $10)… solid.  Not destination dining though – that’s down the street at Canton Gourmet, yummm.
recommended