Naruto Ramen

One slightly rainy Friday, I was on the Upper East Side working my way through some blogging, when I decided I wanted ramen.  A quick Google turned up Naruto, not too far away, so I walked over and waited a few minutes before I was seated at the bar. 

I’d wanted to try the pork katsu curry, but I was informed they were out of the pork katsu, so I switched to plain chicken.  It was interesting watching them cook it, but at the same time, I was disappointed that the chicken is cooked separately and therefore doesn’t pick up a lot of the flavor of the curry.

The flavor it gets is almost entirely sauce-based, ie, you dip it in to get the flavor. 

Beyond that, though, the flavor was sufficient and it was a decent sized portion for a half portion.  I liked it enough. 

Unfortunately the butter in my miso ramen melted faster than I could take a pic – you can sort of see the glob it left in the bottom of the pic, to the left of center – but I was pleased with the bowl placed in front of me. 

The ramen itself was of the thin yellow curly kind.  A friend of mine prefers these; I find them alright.  The broth was heavy-handed on the miso, a bit thick, but the corn and other elements were pretty sweet.  Overall, a solid bowl of ramen on the UES, if you find yourself in such an area. 

Uh, cuz I’m a pig, I also ordered a small bowl of cha-su rice. 

The pork was the same as had featured in the ramen; soft, coming apart easily with just a prod of the chopsticks, and wonderfully flavored.  The egg, a slick of soy sauce, and this was a good dish, but I probably won’t order it again.  I go to ramen joints to eat ramen…

Yvo says: A solid neighborhood joint; if you’re in the area on a rainy day or night, definitely stop by for some yummy ramen.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here, but I would be thrilled if one of these opened in my own neighborhood… yum. 
good neighborhood joint