momofuku noodle bar

For my official birthday dinner with the family, I wanted some xiao long bao but unfortunately there was absolutely no parking anywhere in Chinatown. =( Instead, we ended up at Momofuku Noodle Bar, a place I've been meaning to try out for a while after reading about it in the Times. We lucked out since we arrived right when they were reopening from their afternoon break and there were just the right amount of seats to fit everyone that pushed their way in. ^_^

The cool thing about this place is how it models its layout after a typical Japanese ramen shop (only a bit more East Village-y). The noodle bar set up is conducive to a quick meal and keeps turnover high. Unfortunately, prices aren't reflective of their Japanese counterpart; the Momofuku Ramen pictured above put a $14 dent in my wallet (or better said, my brother's wallet, haha). For a very salty broth and mushy noodles, I can't say it's really worth the deal. Well, with my dad bickering away in the background every couple bites, complaining about the hipster feel and outrageous prices for about the entire duration of dinner, it probably took away from the overall experience.

Would I go back? Eh, probably not. I've had better bowls of ramen (though they were actually soba noodles) than this place. But it still looks pretty cool.