36 Hours in NY (give or take a few)

A weekend in review

Friday, February 27th
Attempt to eat arepas at Caracas, a Venezulan eatery featured in "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." Find an hour and 45 minute wait, so walk to Bua for drinks. Nibble on Berkshire pork sliders, split a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches on Blue Ribbon Pullman loaf (one taleggio, one aged Irish cheddar) and imbibe a few cocktails to quell the appetite.

Return to Caracas, order a sampling of their finest arepas, such as the La Sureña, with grilled chicken and chorizo, and the Reina Pepiada, with chicken and avocado. Take a walk around the East Village, passing Tompkins Square Park, whilst partaking in the unseasonably warm weather.

Feel surprisingly peckish with a hankering for ramen, so head to Ippudo. Observe the strange ratio of hovering wait staff to customers and witness your hostess actually burn her hair accidentally in a candle on the table. Wait for unpleasant smell to dissipate. Get your bowls of ramen. Slurp, enjoy, then walk to the Union Square station to get home.

Saturday, February 28th
Fill up on a freshly toasted Absolute Bagel with jalepeño cream cheese to power you through the day. Properly fed, head to the Guggenheim to take in "The Third Mind" exhibition. Soak in all the culture until you can't take anymore, then wander the Upper East Side. Attempt to enjoy a late lunch at Flex Mussels, find it closed, so scavenge for something else. Happen upon Andre's Cafe & Bakery. Find old-world service (i.e., slow), but scrumptious comfort in veal goulash, chicken paprikash, a chicken paprikash crepe, meat crepe, mushroom soup and a deliciously flaky apple strudel for dessert.

Digest by walking down Lexington to a 6 train station stop. Hop on the train to SoHo for swanky cocktails at Pegu Club.Discover the most phenomenal cocktails ever, in quite possibly, the most relaxing place in Manhattan. While away a few hours and be ballers by ordering almost every cocktail on the menu. Feel blissfully unwound.

Sober up with a tasty Greek dinner of mezes, including crispy cod and sheep's milk ravioli topped with fried shallots, at Kefi, in the Upper West Side. Slumber, deeply.

Sunday, March 1st
Return to the Lower East Side for brunch at Inoteca. Savor the best thing of the weekend, the truffle egg toast with bottarga (cured tuna roe) and sautéed asparagus tips. Order two.Hop on the F train to check out the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO. Support local crafters and printmakers. Warm up with a cup of tea and possibly a Mudslide cookie from Jacques Torres. Go for a stroll, accidentally head into the projects attempting to walk to Williamsburg. Find a subway station back to Manhattan to take a train to Williamsburg instead.

Check out the discounted wares at Brooklyn Industries, then cross the street to Peter Luger for an early dinner reservation. Feast on an old-school steakhouse meal of shrimp cocktail, tomato and onion salad, creamed spinach, German style potatoes, a porterhouse steak, and 2 rib eyes to split. Fall asleep on the train back to the Upper West Side.

Say good-bye to your friends visiting from San Francisco. Wish that the two cities were closer so that you wouldn't have to gorge yourselves so ridiculously in such a short period of time.

NYC Ramen Tour #3: Ippudo

Friday night, Evan and I finally tried the famed and much hyped Japanese ramen noodle chain, Ippudo. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but we probably would have been tsk'd and shamed if we even tried -- not by the restaurant itself, but by the weirdly uptight, too-cool for school clientele. Ippudo has a trendy, clubby atmosphere, which I would have preferred to take in from one of their bar seats versus from one of their communal tables. Whatever your preference, it's definitely a lively scene.

As for the ramen, it really didn't disappoint. Evan called it "contemporary Japanese ramen," which seems like an appropriate description. In the realm of New York City ramen shops, Men Kui Tei is the old-school, old-world Mom and Pop shop, while Ippudo is the dolled up, sophisticated, and a little rebellious daughter.

I ordered the Tonkotsu ramen special and Evan ordered the Spicy Tonkotsu ramen. Both were superb in terms of savory, porcine broth flavor and springy noodle freshness; far better than Minca. The only complaint I have, besides the atmosphere, is the lack of pork. Props to Ippudo for using top quality, deliciously tender Berkshire Pork, but one thin slice is pretty piddly for a $13 bowl of soup. (Please sir, I want some more!) Still, I'd definitely return. Perhaps not for dinner, but absolutely for lunch.

Ippudo
65 4th Ave., New York, NY 10003

NYC Ramen Tour #2: Men Kui Tei

Long cold weekends are good for more than just ice skating. We capped off our day of skating by continuing our ramen tour. This time, we returned a repeat: Men Kui Tei.It's a hole-in-the-wall place, packed with Japanese and Asian diners. In the battle between Men Kui Tei and Minca, Evan choses the former, hands down, swearing that it's the most true to what he's had while living in Japan. Having never been there myself, I can't vouch for that comment, but I will say that the Tan Tan Ramen has become a solid favorite. At least my nearest substitute for the hot bowls of pho I used to eat every week in San Francisco.
 
This time, we ordered the gyoza to start A side of curry rice, which was spicy and sweetA bowl of my usual, Tan Tan RamenAnd a bowl of Extra Spicy Ramen.The broth is thinner and not as porky as that of Minca, but the meal was just as quietly comforting, which is all I really want in a bowl of ramen. Next on the ramen tour: Ippudo!
 
Men Kui Tei
60 W 56th St, New York 10019

NYC Ramen tour #1: Minca

Oops. So much for the 12 Days of Blogging mission! No post is what you get if you work a 13+ hour day, ugh. Had I come home earlier than 11:30 PM last night, I would have blogged about Minca, one of the noodle shops we've been meaning to try. I haven't blogged about our official first ramen tour stop, Men Kui Tui, but I'm sure it'll have a chance to shine in later posts.

Sunday was a cool 26 degrees: excellent weather for a steaming bowl of ramen! We were relatively close to LES, so we decided to make the trip to Minca. We ordered the kimchi and the pork potstickers to split, which were quite tasty dishes with which to start.
I ordered the Shoyu ramen with thin noodles and Evan ordered the Spicy ramen, also with thin noodles. Overall, there was good porky depth to the thick, flavorful broth, but the noodles didn't have that special fresh springiness I like in a noodle. (Who doesn't like that in a noodle?) The slices of pork, however, were meltingly delectable. I'd definitely go again if I were in the neighborhood, but thankfully, Men Kui Tei is more accessible for the next time the temperature drops and hot bowls of ramen call.