On a cold and dreary Saturday, I went to the Walter Reade theater to get tickets for Edge of Heaven, the new Fatih Akin film. It was sold out by 2pm. Who knew that the Turkish-German director was that popular? So then I had to decide what to eat for my entertainment. Should I go to the old staple, Burger Joint at the Parker Meridian Hotel or Japanese noodle soup? I called Carol and she said ramen because the last time she ate at Burger Joint, her fingers smelled like meat all day. Because I was going to see Crispin Glover at the 7 o'clock screening of Rubin and Ed, it would be wrong to smell like meat. He's vegan.
So I walked over to 55th Street to get my ramen on at Men Kui Tei. I'd eaten there in midtown once a long time ago, and used to eat at the one in the East Village quite a bit. But, I soon discovered it's not on 55th St. The new branch of Five Guys is, but at that point, I didn't want burgers. Then I saw the sign for Menchanko-Tei. Bingo!
The place was packed with mostly Asian people, always a good sign. Is that racist? I don't care. Is that racist to say that I don't care if I made a racist comment?
Ordering was hard because I wanted to be wacky and order the oden. I've never had it before. It's described in the menu as a traditional Japanese dish that dates back more than 300 years ago. "It is a very simple and healthy stew made by simmering a bountiful harvest of ingredients from the sea and the countryside in a kelp-based stock for several hours." It was simmering away in front of me at the counter. It just looked like boiled Japanese stuff like fried tofu, potatoes, eggs. I didn't get any even though they only cost a buck or so because I knew the noodle soup would more than fill me up. I finally chose the Hakata Ramen($7.75). It came with thin ramen noodles topped with 3 pork slices, black mushrooms, red ginger and scallions. I really enjoyed the pork broth. It didn't have the salty intensity (saltensity?) of the Momofuko ramen, rather it was gentle but it still had richness. Not in a creamy way, though it's cloudy as if it had miso in it, but I don't think it did. It is the perfect example of that foodie term, umami.
The noodles were fresh, they had that nice give to tooth when you bit in. I like the thinner variety which is why I got the ramen, but next time, I'm going to try the menchanko. It's the specialty noodle, thicker like udon and they are cooked in a cast iron bowl. The lady next to me got one and it looked really good. If you've seen Tampopo, you'll know that you have to finish every drop of your soup or else you're insulting the chef. At Menchanko-Tei, if you finish your bowl, you'll see this guy.
Menchanko-Tei 43-45 W.55th St.(5/6th Ave) 212-247-1585.
