Ramen War Intensifies With Hakata IppudoWhy Japanese restaurateurs decided to make the East Village the ramen war’s western front may never be clear, but there was another skirmish at the Tuesday press preview of Hakata Ippudo.
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Huzzah! More Ramen for the East Village!On the theory that you can never have enough ramen bars in the East Village, Ippudo, yet another Japanese import, will open on March 31. According to Andrea Strong, Ippudo will be in “an urban-styled log cabin hut” (um, okay…) and will serve five kinds of ramen, “including their signature Shiromaru Moto-Aji (white-pork-based broth ramen) and Akamaru Shin-Aji (a bolder-flavored red broth seasoned with garlic olive oil and their secret sauce).” Will Ippudo succeed where Momofuku, Setagaya, Minca, and others have also succeeded? Why not? The liquor license and specialty sake cocktails certainly won’t hurt.
This Just In: Ippudo to Open March 31st! [Strong Buzz]
Related: Best of New York: Best Ramen [NYM]