Ramen Kuidouraku 05-07-2010

Location: 141 1st Ave.
Time: 9pm
People: JLam from MeSoHungry, RB and myself

Feelings: After attending TrishP's birthday bash (happy birthday TrishP!), we had some ramen cravings. Ramen Kuidouraku in East Village is similar to Ramen Takumi in Union Square: both occupy a former Setagaya location without really changing the decor or menu. If I had known this before actually heading out there, I probably would have gone elsewhere. But as a blogger of Ramen and Friends, I have no choice but to try this place and hope it may be different.

RB and JLam started off with pork buns. The $3.50 buns had a nice texture but were a covered with too much hoisin sauce, which RB did not appreciate.

They had shoyu, miso, and tsukemen just like Setagaya, but they added a bit of twist. RB ordered Black Sesame Miso Ramen, and JLam and I had Plum Miso Ramen. I expected Plum Miso to have some interesting tangy miso broth, but it turned out it was just regular miso ramen with one sad umeboshi on top. Can you really call this Plum Miso Ramen? I felt quite cheated. I was also not too happy that it did not come with many standard ramen toppings such as boiled eggs or veggies. It had just a bit of corn, menma and moyashi.

RB's Black Sesame Miso Ramen had a nice flavor, but he was quite disappointed in the one little sad piece of pork swimming in his bowl.

With so many ramen shops around the area, I still prefer Rai Rai Ken, Minca and Matsukado. But if you are a fan of Setagaya, you would appreciate the side menu items and additions they made to the original Setagaya's menu.