Pan Asian Restaurant

08/05/08

Quailty dropped big-time. no longer amazing ramen.

by foodID27

Setagaya WAS the best ramen I ever had in NY when they FIRST OPENED.

That was when they had an Expert team of Japanese Ramen Chefs making everything.

But the experts left, and now the ramen is made by a bunch of local kids who don't care and the quality is mediocre.

The broth is still pretty good by new york standards, but not as good as it was the first month or two, and the pork is always too tough now. (it's not roasted long enough)

the noodles are the same though, but they come from a pre-made source, so it's almost impossible to mess that up.

all in all, my biggest ramen dissapointment in ny. I wish you all could have had their ramen in that first month!!!!

• Pros: great dinning area, cool japanese ramen programs on tv, broth and noodles preety good.
• Cons: pork is tough and bland, quality of broth and pork dropped after first couple of monthes.

12/30/07

Excellent ramen for your money

by cleois300

Came here with three other friends on a Wednesday night, just after Christmas. It was not busy at all but then it was raining that night and it was just after Christmas. We ordered some oshinko, seaweed salad, gyozas, two shio ramens (noodles and broth served together), and two deluxe ramens with pork (not sure which ones; the noodles are served cold and the hot broth is on the side). Everything was good. I wish the noodles were hot. I'll ask for that next time. I believe it was about $66 after tax and before tip. We left $80. BTW: not all of the employees speak Japanese. Some spoke Korean. Not that it matters but don't expect every employee to be fluent in Japanese. (Just because you dine at a Italian restaurant, do you expect everyone to speak Italian? C'mon...)

• Pros: Price, food, service
• Cons: Small place

09/27/07

beware of long line

by TardyKat

We arrived at 2.30pm and waited on the line, we were the last customers before they close for lunch at 3pm. The waitress asked us to pass along the message if someone else were to wait behind us. We sat the counter so it was interesting to see the chef cooking the noodles. I ordered the shio ramen, the soup stock was really tasty. My mom ordered the tsukemen, which is the same thing except the soup is served on the side. Her soup, however, was extra salty with juicy bits of meat floating inside. She also ordered a salt egg, shio tama. It wasn't very salty at all. For $2 more, my sister ordered the shio ramen BBQ pork, we don't know what the difference was fromt he shio ramen, except that it had additional slices of meat. Service was quick and no frills, just like the menu. No flourishes, you come for ramen, and ramen you get.

• Pros: quick service, simple menu
• Cons: long waits on the line

08/15/07

amazing

by tinyarchabald

This place is absolutely delicious. It is probably one of the only noodle bars i will ever go to in the city.

07/31/07

The best noodle

by noodlelover

If you are a noodle lover, this is one of the better places in town for Japanese style noodles. The place is usually busy with lines of people waiting outside for the next available table. Probably due to the lack of dining space inside. The portions are just right and the price is reasonable especially if you are on a budget. The noodle soup dishes are pretty good, but the noodles are a bit salty.(am not sure if its the sea salt or the vietnamese salt they are using) All in all, the food is great for the value.

• Pros: best ramen
• Cons: no liquor license as yet & they don't allow byob

07/25/07

Bare-bones noodle shop from Toyko capitalizes on slurp-happy East Villagers.

by Justin Hartung

The Scene
In a design touch that borders on cruelty, hungry ramen fans are forced to line up in the hallway outside the glass-enclosed noodle house, with nothing to do but peer in at diners slurping broth at communal tables. Cozy dates and neighborhood singles squeeze into the bar seats, which offer a view of the noodle wizards at work.

The Food
Time waiting in line won't be spent looking at a menu, as there is really only one choice to be made: shio ramen, thin noodles submerged in broth, or tsukemen, thicker noodles with a sauce for dipping. Shio means "salt," and the broth has too much of it, but the tsukemen's dipping sauce is a wonder of complexity, potent with hearty blasts of scallop, garlic and ginger. And though the barbecued pork topping of both ramens is dry, a bowl of the addictive oyakodon--ground chicken with raw egg over rice--is anything but.

Hits: The myriad of flavors in the tsukumen dipping sauce will be a sublime shock to anyone whose noodle experience has been limited to Top Ramen.

Misses: Oversalted broth and dry pork will keep this from causing too much busines loss to nearby Momofuku Noodle Shop.