Ramen, once associated with the easy-to-cook dorm room staple Cup Noodles is now synonymous with hip Japanese food culture and can be found in cities across the globe. The ramen-only restaurant is now a viable business, and ramen can even launch empires (Momofuku, anyone?). If you haven’t tried ramen in a restaurant yet, the variety, not to mention the size, will blow away that old styrofoam cup.
So where’s the ramen in Greenpoint? If you look far and wide, you’ll see ramen is on the menu and more ramen-focused shops are a-coming. Find out all the places you can sit or stand and slurp that soothing soup after the jump. Continue reading →
Daniel Birnbaum of Ramen Railroad, serving up ramen at Budin (114 Greenpoint Ave) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon till 10pm. Photo by Melissa Loseby.
The Greenpoint restaurant scene offers a wealth of wonderfully diverse and exciting dining options, but for some reason, finding a soul-warming bowl of ramen has remained elusive. While the American ramen obsession has often been credited to chef David Chang and the bowls he started serving at Momofuku Noodle Bar, Japan has been riding a rollercoaster of emotion over ramen since it was brought to them by Chinese tradesmen in the nineteenth century. Over the last few decades, Japan has created museums to ramen, ramen-themed video games and has even established ramen dating services to pair you with a partner who shares your passion for the dish.
Greenpoint is long overdue for its ramen moment.
While many would lament this culinary gap and continue to accept their fate of having to venture further afield for their broth, Greenpoint resident Daniel Birnbaum decided to take matters into his own hands. His passion for the hearty warming soup has lead him on a nourishing adventure which ultimately meant changing career paths in order to bring ramen to the neighborhood. Continue reading →
Before the advent of the Bacon Age, when it was decided that everything goes better with bacon, I always thought that most things can be improved with one simple fried egg added to almost any dish. So, yeah, the egg came first. You really can take a not totally interesting dish to the next level by adding a sunny-side up, over easy or poached egg.
Here’s ten dishes made better with a fried egg:
1. Cheeseburger with Fried Egg. The image above was taken by me at bar & restaurant, Greenpoint Heights, of their “Brunch Burger” made with: smoked gouda, bacon, grass fed beef, pickles, tomato, onion, lettuce with cherry mayo and of course a messy egg that brings all the flavors together.
Chili with Fried Egg, Cheese and Hot Sauce
2. Chili with Fried Egg, Cheese and Hot Sauce. Homemade chili or even chili in a can sometimes doesn’t feel like a full meal unless it has that extra kick, like a fried egg. Let some grated cheese melt on the chili and make it a little extra spicy with some Cholula or Tapatio.
3. Ramen with Fried Egg. This is the most common combination you’ll find online and it turns a one dollar snack into a two dollar meal. It would be crazy not to include it on this list, however, I hit my Ramen limit way back in my third year in undergraduate school.
