Ippudo is regarded by many as one of the best ramen noodle restaurants in New York City, with people regularly waiting over an hour for a table. If you’re a party smaller than four people, expect to be seated at one of their communal tables. My girl friend Parisa and I visited this restaurant while she was in town visiting from Atlanta.

As we waited an hour for our seats at the communal table, we order a few drinks at the ‘Ippudo beer bar’ at the front of the restaurant. I ordered one of the frozen Kiren Ichibans, a beer with a frozen foam top making it look like the beer had stepped out of a cartoon. I wouldn’t recommend anyone getting this beer in the future, as it seemed more of a novelty item. The only purpose I saw in the foam top (aside from making the beer harder to drink) was to keep the beer cool. My friend Parisa got a grapefruit shochu, a tasty (and deceptively strong) cocktail that you make to your own taste preferences by squeezing a half a grapefruit into the drink.

While Ippudo might be known for their ramen, they’re other non-ramen dishes are delicious as well. For instance as an appetizer we ordered the yamitsuki goma kyuri (seasoned japanese cucumber) and the vegetable hirata buns. Both of these appetizers were phenomenal and together would be sufficient as a nice light meal on their own.

The ramen at Ippudo definitely didn’t disappoint! I ordered the akamaru modern ramen with soft boiled seasoned eggs. So savory and tasty it really hit the spot! My one wish was that Ippudo allowed you to take the leftovers home (that’s right, no doggy bags allowed).