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I am going to ask you a series of questions. This is important, so take your time and think hard before you answer.
Do you love ramen?
Is Ippudo your favorite place to eat ramen?
Do you sometimes wonder what the effects of eating ramen several times a week would have on your well being?
If you found yourself responding in the affirmative to any of those three queries, you should plan to pick up the phone at 3pm today and make a reservation for dinner tonight at Mu Ramen. Which probably leads you to some questions for me, like:
Really? Another ramen joint?
And I have to call at 3pm to get a same-day reservation?
Why not just hit up any one of the 30 other ramen restaurants currently in my rotation?
Will there be a test?
These are all valid concerns, and I can address them all with one simple statement. Mu Ramen is one of the best ramen spots in New York City. We’d actually go as far as to say we like it almost as much as we like Ippudo, and we f*cking love Ippudo. In fact, the Tonkotsu Ramen on Mu’s menu was modeled after Ippudo’s famous Akamaru Modern, and it does a pretty damn good job of emulating that bowl of all bowls. But you shouldn’t come here just for that. If you want a bowl of Akamaru Modern, you know where to get one. You should come to Mu Ramen for everything else, from the excellent vibe in the 22 seat room, to friendly staff, to the incredibly creative and delicious dishes they call “Treats.”
The soup is also excellent, and it is actually different than the other stuff out there right now. Mu Ramen takes the fat out of their broth after it cools down and rises to the top. The ramen here is also lighter on the salt, leaving the high-quality ingredients to stand up on their own.
We appreciate that concern for our health, but what we appreciate most about Mu Ramen is just that it’s fun and different. The hype surrounding the place might have you believe otherwise, but this is really just a neighborhood restaurant that happens to be so good it’s worth traveling for. The question then becomes, when is the best time to go in hopes of landing a seat?
Good question.