[NYC - Washington Heights] Tampopo Ramen NYC - Lunch Specials

Tampopo Ramen is one of the only (if not, THE ONLY) places to get ramen in Upper Manhattan/Washington Heights.

I visited at the end of the summer for lunch one day. This is a review of the lunch at Tampopo Ramen.

It's very close to Columbia University Medical Center and Yeshiva University, so it may be a good option for students, too. The prices aren't too bad and the service is personal and efficient.

My friend got the Karaage Fried Chicken Combo as her lunch entree. It was so much food for $10, even though the picture may make it seem like a small amount of chicken, there were about 8 pieces, I think, along with a side salad with tofu, seaweed salad, and a side of rice.

So, while living in Japan with my limited (aka non-existent) Japanese abilities, I learned a few food names and kara-age is one of those (car a a gay <-- pronounciation). It's not quite as flaky/crispy as Korean fried chicken, but I still prefer Japanese fried chicken to American fried chicken. The batter is usually quite flavorful and crispy, not overly greasy.

I didn't try her Karaage, but I got my own on my order.

I was tempted by the lunch menu items because I love a good value, but I decided to go for the seasonal Cold Sesame Ramen because I was more in the mood for noodles than rice (the age old question).

It was a very colorful bowl of noodles. The ingredients were all very fresh. The red cabbage was nice, crisp, and crunchy, as were the carrots and red peppers. I also appreciated the lemon, it added a nice acidity to the noodles. The fried chicken was flavorful, kind of like a lemon pepper. It was semi-crispy, but quite tender inside still. 

The sesame sauce was not what I expected exactly. It was not as creamy as the sesame noodles I had expected (like Chinese sesame noodles - should I write a comparison post of all of the sesame noodles I've had in NYC? Comment below.)

I would probably not get this again for lunch, but if I went for dinner and it was the right season, I'd definitely go for the Cold Sesame Noodles again. 

The restaurant is pretty small, but even though it was a weekday lunch, there were about 6 of us inside and the delivery guys were doing a lot of business, too.

There are seats for maybe 20 people in the restaurant. It's quite clean.

Sorry, I was a bit slow getting this post up. I believe the ALL DAY HAPPY HOUR has ended. However, there is always happy hour from 4-6PM no matter the season with the same specials.

If I wasn't going back to work, I would have seriously considered the Kyoto Matcha IPA. Has anyone tried it?

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