Once the mercury dips below fifty, there's nothing better than huddling over a steaming, porky bowl of ramen. Friday night was just one of those nights, so my friend Julie and I decided to hit the East Village's Setagaya.
I think ramen fans fall into the noodle camp or the broth camp. Relative newcomer Setagaya is definitely a joint for noodle lovers -- firm and not too long, this ramen lacks the curls we're used to, making for good chew, fewer tangles and easier slurping. The marathoner's breakfast-sized dish of tsukemen noodles were like extra chewy linguine, served with a tepid dipping broth of extra salty shio broth full of fat-striped pork hunks. The noodles are ice-cold -- appealing in the summer months, I'm sure, but not when you're trying to warm up from inclement weather.
I happen to be on team broth, and Setagaya's broth just didn't sing for me. The shio (salt-based) broth is mostly clear, with a few oil vacuoles hovering by the curve of the bowl. For a broth made from pork bones, dried scallops, seaweed, dried anchovies and such, it lacked the funky complexity I'd hoped for. The salt was there -- what it lacked for me was a sweetness to round it out. The cha shu pork slices were a little dry for my taste, though I did love the addition of the medium-cooked egg half, its yolk golden and liquid.
Appetizers also lacked oomph. Deluxe menma salad was composed of limp strips of bamboo shoots, half a soft-boiled egg, and grill pan-marked squares of toughish pork with an odd orange juice sweetness that didn't really appeal to me. The vegetable gyoza were cabbagey and pale, with a dipping sauce that could have used more hot sesame oil kick.
But beyond the food, there's something oddly cold about the place. Fishbowl glass walls wrap around the 1st Ave. storefront and a dead foyer where listless patrons line up to get seated. Tall tables and stools provide plenty of space overhead and underfoot, with lighting so bright and cold, you feel like you're about to be interrogated. I just don't think the room's design really works for ramen soup. Cold weather should be about the cozy huddle, getting low to the ground. I found myself missing the atmosphere of Rai Rai Ken as much as the food -- ducking down under the noren curtain, hanging my coat on the wall hook, setting down to a low stool and tucking my feet under the long wooden bar to hunch over a steamy meal. I guess I know whose side I'm taking in the ramen wars.
Setagaya
141 First Ave. at 9th St.
212-529-2740
6 to Astor Pl.
Name: Lucas Benjaminh Krech
My large stove top espresso maker. 
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