Tabata Noodle Ramen: First-Rate Asian Food in Midtown
There's never a bad time to eat a big bowl of first-rate ramen as far as we're considered. Heck, one of our favorite ramen bowls last summer was at Midtown Manhattan's Totto Ramen, on one of those miserable muggy evenings, when the last thing in the world you want to do is to pour hot broth into your belly… unless said the hot broth in Asian cuisine tastes really, really good. Anyway, that said, clearly the best time of year to sit down and slurp your way through a steaming bowl of thick noodle soup is right now, so it's good to know that Tabata Noodle Raman exists, and, more important, that it is excellent.
Midtown Manhattan Ramen Restaurant Near the Port Authority Brings Burmese Food to their Unique Asian Cuizine
Tabata Noodle is a cheery Midtown restaurant on a dreary block, sitting just south of the rear end of the Port Authority, a bright and friendly no-frills eatery that, as it so happens, serves up one of our new favorite ramen bowls in town. That'd be the Burmese-inflected (the owner and much of the staff are from that part of Asia) Tabata Ramen, a complex and oh-so-satisfying bowl of soup in which coconut milk has been added to the dense, creamy broth, the noodles are firm and chewy, the chicken spicy and tender, the eggs cooked in that wonderful hard-boiled-yet-runny way that the best noodle shops do. Delicious.
We also tried one of the posted-on-the-wall specials, a Deep Fried Squid Leg (don't worry… they give you a pile; not just one), which made for a fine companion to our ramen, the cephalopods reasonably tender with a tasty, crunchy coating. Given its somewhat out-of-the-way location (unless you work for R/GA, or the Times, or live in Glenwood's Emerald Green), Tabata Noodle's clientele seems to be made up mostly of regulars, who are often greeted by name, with "usual" dishes remembered. But it's not overly clubby at Tabata Noodle, and first-timers like us were also treated with warmth and attention. Put Tabata Noodle on your list of pop-in places that are a sure thing.
Have a Taste for Asian Food? Try Tabata Noodle's Ramen Bowls
Tabata Noodle is located on Ninth Avenue between 40th and 39th Streets, as is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The Tabata Noodle menu has more than a dozen different ramen dishes, most for under $10, as well as an appealing assortment of sides and starters. There's a noodle bar up front at which you can eat and watch noodle-masters at work, or sit at one of the ten or so tables in the back.
Posted in Midtown West, NYC Dining, Top Picks | Tagged Asian Cuisine • Asian Food • Burmese Food • Midtown Manhattan • Midtown NYC • Midtown Restaurants • Ramen • Ramen Bowl • Ramen Restaurant • restaurant • Restaurants Near Port Authority • Tabata Noodle Ramen
