At the pace I’m writing these days, I’ll be posting my 2015 “Year in Delicious” retrospective sometime in early spring. So it goes… Onward!

Following Chop Stick Nation, The Astronomer, June, and I drove to New York City for our first official family vacation. Traveling with June, 10 months old at the time, was pretty great because she was starting to take in her surroundings and appreciate little adventures, especially culinary ones.

For our first meal in the city, we headed to Ivan Ramen for a late lunch. Ivan Orkin, a self-described “Jewish kid from Long Island,” made a name for himself in Japan prior to opening two outlets in New York. We had the restaurant all to ourselves at this hour.

Before noodle slurping commenced, The Astronomer and I shared two starters. The L.E.S. Bun ($11) paid homage to the restaurant’s neighborhood (the Lower East Side), stuffing pastrami in between steamed buns with karashi mayo and a daikon slaw.

While the bun was plush and the pastrami well-seasoned, the mustard-infused mayo was sinus-clearingly potent and unfortunately dominated every bite.

The one-bite Roast Pork Musubi ($7) with salted plum wasabi, roast tomato, and toasted nori proved to be an interesting combination of flavors and textures, and much better balanced than the buns.

Moving on to the noodle portion of our meal, we shared the Tokyo Shoyu Ramen ($15). The broth, a combination of soy, dashi, and chicken broth, was light yet robust. Rounding out the bowl were rye noodles, pork chashu, and a soft-boiled egg. This was a simple and very good bowl of ramen.

Even better was the Cold Lemon Shio Ramen ($14), one of the restaurant’s seasonal offerings. I loved how the chilled sea salt and dashi broth kept the rye noodles’ texture al dente from start to finish. We added fresh crab for an additional $5, which made the bowl even more delicious.

The Astronomer and I enjoyed Ivan’s ramen very much, especially the awesomely refreshing seasonal bowl. June was happy that we added on the crab because it was her favorite bite of the afternoon. That baby has excellent taste.

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Ivan Ramen
25 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
Phone: 646-678-3859

Who doesn’t love New York?

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• Corton – New York City
• Deep Fried Love
• Del Posto – New York City
• Discarded Dog
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• Dough – Brooklyn
• Doughnut Plant – New York City
• Doughnuttery – New York City
• Dumpling House – New York City
• Eataly – New York City
• Eleven Madison Park – New York City
• Ippudo – New York City
• Journey to Blue Hill at Stone Barns
• Kanoyama – New York City
• Katz’s Delicatessen – New York City
• LongHouse Food Revival 2015: Chop Stick Nation
• Má Pêche – New York City
• McGavage
• Mile End Sandwich – New York City
• Minca Ramen Factory – New York City
• Mission Chinese Food – New York City
• Momofuku Milk Bar – New York City
• Momofuku Noodle Bar – New York City
• Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria – New York City
• Parm – New York City
• Peter Luger – Brooklyn
• Roberta’s – Brooklyn
• Russ and Daughters – New York City
• Shake Shack – New York City
• Sugar Sweet Sunshine – New York City
• Super Wings NY – Brooklyn
• The Magnolia Bakery – New York City
• The NoMad Restaurant – New York City
• Xie Xie – New York City