On one of the first bone chillingly cold evenings of the year we ducked into Itadaki on Newbury Street, a Japanese Izakaya specializing in small plates, sushi and most notably, ramen noodles. The deeply flavorful Itadaki Ramen ($14) broth is simmered for 24 hours (chose from soy or miso base), loaded with fresh noodles, sweet corn kernels, and topped with the chef's signature chashu - a delicate pork belly, as well as a soft boiled egg, nori (dried seaweed), a dusting of negi (scallions) and moyashi (bean sprouts). This ramen was soul warming and pure comfort.
An order of Japanese Spring Rolls ($8) were a deep fried crispy bite where minced pork mingles with cabbage, bamboo shoots and carrots. The Itadaki Spicy Tuna Roll ($9) goes above and beyond as it is topped with the chefs special spicy mayo - choose if you want it suicidal, hot, medium or mild. We went with hot and WOW. Hot it was in a very good way. The Tempura Udon ($14) are a winter special in a rich Bonito broth served with naruto (fish cake), scallions, carrots, radish, tempura bits and two shrimp tempura on the side. Itadaki offers an extensive selection of sake, Japanese whiskey and unique Japanese beers. I drank a Shirayuki ($6) sake from Hyogo, hot. Finally, the Japanese Pudding ($6) proves to be a delightful ending to this comfy, cozy, well executed and reasonably priced meal.
269 Newbury St
Boston, MA 02116
*this meal was complimentary - all opinions are my own*
*this meal was complimentary - all opinions are my own*
My spouse and I just had dinner here the other night, and the ramen was quite good. But what delighted me most was the grown-up atmosphere of the place. Especially that cool bar downstairs.
ReplyDeleteI am obsessed with ramen lately and haven't even heard of this place! This is such a beautiful post, definitely bookmarking for an upcoming cold evening.
ReplyDeleteThat ramen looks amazing! I must eat here.
ReplyDeleteThis looks fantastic. Did you happen to notice if they have a vegetarian version of the ramen? Without pork?
ReplyDelete@Molly - their two broths are soy and miso based but all their ramens contain 'chashu' which is roasted pork. This is going to sound crazy but the very best all-vegetarian ramen I've ever tasted is at that little Japanese place in the Corner Mall called Sushi Time but its only served M-F.
ReplyDeleteItadaki...look at all that Saki!
ReplyDelete