Ramen Setagaya

We had really weird weather yesterday. It was warm, then hot, then it rained and cooled down, and then became humid, and then really hot, then cold and windy, and then warm again before day turned to night. In any case, I needed to go back to Union Square farmers market because the number of people who wanted to taste the sweet sweet honey of new york rooftop bees has increased. After I purchased the goods, I headed over to the St. Marks area for some lunch. The area reminds me of a faux Berkeley area with a hint of Santa Cruz. I can't shake the feeling that this area is a yuppie version of all the 'liberal' neighborhoods of the Cal and SF area. I look at the coffee shops and such and it's full of 20 and 30 somethings desperate for the 'cool hippie' scene.

Anyway, I looked around and I couldn't find anything that really appealed to me but just before I decided to give up, I saw this restaurant called Ramen Setagaya. It's a ramen joint and it was packed. That seemed like a good sign so I grabbed a seat at the booth and took a menu.

The menu had all of the familiar dishes you would find in a typical Japanese ramen shop and since it was the first time I was there, I figured I should try with their main dish which was Syo-yu ramen. The ramen was good but nothing I haven't I had before in other ramen shops. I looked around the establishment and it was decorated like I expected it to be furnished with the usual Japanese 'flair'. There was a large lcd screen on the wall playing nhk variety shows which I found was a good distraction while I ate.

Overall I must say that it was a decent meal with no real complaints. I would definitely go back for a quick meal and I think I'll try something different. My conclusion about this place is that it is one of those cookie cutter fast food ramen joints that serves a decent meal for slightly expensive prices.



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