Between Slurps of Ramen and Crunch of Fried Chicken…

Oops… somehow I found myself so behind on the blog!  And because of an incredible and growing backlog of entries, I am forced to condense a few delicious bites from the end of 2015.

Starting with ramen slurped at a Japanese import, Mr. Taka in the LES.

Even though noodles were priority, I can never pass up wings especially soy glazed ones.

And for the main event, delicious bowls of ramen, from hearty classics like spicy tonkatsu and spicy miso to a suprisingly light and refreshing yuzu shoyu ramen.  Delicious and satisfied slurps heard all around the table.

Almost clear across town from Mr. Taka on the outskirts of Chelsea is Jun-men Ramen, a welcomed addition to a ramen desert.

Not surprising, more wings and some buns this time before we dove into the noodles.

A bowl of classic tonkatsu is kind of like a magharita pie that you must judge a pizza place by.  This bowl could make or break the whole impression.  Luckily, the bowl here didn’t disappoint.

And for something a little more unexpected, a bowl of ramen topped with uni, porcini butter and truffle oil.  This is definitely not for the faint of heart.

And finally we threw in a plate of Jum-men fried rice for good measure.  Laced with Chinese sausage and kimchi, this was a pretty strong contender for kind of an after thought.

And when I wasn’t too busy slurping down bowls of ramen all across town, I took my eating adventures into the fried chicken realm.

The first stop was at Streetbird, all the way up in Harlem.  A casual rotisserie serving some pretty finger licking delicious fried bird.  Not a bad spot to meet up for dinner on a weeknight with friends who live in the UWS.

The sides available were a little all over the place, ranged from Asian stirfry..

to classics like a skillet full of blistered mac and cheese to cornbread and crunchy fries.

For somewhere a little more centrally located there is of course David Chang’s Fuku Plus.  What launched as a restaurant serving only fried chicken sandwich in East Village quickly expanded to a second location in the Chamber Hotel in midtown with a much more robust menu.

In addition to the classic fried chicken sandwich with its comically outsized fried chicken to bun ratio, they also created chicken bites with a mild jalapeno sauce and a mouth numbingly spicy chicken fingers.

Of course there is the obligatory salad, this one actually quite beautiful and photogenic with its bold colors and groupings of like colors.

A sleeper here is the juicy Lucy, an appropriately named burger that was oozing with fatty deliciousness and melted cheese.  Served on a soft potato bun, this went down a little too easily.

And a final look at the full spread…

Mr. Taka Ramen | 170 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002 | http://www.mrtakaramen.com/

Jun-Men Ramen | 249 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001 | http://www.junmenramen.com/#home

Streetbird | 2149 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10027 | http://streetbirdnyc.com/

Fuku Plus | 15 W 56th St, New York, NY 10022 | https://fukuplus.momofuku.com/