A celebrity chef backed noodle bar opened up with such fanfare, expectation and hype could not have been more of a letdown of mediocrity than this. Let me preface this in that I was at Sansotei and Kinton in the same week before trying this and have been to various Ipoudo locations and Totto Ramen in NYC.
If you are going to call yourself a noodle bar and the first noodle item on your menu appears to be the signature dish it should be no less than spectacular. Especially for a place with a significant line-up and the $15 price tag. I am not sure if others are giving this place 4+ stars because they are comparing with instant ramen they make at home but my rating is based on my expectation and comparison with what I have had elsewhere.
Soup: The soup is the most important part of good ramen. It is the soup that holds everything together. Momofuku's soup was a bland and clear broth of nothingness. Tastes like dashi with soy and lacked what one expects from a $15 bowl. With such a weak foundation, everything else about the ramen lacked any depth of flavor.
Noodles: The noodles had decent el dente texture but lacked flavor. Not only because of the weak stock, the noodles themselves reminded me of simply any Asian thick egg noodle you could get off the shelf.
Toppings: I enjoyed the pork belly. It was flavorful with a good amount of fat on it. The pulled pork style pork shoulder was ok. The best part of the bowl was the egg done in onsen tamago style. Onsen tamago is labor intensive to make on your own, but the custard-like egg is a treat for egg lovers. The pickled cabbage was a big "what the heck" for me. I love good kimchi and sauerkraut so I have no aversion to pickled cabbage on it's own. The problem with this was that it did nothing for the bowl. It was an overpowering distraction especially because of the weak soup.
The pork bun was good. The bun moist and present, with flavourful pork belly.