Monday, April 27, 2015

Ivan Ramen at Bar Tartine, San Francisco USA

Ivan's Classic Shio Ramen: whole chicken dashi broth, rye noodle, kuro buta belly, 6 minute egg

Sofrito Mazemen: rye noodle, kuro buta belly, iriko katsuo dashi, 6 minute egg

Tonight, Bar Tartine had a collaboration with the famous NewYork's Ivan Ramen. This is only a one-night event, and I am very exciting to share my dining experience! Although the exterior of Bar Tartine appears very plain, once you step inside, the restaurant is actually very nice with beautiful interior design and decorations. Since it was a prepaid reservation ($54), I get to try many of their small dishes.



Interior of Bar Tartine

The Menu
Double Chilled Katsuo Dashi, toasted rye noodle

Koji shrimp toast

Seaweed salad with morel mushrooms and celtuce

Rainbow trout "nare zushi" with yoghurt and parsley

Daikon radish and preserved wasabi pickle

Tuna with tonnato sauce and laver

Greens with sunflower tahini

Smoked potatoes with ramp mayonnaise

Crispy laver and chicken skins with 7 spice
The small dishes are all excellent, especially the chilled noodle and rainbow trout! The chilled noodle is perfect for its mini size. The dashi broth remains very tasty even though it is chilled. The rye noodle is still al dente and absorb all the broth during the chilling process. The rainbow trout feels very fresh but no fishy flavor at all. The texture is soft and it has a nice subtle flavor with the yoghurt.

Ivan's Classic Shio Ramen: whole chicken dashi broth, rye noodle, kuro buta belly, 6 minute egg

When the ramen finally comes to my table, I almost can't stop myself from digging in before taking any photos. I can smell the nice aroma of dashi coming from the ramen bowl. When I began with the broth, I almost forgot it is chicken instead of Tonkotsu. The balance of chicken and dashi stock is perfect. It is nor too light or too heavy. It is nor too salty of tasteless. It is just great! The cooked onions goes very well with the rye noodle too. The crispy onions mixing with the soft noodle make it more interesting. I realized the egg looks very cooked; however there's surprise! When you bite on it, the yolk is actually still half-cooked inside. Now, the kuro buta belly has to be somewhere underneath the onions. There is only one piece of kuro buta belly, and it is the softest meat I have ever had. It tastes just perfect with the right amount of fat! The juice from the fat is so delicious while it is melting in your mouth.

Me Eating Ivan's Classic Shio Ramen


Ivan's desserts are also quite interesting too. They look very delicate and presented as a small treat. The steam cake tastes not too sweet and the topped lemon curd and sweet strawberry makes this a well-balanced non-fat dessert. The other dessert is a pressed sushi topped with a strawberry and beautifully decorated elderflower. The strawberry-jello-looking dessert is to mimic a tuna fish. While you are expecting a salt-flavored treat, you get a sweet one.

Poppy seed steam cake with rhubarb

Strawberry and elderflower pressed sushi
I had a very satisfying adventure tonight from Ivan's ramen as well as his other very tasty dishes. I also bought his book, Ivan Ramen, and I was very lucky that he can sign it at the spot too! He is very friendly and willing to take his precious time from the kitchen to thank his customers. This is the best ramen experience so far in my life.
 
Me and Ivan Orkin

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