how to eat like a bird: a bowl of ramen at Setagaya

Is this worth eating? What with the pools of grease obvious to the naked eye? The stark strip of fat running through the pork? Yes(!), the answer is yes. They're pretty small pools of grease, relatively speaking, and look, the broth is clear. Most likely the egg is organic and comes from a chicken that chose to stay in.

As soon as this was set before me, I forgot it was 92 degrees outside and not so air conditioned inside the Setagaya on 1st Ave., a new outpost of a Tokyo chain known for their shio ramen. I was too concentrated on composing perfect bites of noodles against broth, ribbons of spring onion, the delectably soft egg, all the while parsing out rations of pork to last me through the bowl. (Not that they're stingy--you get two pieces with different textures, both quite good.)

I was most impressed by the not too salty, seafood-based broth. You can find the same style of toothsome noodles and better roast pork in the Hakata ramen at Menchanko-Tei, and I will probably always crave the pork in Momofuku's ramen more than any other, just for the way that fatty slice of pork belly dissolves in your mouth (it's primordial). But Setagaya's broth was more complex than any hearty pork-based broth. It was fragrant and smelled lightly of kelp. It had the potential to emboss itself onto your memory if you had good recall. Me, I'd have to go more than once.

I had about 3/4 of the deceptively deep bowl, losing interest after I'd had enough of the broth and gone through my favorite accoutrements (the pork). So I felt more than satiated but still quite virtuous. When I deigned to look up, I realized it was still hot, and that going there to meet my friend in the blinding white heat of the midday sun was an accomplishment in itself, and even maybe, could be chocked up as exercise. I was rather dewy after all that, plus I'd had a lot of water. It was kind of like Bikram.

Ramen Setagaya is at 141 1st Avenue, between St. Mark's and 9th Street. The shio ramen is $9.50. You can get extra sides of pork ($5) and egg ($1) if you're feeling festive (gluttonous), but I thought the portions of both were just right to leave you wanting more for next time.

Here is the menu: