after dinner sneeze

t says:  bw and I were trying to brainstorm Asian eateries in Philly.  You see, sometimes you want Asian that will be so spicy it’ll rip a hole in your stomach, and so salty that you’ll have pitting edema in 12 hours flat … and in those instances, you want Han Dynasty.  But other times, you’re in the mood for noodles … and not some Lo Mein takeout noodles, but something … ramen-y.  And not overhyped, overrated ramen (like Cheu, or nom nom), but real ramen.  Unfortunately, bw and I just had no idea where to go.  So we consulted the recent article and eventually settled on Terakawa – it’s in Chinatown!

May 2014, Friday Dinner, Party of 3.  bw, g, and I rolled up into Terakawa after having called and telling them we were “15 minutes away”.  Alas, it ended up being 20 due to taxi nonsense, so they gave away the free table.  BUT … then they asked, “do you mind splitting a two-person table?”.  The three of us looked at eachother for 30 msec before saying, “no!  Let’s do it!”.  And that’s how we got in Terakawa on a Friday night with no wait – booyah!

steamed pork bun: great pork, great bun, but not sure where the tomato comes in – next time, no tomato, more pickled veggies.   we also trialed some gyoza that were very nicely done with a good crisp outside and a refreshingly vegetably interior.

the mayu ramen was savory upon savory upon savory, with roasted leaks, mushrooms, pork, etc.  it wasn’t so much a complex dish, rather, a hit-you-in-the-face with homey goodness, making you wish you were eating a bowl by a fire in the middle of snowy winter night.  it won’t win any awards for fancy-shmancy … but who needs those when you have perfectly al dente noodles?

I’d go back to Terakawa without reservation.  But next time … I’d bring wine!  Did you know it’s BYO?  No one told me!  I can’t imagine what would have happened hitting up this place with a bottle of Riesling in hand … (whatever would happen, it wouldn’t have a steamed pork bun involved.)