Blame it on the Bassanova

I met up with Ian and Jasmine to try something novel- Japanese noodles in the heart of Chinatown at Bassanova Ramen. Bossanova recently squeaked into the NY Times top 10 Ramen list on the strength of their Green Curry Ramen. They also serve two other fascinating Ramen variations that I have never seen anywhere else, Tom Yum and Lemon Pepper Ramen. Since curry noodles are my favorite, the Green Curry Ramen was an automatic choice for me, but I would especially love to try the Tom Yum Ramen on another visit.

No you can't have any

We kicked things off with an order of pork buns. For some reason, they had run out of a few items from the menu when we went, including the Gyoza which I would have liked to try. Curiously, they were also out of eggs, so no hard-boiled egg for my lonely Ramen. The pork buns were nice but nothing to flip out over- I have a strong preference for the ones they serve at Ippudo, which are softer and more savory.

Pork buns

They have a heavy hand at Bassanova, my green curry broth was delicious but just a little too intense. I loved the perfect, toothsome noodles and the unexpected addition of a spring mix, okra, and red pepper. The soup was loaded with garlic, which was delicious, but could prove burdensome to some friendships. I liked the pork here too, it benefited from it's time in the broth.Still, I think the soup would have been better if the broth had just a little bit less of an edge.

Green Curry Ramen

Pretty pork

Jasmine ordered a cold noodle bowl with fresh bamboo shoots, shrimp, spring mix and mushrooms. When mixed together it reminded me of cold sesame noodles, but with a briny, shrimpy flavor. To be honest though I prefer sesame noodles over these. Ian ordered the Truffle Oil Ramen. It had thinner noodles which I didn't like as much as mine, and Ian said he couldn't taste any truffles at all. He also said he had a tougher piece of pork from the end of the rump in his soup. Those should probably only be served when requested.

Mix n' serve Ramen - served in a artisinal bowl

The Professionals

I enjoyed our meal at Bassanova but I really can't say it's in my top ten. It was a pretty good $15 bowl of noodles, but I'm not sure what they have done to preserve the premium, although we did hear the soup bowls were made by an artist in Japan and cost $50 each. I don't think anything was organic, and I didn't read anything about the provenance of the pork we were eating. The restaurant is surrounded by many Cantonese places serving great Hong Kong style bowls of noodles for 5 or 6 dollars. Big Wong, a half block away, is a classic, and they BBQ their own ducks. I think next time I may venture over there instead. It's nothing personal, the Ramen is still pretty good, but the competition is stiff, and sometimes you've just got to blame it on the Bassanova.