Japanese Noms Around the Station of Penn

Welcome back to this week’s Shop Local Saturday; where I highlight local eats and shops that I have visited. This week is featuring Azuki Japanese Restaurant in Midtown West!

Going back to November 2019; at Anime NYC on Saturday, spending two days at the event. Anime NYC was a lot of fun for me, highly recommend for those who are anime fans.

Anyway, after Saturday; it was time to grab some dinner before heading back home. I stopped by 8th Avenue with two options; Chinese or Japanese food. Looking inside the Chinese restaurant; it seemed to be very packed inside, and wasn’t sure too I wanted to wait for a spot to open up. The Japanese restaurant; which was Azuki, seemed to be mostly packed. Since it was November, and slightly chilly; my instinct for some nice hot ramen took over.

Them warm noods!

I sat down and my eyes immediately darted over to the ramen section. Eventually, I went with the tonkotsu ramen.

Most people would probably say that this ramen has  ‘too much broth, seems like it’s drowning the pork and noodles’. I would agree if the weather was slightly warmer. But since this was November; this amount of broth is most welcome, as I tend to taste the broth first for ramen.

What I enjoyed the most; was that the yolk in the egg was runny. That allowed me to run the yolk around the broth with a taste of egg yolk in it. The amount of tonkotsu; I feel, was generous than most other places that I’ve been to. This allowed for me to ‘drown’ it; to get more of the broth on the pork, for me to enjoy.

For my dessert; as a fan of matcha-infused type of foods, I got a a slice of matcha cake.

This slice of cake was very soft when I ran the spoon down for a piece, and dragged it around the chocolate sauce before eating it. There was so much matcha in that first bite (For those who are unfamiliar with matcha; it is VERY bitter). If you can’t handle the matcha taste; the chocolate sauce does help out, to balance it out.

I especially enjoyed this slice of matcha cake; highly recommend.

To end, I would recommend Azuki Japanese restaurant. I enjoyed my tonkotsu ramen and matcha cake during the November weather. The one thing I would like changed, is to go easy on the broth during the warmer weather months. The amount of broth can fill a person up if they have ordered additional items. I would like to come back to Azuki to try some nigiri sushi. The environment is ideal for a dinner date, or a casual dinner with a group of friends.

As a bonus; if you do wanna get the most bang for your buck; I’ll leave you with the following options below with my links, so that you can earn cash back on what you order the next time you’re visiting Azuki.

Know of any other local shops that you enjoy going to that should be highlighted? Leave a comment and let me know!

*As we navigate through our current situation and that most local shops are either shuttered or offering take out service only; I highly recommend supporting the local stores around your area the best you can, while staying safe. Let’s hope that we all get through this, and become stronger.*

And as always,

Remember to always support your local establishments! They are a part of your community!

-The Eric Fong