Hide-Chan Ramen

A longtime midtown favorite, Hide-Chan Ramen wowed us with its spicy hakata ramen. Can you see the chili oil in the photo? Well, there was a lot more where that bubbled up from. And the pork chunks were some of the tenderest we've ever had in ramen.

What's unusual about this noodle shop is that it lets you specify the type of noodles: very firm, firm, medium, or soft. These aren't arbitrary or meaningless distinctions, either: the medium noodles resembled spaghetti just this side of doneness, while the firm ones were excellently al dente.

Lurking beneath all those vegetables is, indeed, a bowl of broth. Alas, this ramen lacked the piquant kick of the spicy hakata, but a polite request for some chili oil was granted --- and helped the dish immensely. Really, though, the top photo is where it's at. Feel free to scroll back up. 

We also got pork and shrimp dumplings, half-off during happy hour. Good, good, but have we mentioned that spicy ramen?