Add Ramen Wars

The Ramen Wars of 07 are the answer to NY-focused food media prayers looking for stories not involving DOH shutdowns. I am just catching up on the internets after a seemingly endless 4th  of July hang, and Grub Street is on the Ramen beat, but bananasly:

The joke, however, may be on Chang: Last Saturday at 9:45 p.m., we were told the wait at Setagaya was 30 minutes, with fifteen people (almost all of them of the Asian persuasion) lined up at the door. At Momofuku, the wait was only 20 to 25 minutes, and there were a measly eight gaijin milling about.

Um. This is hard to fathom on several levels. First of all, the whole concept of authenticity, as it applies to Japanese-based food served in the States, is  problematic. Second, as a factor in where to dine, playing count-the-Asians seems like the kind of thing Clark Griswold might do. Also, the syntax of the last sentence suggests that the writer is using "gaijin" to mean "Asians" or "Japanese" rather than in its actual usage as the Japanese word for "foreigner." In any event, I am not claiming that there is no difference between the latest Chowhound buzz spot in some obscure corner of Queens, and the Golden Panda Lunch Buffet in some flyover office park, but that making a value judgment about two places in the same neighborhood serving similar food by counting the number of patrons who appear to share a national origin with the cuisine being served is just silly. It seems to be a particular issue for Asian restaurants -- one rarely sees people scanning the reservation list at an Italian restaurant hoping to see a sufficient number of names ending in vowels. More generally, the idea that you only know the food of your own race, however you define it, seems to defy everything that makes New York a great place to live and eat.

Comments

[Dave]

You are totally misreading the Cutlets comment: he was using "gaijin" to refer to white people. So, in fact, what he was saying is that one place was full of Asians while the other was full of Caucasians...which is just as silly as comparing the number of Asians in each place (not to mention writing an entire blog post based on your poor interpretation of said article).

[Rose]

I think the rub is that Momofuku has tried to make itself THE Japanese restaurant in NYC, when its about as Japanese as Senor Swankys is Mexican. But those in the know, nihonjin or gaijin, aren't buying the hype.

[Fesser]

It's entirely possible I misread. But on rereading the Grub St. post, I'm at a loss how I'm supposed to read it. And you're right -- I should have learned from the plagiarism stuff that it's not worth arguing these kind of semantic questions.

[Frankie]

Rose - for someone in the 'know' you don't have a clue. Have you even read any of the 'hype' - Momofuku never claimed to be authentic or to be THE Japanese restaurant.

[Iain]

"I think the rub is that Momofuku has tried to make itself THE Japanese restaurant in NYC..."

I call bull shit. Momofuku has always said - from day one - that it is not an authentic Japanese ramen joint. Nor is it Korean.

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