Reviews

Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint by Ivan Orkin, Chris Ying

iwantamonkey's review against another edition

3.0

Cookbook memoir about a highly motivated (obsessive) ramen lover. First 1/3 is memoir. The rest is recipes/how to.

I liked the memoir part -- but it felt rushed once he started discussing the second restaurant. I wanted to know more about opening the second restaurant and their decisions to move (back) to the US post-earthquake.

I am not hunkering down at home for a week to make ramen, so I skipped the recipes.

casecous's review against another edition

5.0

I loved reading this! I feel like I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of ramen and its craft, and it was so enjoyable to "hear" Ivan Orkin talk about his passion in such a personable way. He has confidence without arrogance at being considered one the best, and the book just feels like he wants to share his love of ramen with /you/, the reader, in the hopes that you will understand and come to love too, or at least appreciate. It's definitely not a "look at all my accomplishments" memoir with complicated, mostly inaccessible recipes. Nice.

alexanderp's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

This was a run if not short run-through of Ivan Orkin's journey to becoming "Ivan Ramen." I really love reading about chefs and how they walk with food and where it takes them, this is no exception. 

The only real drawback is that I wanted more "ramen" recipes in the back of the book, but I do appreciate Ivan sharing with us the tentpole ramen that he serves in Japan and in NYC. 

megfang315's review

3.0

Orkin's story is fascinating, and his love for ramen shines so vibrantly it's crazy. There's so much that goes into making a bowl of ramen, so I doubt I will be making a complete bowl of that anytime soon. But he also has easy recipes- for chicken katsu, or chashu or omu-rice- that sound so comforting and delicious that they made my bookmarked list.

francomega's review

3.0

First half of the book tells the interesting story of Orkin, a kid from Long Island who took his degree in Japanese Lit and moved to Japan with no real plans. He eventually got married, moved back to the States, went to cooking school (the CIA), lost his wife, moved back to Japan, got remarried, and eventually decided to open a Ramen shop despite not really knowing what he was doing. Needless to say it worked out well. Too well as now I really want some good, real ramen and I don't live anywhere near any. Stupid book.

The second half is, of course, a cookbook. While I'm sure the recipes are brilliant, they're not that practical (time and ingredients-wise) which is usually the big drawback with these things.

danperlman's review

4.0

Most people will probably head to this book for the recipes. After all, why not learn how to make ramen from a westerner who took the time and effort to learn everything he could about the subject and then interpret it and reinterpret it for western palates? And, the recipes sound great, are well written, albeit at times a bit complicated or at least time consuming. But, for me, it was the story of how Ivan Orkin dove into his life and developed his passion for ramen that made the book. Completely captivating.

robertalucy's review

4.0

I don't think I will ever make Ivan Orkin's recipes for ramen, but oh what great fun to read about his life story and how he came to be a ramen superstar!

jameseckman's review

3.0

About half of this is autobiography while the rest is how to make one kind of ramen. If your overly obsessed with ramen (my younger brother is), it's a fun read once sort of thing. Also required if you want to open a ramen shop, it's one of the few books with this much detail.