Ippudo - The Best Soup in Town?

You'd think so from the lines.

I saw this walking to yoga the other day around 5:30 I'd guess?

When Ippudo opened several years go I stopped in on several occasions and really enjoyed what I had there.  Mostly soup, once I had some pickles that were very traditional and if memory serves reminded me of the kind you find in Vietnamese restaurants more then the typical Japanese ones.

Ippudo is located in the East Village which is now often referred to as little Tokyo, for it's large Japanese ex pat population and the vast amount of Japanese restaurants and home to the best Japanese grocery stores in the city (Sunrise Mart). One of the many things that makes Ippudo special is that is part of a huge Japanese Ramen chain that started in Fukuoka and grew to become a large chain in Japan, this is there first oversees location.  The design of the room is great a whimsical take on traditional Japanese aesthetic.  The Ramen soup is usually in a pork broth (they have one veggie option soup on the menu) and is reasonably price at $15 with extra toppings for more money if you want.  The give you something to compare this to David Chang's Momofuku charges $18 for a bowl of there Ramen (which I love and is one of my favorites).

It would be great to visit Ippudo again, I'm jut not sure I'm up for waiting in line for a bowl of soup. It could be fun with a group of friends if you went on an off night early in the week. Part of me wants to do it to see what all the fuss is about.  Because as much as I remember liking the soup,  I don't remember it being this good: