Ramen Report

First days are always rough. I generally try to avoid them, but the hype was getting to me. Got there before 11:30am and still waited about 45 min. Felt lucky after getting our food as I weaved through the snaking line that soon rivaled that of RoliRoti. Small portions (maybe half the amount of a bowl at Santa Ramen for the same price), and no chopsticks (had to nab some from Slanted Door). The bowls were also styrofoam which makes practical sense, but isn't everything in the Ferry Building market supposed to be green?

Chicken was fried to order, but it tasted a bit under-seasoned and lacking in flavor. I saw linecook tasting some of the noodles for doneness which is always a good sign, so I was expecting good texture. They turned out to be gummy - probably rushed them out too soon because of the pressure.

Aside from these blips, I thought the pork was very nice and the broth rich and fatty, somewhat similar to Daikokuya's kotteri broth. The sous vide egg was a great touch and the snap peas had the perfect crunch. It'll take some time to work out the kinks, but there's definitely promise here. I might return on a cold rainy day when there's no wait, which won't be happening any time soon.

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The Line Starts Where?

Oh the irony

The former Taylor's Refresher, now Gott's Roadside, kicked off their new identity today with some free food, T-shirts, and a little bit of chaos. While it was painfully obvious that the event suffered from poor planning and severe miscommunication, it was very generous of the owners to celebrate by feeding the public they regularly serve. At the end of the day, the staff was really kind, friendly, and tried to keep the spirits high for the hundreds waiting bitterly in the biting wind. Let's just say that complaining definitely helped our situation.

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Il Cane Rosso

Not much to say since it just opened. They have plenty of seating, including bar stools inside the kitchen. Their menu sounded quite promising, but what we ordered ended up not being what was expected. Grilled peach sandwich was more of an open-faced canape on some too-toasted bread ($9). Rotisserie chicken salad was about a half cup serving ($12.50). Egg salad sandwich was simple, but we were given what felt like half of a sandwich (pictured.. the entire sandwich = half of a sandwich for $9). Polenta ($5, not pictured) was the best and the safest.

Summary: very small portions and pricey. Maybe Daniel Patterson is too used to Coi-sized servings and forgot that people usually only order one item for lunch. I would consider going back to try their porchetta, and potentially other seasonal dishes of interest in the future.

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