Neighborhood Noodle

Among classic food films there are Babette’s Feast, Big Night, and the best noodle film, Tampopo.  And Tampopo says, “the broth is the soul of ramen,” a sentiment also expressed by a  friend, hearing of my visit to Neighborhood Noodle, Manchester’s newest addition to the food scene.

 

Emily Shore, owner of Neighborhood Noodle, along with her chef husband Ian, agrees--“kind of.” She explains, “Ramen is constructed from the bottom up.” with the broth--but good ingredients are crucial throughout.  Ian is fanatical about the broths, one using meat, one vegetarian.  “There’s basically stock going every day, all day.”

 

Ian and Emily met at a Japanese restaurant in Lake Tahoe, California.  After toggling between Vermont and California, they bought a place in Londonderry, and Emily began working at the Crooked Ram.  She has pulled back from her general manager role, but still heads up operations there and for Bodega, the new smaller spinoff near Stratton. Ian and Emily have a child in pre-school.  And she also heads the Vermont Department of Health and manages Stratton ski operations.  Ok, I just made up those last two.  But her quiet good humor suggests a zen-like calm, in keeping with, well, a good noodle place.

 

My friend Cathy and I ate in the restaurant recently.  The restaurant does a brisk take-out business, but we were quite happy eating there in dining area, comfortable, new, perfectly suitable for families with kids.

 

Cathy ordered a rosé, which she found “natural and juicy.”  Emily suggested the Kyoto IPA.   Used to milder Japanese beers (such as Sapporo), I was surprised.  Yes, the beer was hoppy, but balanced with overtones of a brown ale and a hint of sweetness.  A wonderful beer.

 

Kyoto also makes a Matcha beer--currently sold out but expected to return.

 

The homemade pork gyoza was luscious, hinting of vinegar.  The ahi poke tuna was juicy, punctuated by cucumber, understated.

 

That understated quality had me searching for ways to describe Neighborhood Noodles’ food: calm, zen-like.  It reminded me of a Japanese-American roommate I had long ago: his name --Ishii-- I wanted to pronounce ISH-ii.  But he said, no, it should be pronounced ish-ii--almost with no accent--an impossibility in English with a two-syllable word.  

 

At the heart of the food we tasted at Neighborhood Noodle was a subtle tranquility, a balance, a satisfying harmony.  

 

Even with our slurping.  (Which recalled a funny slurping scene in Tampopo--dozens of diners slurping up spaghetti.) 

 

We ordered two ramen dishes.  The pork in the Shoyu imbued the whole dish with a rounded full flavor.  The Tantanmen, described on the menu as “richer and creamier” was delicious, milder in the vegetarian version we ordered. Yes, the broth was briny and alluring, especially the Shoyu, the noodles a satisfying counterpoint, delicately poised between firm and yielding.

 

About the noodles: Emily gives me an overview.  “Ramen noodles need to be made with one specific ingredient, Kansui.  It’s an alkaline solution that gives them a firm, bouncy texture.  This is what sets ramen noodles apart from pasta noodles.”  When Emily and Ian held pop-up versions of the restaurant, they made ramen from scratch by hand, but the volume at Neighborhood Noodle is prohibitive.  A few shops in the United States have a ramen noodle machine, but it costs over $50,000.  “We found a purveyor from Hawaii that makes fresh ramen” that held up to a taste test with their own.

 

Wherever it comes from, its texture and taste make it delicious. 

 

In short--slurp your way to happiness at Neighborhood Noodle.