Benjamin L. Haas

Sapporo is my reliable standby for when I don't have much time to squeeze dinner in after work, and I'm trying to get my culture on uptown in the evening. Last night was one of those nights, since I usually work until 6:30pm (at least), and Marci had scored us 8:00pm tickets to see Don Giovanni at The Met. We usually don't have to wait to get a table, but last night, most likely due to the steady rain, we had to queue up. The hostess don't take names there, so you have to be a bit pushy and make sure no one squeezes past you on the churn to the front of the line. Once seated, though, everything comes together quickly. A waiter is invariably at your table to take your order about three minutes before you're ready, but it speeds along the whole process. If you order an appetizer, it arrives at your table in as exactly as long as it takes for the waiter to walk to the kitchen and return with a pre-cooked plate of food. I can't say that's the primary reason I was revolted by the seaweed salad we ordered to stave off starvaton — more likely it was because the salad reminded me of green millipedes and brown cockroach legs, and had a gelatinous coating that felt like raw egg whites. Next time, skip the appetizers. If you get the right ramen, you won't need them anyway. As is our custom, we picked one soy-sauce-based ramen, and one lighter one. We ordered the Gomoku Ramen ("2 shrimps and more vegetables") and the Sapporo Special Ramen ("special assortment of meat and vegetables"), and it was more than enough food for two (and as usual, picked up on Marci's dish after she called quits). The ramen bowls come to your table a few minutes after ordering them, and while they're never going to win the crown of the best ramen in NYC, they're steaming hot, consistently prepared, and full of all the stuff you want in there. And for nine bucks each, you feel like you got the only good deal available in Times Square.

One final lesson from past experience: while there's probably bar seats open, don't take them. They're empty for a reason. The non-stop shouting by the ramen cooks, calling out their orders, is a bit too much too much volume for an enjoyable experience.

Sapporo (map)
152 W. 49th St.
New York, NY 10019