Location: 173 4th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Finally, an affordable spot in our neighborhood that is actually worth eating at! This is a veritable Park Slope Miracle!
Zuzu Ramen is a nifty little place with an open kitchen, massively uncomfortable seating, and really great food.
So, first the good:
The food is really fresh with deep, layered flavors. They have about four or five different Ramen soups on offer. Between Sid and I, we tried the Hot & Sour Ramen with Shrimp and the Zuzu Ramen with slow-cooked pork. Both were great - lots of rich flavor, plenty of good stuff floating around in the tasty broth, perfectly cooked noodles....you get the idea.
They also have a bunch other dishes that they call "tasty morsels". The ones that we tried really were tasty but were definitely playing second-fiddle to the Ramen dishes. We had the Seared Pork Dumplings (good, but far from the best I have had) and the Mini Pork Buns with Braised Pork Shoulder. The "buns" were not buns, but little sandwiches that were, frankly, impossible to eat. Even trying to pick them up with your fingers was a dicey proposition. Soooo...while those tasted good, I probably won't order them again. The Ramen alone is plenty of food, though, so skip the "morsels" (which are not exactly small) unless you're really hungry.
They only have beer and sake (even though it is a Ramen house, I just have a hard time loving anywhere that doesn't offer wine). Even more distressing, this place is not open for lunch (which I understand, given the location, but still think is quite unfortunate, as this would be the perfect lunch place).
Another drawback is the seating. The place is small and most (in fact, all of it, I believe) is at counters. So, the seats are all stools. And these are no ordinary stools. They are beautiful burnished wooden stools with perfect, comfy contours. What, you might ask, is the problem, then? Well, alas, the stools are so high that they are literally only about a foot from the tabletop. This means that you are perched high above the table and have to stoop down uncomfortably to slurp up all the lovely soup. Not a pleasant experience. There is also nowhere to hang your purse or coat.
But, in the end, its all about the food. And Zuzu Ramen has damn fine food.
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