Union Republic: More Than Just Ramen, Jersey City, NJ (Now Closed)

 














I was so excited to learn of a place serving great ramen in my home state.  Of course I could easily cross into NYC just 20 miles from the door of the home where I grew up for ramen at Momofuku (which I did the next day in fact), but to discover Union Republic in my backyard was a treat and source of pride.

 I have been on a ramen kick for about a month, so everywhere I've traveled within the last 30 days (Including Paris), I've been on the look out.

Though Union Republic, Chef Gregory Torrech and Noah Sexton's second Jersey City venture, has great ramen options, we sampled other great dishes.

The space upon entering has a quaint cafe feel with chalkboard menus.  Then it opens up into a much larger space with an open kitchen, chef's bar, more formal, yet comfy seating and high ceilings.  Across the room was a area with long high tops where everyone shared a staff meal and I imagine patrons can sit with their laptops and lattes.

 We were greeted warmly and seated against one of the tall windows.

I eventually chat with Chef Ryan (who's favorite Boston spots include Drink and Toro) and co-owner Chef Greg Torrech as they prepared food in the kitchen.  

Chef Ryan preparing warm octopus salad.  Co-Owner/Chef Greg Torrech preparing pasta.

The Menus 

  

We started with a perfect Scotch egg made with UR's housemade, perfectly seasoned Lincolnshire sausage, crisp panko breading, and housemade smoked whole seed mustard.  
The arugula and baby spinach salad featured slivers of celery that I just could not get enough of with a sweet brine and perfect crunch.  I love Scotch eggs and this was one of the best I've had.

Scotch egg

The warm octopus salad was not only beautiful in presentation, but flavors.  The octopus was amazingly tender.  I loved the roasted, buttery fingerling potatoes, sweet grape tomatoes, and chorizo that I would have liked to be more spicy.  All were tossed with a light vinaigrette over fresh arugula and spinach salad.

Warm octopus salad

The Ramen

I ordered the Spicy Ramen with chorizo, citrus yogurt, shredded daikon radish, and a soft egg.  The broth was rich and dark with a hint of spice.  The citrus yogurt added a brightness that was appreciated.  The noodles (procured from longstanding SunNoodle in Edgewater, NJ) were perfect!

The Nose to Tail Ramen was terrific.  Everyone knows how much I adore offal and nose-to-tail dining.

We talked about the crispy, crunchy slices of pig's ears for hours after dinner and a bit the next day!  It also included pork belly and seared heart.  The culture-meshed Sofrito-Shoyu broth was full of flavor and depth.

Nose to Tail Ramen with crisp pig's ear slices, pork belly, and seared heart.

The kitchen sent out a lovely creme brulee which served as a perfect end to a great dinner!

The cafe also sells locally-sourced artisan products.  It's just a feel good, comfortable kind of place.

Union Republic is definitely on my must do list whenever I'm on NJ/NYC from now on. 

Check out their New Year's Eve dinner menu:

Dinner @ Shojo (Extra goodies from Chef Mark O'Leary), Boston Chinatown

Credit: Shojo

I first 'met' Chef Mark O'Leary when I contacted him requesting an interview after I learned of his latest culinary venture "PawPupBoston" which, of course, as a veterinarian and food lover, I found intriguing

Knowing of his talents, as displayed at O Ya and alongside Chef Samuel Monsour (previously of jm curley) at The Future of Junk Food (review of last event coming soon), when I'd read about his new position as Executive Chef at Shojo, I had to pay a visit.  

Not too long after Shojo's opening, I had a pretty mediocre dining experience and was more than willing to have my opinion altered.

So when  friend decided to bring her grandmother in town from PA to see a play, I offered Shojo for our dinner plans.  

It was a wise decision.  We had a fabulous dinner
 in a great place!

We ordered abundantly and was also surprised by a few 'experimental' dishes sent out from Mark and Sous Chef Jessie.

Spag-n-Ball Z

Coconut Lime Broth, Squid Ink Shrimp Dumplings, Enoki Mushrooms

The soup (Spag-n-Ball Z), which thankfully has since made the menu, was a play on Tom Yum with sweet and sour yet creamy flavors and richness.  Enoki mushrooms functioned as a "noodles" in the dish reminiscent, in diameter, somewhere between soba or somen noodles.
 I am a big fan of 'faux noodles' (i.e calamari "noodles") and I loved their texture!
Bathing in the center of this amazing base is a tender shrimp meatball varnished with squid ink.  
Even more texture and complexity was added with scallion, black and white sesame seeds,  Thai basil, and chili oil toppings.

Fall off the bone tender, sticky Wu Tang Tiger Style ribs with Thai basil and crunchy bits of peanuts and shallots were delicious.

Wu Tang Tiger Style Ribs

More delicious pork (another dish I would love to see on the menu):

Tender pork belly points rest upon a spicy, sesame miso aioli with fried kimchi morsels and fried shallots makes a beautiful bite.

Another wonderful starter dish was the meatball on toast brushed with a generous amount of miso butter and avocado, topped with potato crisps and shallots...again, beautiful textures and flavors making a fantastic bite.

For our main course, were over-ordered the chicken and waffles which -WARNING- comes with 3 large drumsticks and a Hong Kong style egg waffle!

I can never resist ordering a Bolognese on just about any menu and I'm glad I kept tradition alive.  Shojo's Bang Bang Bolognese is made with slick hand-slapped broad noodles, beef , Szechuan peppercorn, firm tofu, bok choy.

Bang Bang Bolognese

A beautifully spicy kimchi fried rice with a sunny side up egg served as a perfect finale. 

Shojo definitely gets a thumbs up this time around thanks to Chefs Mark O'Leary, Jessie Merand and kitchen team as well as the attentive and friendly front of the house team!

Interview with Chef Mark O'Leary coming soon in 2015.

Disclosure:  Portions of this meal were provided gratis.  All opinions are my own.

Please feel free to send corrections/comments in the box below.

I have so much more to write about my food experiences in Paris and more...

Thanks for your patience!

-Besos!

Bunz Burger, Ipswich, MA

Upon my second visit to Privateer Rum Distillery to interview my friend and Head Distiller, Maggie Campbell, she treated me to lunch at a small spot just up the road called Bunz Burger.  They are serving up seriously juicy burger patties with a number of topping options, great condiments (like chipotle mayo or sriracha ketchup), and buttered, grilled buns in this off-the-beaten-path joint in small town New England.

The space boasts about 5 hightops and an open kitchen where you can watch the magic on the grill created by pops and daughter.

Maggie ordered a cheese burger with grilled onion, pickles and crisp bacon:

I went for the Breakfast "Monster" Burger because I think breakfast burgers are EVERYTHING!  

I recently had a flashback on when I first enjoyed a burger with a beautiful fried egg and realized that it, too, was in Boston about 8 years ago (somewhere near or in Brighton).

Bunz Burger elevated my ideal breakfast burger (e.g. the one at Grass Fed JP) with their addition of a hashbrown patty and of course the sriracha ketchup!

Egg, American cheese, grilled onion, hashbrown patty, bacon, and sriracha ketchup

Next time you are in Ipswich, MA...

Bunz Burger is must do!

Asian-Parisian Delights: Happily Surprised by Good Asian Bites- 2nd Arrondissement, Paris, France

My first bowl of ramen was quite delicious.  Sapporo Japanese Restaurant at 37, rue Sainte Anne is a busy, densely-packed space where people come for a leisurely or rushed lunch of piping hot, steamy ramen.  There are two other locations in Paris.

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Many variations  are offered.  

I kept it simple with ramen and roasted pork.  the ramen was a satisfying bowl of warmth with perfectly salted and seasoned broth, hearty ramen noodles, veg, bean sprouts, and scallion.

Pork Ramen

One of my sides was the demi curry with rice.  A horribly disappointing, unremarkable dish (go figure?)  Hey, I tried...

Curry

The gyoza was delicious.  Flavor-packed, pan-fried dumpling morsels filled with moist pork.

Gyoza: Pan-fried pork dumplings.

For dessert, we headed across the rue to Aki Boulanger.  I was told they offer awesome eclairs and other pastries boasting fillings/ingredients like yuzu, matcha, and mochi.

Because I love the umami nature of yuzu, a beautiful East Asian citrus fruit which I fell in love with a number of years ago through a creative cocktail master in Boston, I had to sample the yuzu eclair.  

My tastebuds were rewarded for their devotion-fresh, moist eclairs filled with tangy, bright, sweet, zesty yuzu cream.

Yuzu Eclair

Aki Boulanger offered a perfect sweet treat on our short walk over to see the Seine River and surrounding attractions!

On another afternoon, I had the pleasure of enjoying lunch at another Lamen (Ramen) spot with two other locations called Higuma.

Champon Lamen

Pork and Squid ramen with cabbage, carrots, onion, fresh noodle, topped with pickled ginger. 

Upcoming Reviews...Paris, Future of Junk Food, Chef Suzi Maitland, Distiller Maggie Campbell, My Cocktail Series-2nd Installment, Shojo, David Burke-Prime @Foxwoods, Seoul Korean & Much More!

Hi All!  

Between my week in Paris for my 35th birthday and my hitting the ground running once back in Boston at my gig practicing medicine and surgery, it has been awhile since my last post.

I can't wait to share my foodie adventures over the past 30 days and the days to come.  

Thanks for your patience.

Visit my Instagram page for photos of the reviews to come http://instagram.com/drfoodie