Ichi Sushi & Ramen reopens in East Setauket with new owners, ramen bowls
Tonkotsu ramen with slow-cooked pork belly at Ichi Sushi & Ramen, which has opened in East Setauket. Credit: Newsday/Corin Hirsch
A quaint East Setauket sushi spot that closed a year ago has reopened with new owners and a freshly retooled ramen menu.
Ichi Sushi & Ramen shares half of the name of its predecessor, Sushi-Ichi, but co-owner Kevin Lin said that the restaurant's ramen bowls are now cooked by a Japanese chef he identified as Alan, with broths rendered to evoke the richness of the much-feted ones at Ippudo in New York City.
Those bowls include a milky tonkotsu ramen with flaps of chashu pork (marinated, slow-cooked pork belly), corn, scallions and a soft-cooked egg, plus variations of the tonkotsu in shoyu and sesame-flavored versions. All ramen bowls, including a miso ramen with chicken and pork, a seafood ramen and a vegetable ramen with mushrooms and cabbage, cost $12.
Sushi and sashimi ($2 to $4.50 per piece) still compose a sizable portion of the menu — servers wear T-shirts that read "Fish fear us" on the back — as do rolls such as hand and special rolls ($5 to $13) from simple oshinko rolls to multiplex creations like the Peter roll, filled with shrimp tempura, crab meat, seared steak and eel sauce. Appetizers ($4 to $11) draw from across Asia, from steamed soft-shell crab buns to a seafood pancake to tuna-mango tartar with eel sauce and tobiko.
Lin, who worked at Zen Ramen & Sushi on 36th Street in Manhattan, said he thought the Route 25A was well positioned to lure the lunch and dinner crowds from nearby SUNY-Stony Brook. Once Ichi receives its alcohol license, wine, beer and sake will be available.
Ichi Sushi & Ramen, 700 N. Country Rd., East Setauket. 631-675-1500. Open daily for lunch and dinner, staying open until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. No website yet.
