Photos by Scott Lynch
SSRP Rescues The Ramen Supply on Vanderbilt
The team behind local favorites, like Nourish, Ozakaya, and Sukh, takes over the former Chuko location in Prospect Heights
SSRP is located at 565 Vanderbilt Avenue, at the corner of Pacific Street, and is currently open for lunch from 12:00 noon to 3:15 p.m. and for dinner from 5:00 p.m. until around 10:00 p.m. daily.
Well, that didn’t take long. Thank god. It was only last August when Prospect Heights noodle institution Chuko announced it was dunzo after 15 years at the base of Vanderbilt Avenue. And now, less than three months later, with its former tenants teasing their new location, the corner spot has flung open its door again, with a new team at the helm, a spruced-up design, and a menu that features, you guessed it, big bowls of first-rate ramen. Welcome to the neighborhood, SSRP.
Photo by Scott Lynch
SSRP, a semi-acronym for “Slurp, Sip, Repeat,” is run by the people behind such neighborhood winners as Sukh, Nourish, and Ozakaya (which, to its credit, does have a few ramen dishes on offer), the former in Fort Greene, and the latter two just a few blocks from the new place on Vanderbilt. And though SSRP’s co-owners TK and Patama are from Thailand—as is the chef, who goes by Tyler—they all share a passion for Japanese ramen made right. “We make the ramen special, in our style,” TK told Brooklyn Magazine. “We call it ‘Japanese ingredients through a Brooklyn lens.'”
Classic tonkatsu, $23 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Your noodle choices here are pretty straightforward. There’s a classic tonkatsu, with a dense, almost chewy pork bone broth simmered for at least 16 hours before serving. Lurking within the murk is a mess of noodles, two kinds of pork (butt and belly), a jammy egg, and crunchy things like bamboo shoots.
Kara Tantan ramen, $24 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Chasu masemen, $23 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Even better was the zingy Kara Tantan Ramen, which throws sesame paste, ground pork, bok choy, and some fantastically bright red chili oil into the mix. There’s a vegetarian option with shoyu truffle broth, and, for those of you worried about splashing all over your shirt, two brothless masemen bowls, one vegetarian, the other loaded with meat.
It’s all very good and reminded me why we all went so crazy for this stuff during the Great Ramen Renaissance of the aughts. Personal vow: eat more ramen on the regular again.
Tomato jello, $12 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Chef Tyler also sends out a bunch of non-noodle dishes under menu categories like “cold and juicy” and “warm and messy.” The tomato jello, starring a sliced and reassembled whole fruit, marinated in a strong dashi and sitting in a blobby puddle of gelatin, cuts a striking figure on the table but doesn’t have much flavor beyond “cold” and “lip-puckering umami.”
Nagoya-style wings, $14 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
The Ebi Sando, $16 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
The chicken wings are Nagayo-style, which basically means they’re sweet, sticky, salty, garlicky. My favorite snack was the Ebi Sando, a plump fried shrimp patty, well-sauced and stuck between slices of squishy milk bread. Other possibilities include Manilla clams in butter, pork gyoza, and a grilled maitake mushroom salad.
Photo by Scott Lynch
The layout of the space is the same as it was with Chuko, but the SSRP team have freshened up the floor plan with bold illustrations hung throughout and a new sound system in that oversized wall unit in the back. The SSRP uniforms are cool, too.
Cocktails are $17, sake is $11, and an Orion lager will set you back nine bucks. Mocktails, matchas, and strawberry soda are among your non-boozy beverage options.
“We love Vanderbilt. We love this neighborhood,” said TK. “The people, the energy… we love Brooklyn life.”
