Pellucity Eats

Like receiving a loving pork hug.

As I sit here waiting for the train to arrive, fingers approaching numbness as I type this on my phone, I can't help but long for the ramen I experienced last night.

Last night I waited two hours to enter Toki Underground, a wait time that I would generally consider untenable. However, this wait was instantly forgiven the moment the broth touched my lips. It was the flavor of comfort, brought to me by the loving hands of pork. Perfectly delicate yet bold, you taste the sweetness of the pork first and it's luscious savory flavors follow next. And then a surprise! There is chili oil on the top of the soup, which I overlooked. I cough as it went straight to the back of my throat. My friends laugh as I wheezingly reach for my drink. Once I regain composure, I take another spoonful. This time prepared, I smile as the spice mingles with the sweet and savory flavors already present in the broth.

The pork is the flavor star of this dish. Bringing the same flavors as the broth, but of course with more oomph. Sweet and almost tangy flavors, it is a wave of decadent pork flavor. The pork has been cooked for a beautifully long time and is falling to pieces. Therefore the texture is on the drier side, but that's what you want and it is absolutely delightful. Rarely you find a little blob of fat with the pork and that is a rewarding experience. As the fat melts quickly on your tongue, you know that this is the height of the pork experience that is this ramen. The choir of pork angels sing as you ascend into pork heaven.

Finally the poached egg. A little gift awaits you in the corner of the bowl, a pillowy egg filled with a rich and supple yolk. You burst the egg and gaze as the yolk melts into the bowl. The image of the bright yellow yolk escaping the egg white, is almost sinfully decadent. And then of course you taste it. Rich, extremely creamy, the texture is so welcome with the thin broth. The flavor is light and, like the noodles, acts as a brief interlude. It's a beautiful moment, full of comfort. The egg is the flavor of wrapping yourself in a warm blanket.

Onions! Onions? Do you like onions? Do you truly believe in your heart of hearts that you love onions? Then congratulations, you have found your burger. The Prez Obama contains ingredients that go well with onions including: horseradish aioli, bacon, Roquefort cheese and of course a beef burger patty. But really, the onions will be the only thing you care about because they will be the singular thing you taste. Syrupy sweet, the onion marmalade that makes up about a third of the Prez is the predominant flavor of this burger. Only half of The Marmalade will make its way to your mouth, as the rest immediately squirts out of the burger upon first bite. Generally, I’m not a fan of burgers losing ingredients but in this case, I consider this a mercy. I am a fan of onions, but this burger almost embodies the phrase “too much of a good thing”. I felt deep pity for the other ingredients on the burger, which I had a difficult time finding or paying attention to. The bacon, with its smoky flavors and hints of salt played so nicely with the onion marmalade. Or it wanted to. The bacon was the unloved step-child of this burger, so deserving of attention and affection but completely out-shined by its louder sibling. When I did taste the bacon with The Marmalade, it was glorious, but these bites were fleeting. The same can be said for the Roquefort cheese, attempting so bravely to bring a salty component to the burger. When the Roquefort and onion melded together, the salt helped break up the monotony of the sweetness and it was, for a second, a great burger. The poor horseradish aioli. I actually forgot that the burger contained it until I just looked up the menu. This is strange considering that horseradish is not a shy flavor. Perhaps the horseradish melded so totally with The Marmalade that I was unable to discern the difference. Which brings me to another point about this burger, it is wet. When I unwrapped the burger and excitedly rolled it onto the red plastic tray, the first thing I realized was just how wet this burger was. Now, I am a firm believer that a wet burger can be a good burger. However (and this is a big however): the wetness needs to earn its keep. If a burger is wet, but it contains the most amazing sauce that ever lovingly embraced your taste buds, then it deserves to be wet. This burger does not deserve to be wet. The wetness is due to, you guessed it, The Marmalade. This marmalade has somehow wormed its way into every component of this burger, including the bun. There is one place free from The Marmalade. The burger patty itself! The patty provides a desperately needed break from the onion assault known as The Marmalade. Now as I stated earlier, this is a wet burger, so it could use a dry component. But unfortunately the one dry part of this burger should under no circumstances be dry. It’s the patty. The patty was almost devoid of moisture. The Roquefort makes a valiant effort to help the patty with its creamy texture, but there was not nearly enough Roquefort to mask the crumbly consistency of the patty.