The Tavern is another new space being renovated by all star team Vic Christopher and Heather LeVine of Lucas Confectionary and The Grocery fame. They’re making a ton of progress, and while it’s not quite finished yet, they opened the doors during this weekend’s Victorian Stroll to offer something I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time: a pop up ramen shop they called Tavern Noodle. Let’s take a look.
Food
I’ve been talking #ghettoramensunday and getting the Confectionary/Grocery to do a Ramen Night with Chef Nick Ruscitto for a while now so it was a nice surprise to see this come to fruition. (Yup, totally taking credit here.) They sold out of some 300+ cups ramen within a couple of hours, and since I was traveling this weekend I missed out. I was lucky that the chefs managed to whip up a little something for me from what was still kicking around when I arrived later in the day and for that I am extremely appreciative. The miso broth had a ton of flavor, the soy egg had a beautifully soft yolk on the inside, and the kale was surprisingly standout. Not pictured is some incredibly spicy, but tasty pickled radishes done in the style of kimchi. I was a huge fan, and surprised by the amount of heat because it was more on my level rather than for a broader audience.
ramen. (pork shoulder | soy egg | sun noodles | massaged kale | nori | miso broth)
Update: For clarification, this is a 32 oz. cup (and it was plenty of ramen).
pork bun. (pork shoulder | cukes | scallion | hoisin)
soy egg.
Drink
While they do not have a full bar yet at The Tavern, they were offering some cocktails, beer, and wine to go along with the day’s offerings. I’ve been on a cocktail kick lately, so I tried both offered. It was a tad cold in there, and between the hot buttered rum and the ramen I had warmed up nicely. The sake punch was very melon heavy and I could have used a bit more alcohol to it.
sake punch. (asian fruit | ginger | sake)
hot buttered rum. (vanilla | butter | dark rum)
Atmosphere
Vic is carrying over the reclaimed theme that’s so prominent in the Confectionary and the Grocery. It’s still beautiful, and I still love everything about it. There’s quite a bit of work to do on the second floor where the full bar will be but the downstairs has shaped up nicely.
Chefs Nick and Matt.
Supplies.
Loving this spray painted stock pot.
Unexpectedly, the DJ spun 2000s rap (50 Cent, Ludacris, etc.) the entire time I was there. This made me quite happy.
Open kitchen.
The future service bar.
Cleanup.
Overall it was a really nice experience. I’m hoping they make the popup Tavern Noodle a regular thing and I’m looking forward even more to when they open up the full space at The Tavern. As always, I wish Vic, Heather and the rest of their crew the best of luck on their new venture!
UPDATE: Looks like Tavern Noodle is returning on December 18th at 5PM. To those who missed out, get there early!
matthew 'fuj' scher 
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Tavern Noodle was killer! I’ve been craving noodles since I moved here from the Bay Area and these were great! They had the perfect bite. I gotta diagree with you on the punch though- I thought it was a great drink with the ramen.
For them to charge $12 for that small of a portion of ramen, their conjones must be FUSCILLO HUGE. I had the pork bun as the ramen was sold out by the time I got there and it was great (and reasonably priced). Now that I see what size the ramen was for that price, I’m glad I didn’t have the chance to order.
I’m not sure how they can justify that price when Ippudo in NYC charges only $15 for a FULL BOWL of what is regarded as some of the best ramen in America and Japan (http://www.yelp.com/biz/ippudo-ny-new-york), at a place which is much more expensive to rent, using similar quality and sourced ingredients.
Maybe the small quantity that they made drove up the price per cup? Maybe they’re just guessing Cap Region residents don’t know any better or know that we don’t have any other option? Either way, disappointing and unfortunately par for the course for the Confectionery (et al.’s) food offerings.
Small portion? These were 32 oz cups get your shit together before you comment man. This isn’t Table Hopping.
Haha, true! Your picture didn’t give any scale or size description. I’d agree that 24oz of ramen is a good portion, but it didn’t look it from your picture and from the other comments, I guess I’m not the only one. I’ll try it if I can get any next time around and will try not to jump to conclusions based on previous Confectionery portio/price issues I’ve experienced.
You have rocketed up my list of favorite blogs due to that TH comment.
Fantastic! Looks great. It’s awesome that the Confectionery owners have taken a step to honor ramen’s origins as a humble working man’s food in the humble working man’s city of Troy.
I’m all for paying extra for good quality ramen, but was it seriously served in a small paper cup? For $12 I would have expected better.
32 oz cups are small now?
Fair enough – you didn’t mention that in your article/review. It looked like a 10/12oz Dixie cup from the photo.