I can't imagine going to Ippudo NY for ramen. You go for the pork buns and shishito and atmosphere and your out-of-town friends and you tolerate the ramen lol. Ippudo in Japan was reserved for when I lived 50 meters from the one in Ebisu and was too lazy to go anywhere else.
There's nothing wrong with a nice tsukemen bowl at Afuri and plenty of other great places around just about every corner in Tokyo. For a nice salty straightforward bowl I'm partial to machida shouten in shibuya near tokyu hands (iekei style).