Rockin’ Ramen
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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| 10% noodles; 90% love. Via. |
To compliment today's SOLD OUT ramen discussion and tasting (featuring Masahiro Nakano from the Shinyokohama Ramen Museum and Serious Eats' J. Kenji Lopez-Alt), Japan Society staff put their hungry heads together to highlight a caboodle of the best noodles in NYC. Spoon, sip and slurp away!
Go for the tonkotsu ramen—a solid, simple rendition of the style, and all ingredients are cooked to perfection.
Related
Hide-Chan Ramen: 248 East 52nd Street (212-813-1800)
Hide-Chan’s floating globules of glistening fat overwhelm even the most hardened rameniac; authentic, native-approved fare.
Ippudo NY: 65 4th Avenue (212-388-0088)
One of the best executions of tonkotsu style ramen in NYC. Warning: the restaurant’s popularity makes getting a bowl quite an ordeal.
Ise: 151 East 49th Street (212-319-6876)
Delicious standard Japanese dishes fill this restaurant with expats. Try their niboshi (dried fish based) ramen, but call ahead because it’s not always on the menu.
Izakaya Riki: 141 East 45th Street (212-986-5604)
The 45th St. restaurant has a wealth of great noodle dishes. Try the su-ra-tanmen (noodle in Chinese style hot & sour broth.)
Kambi Ramen House: 351 East 14th Street (212-228-1366)
At least one JS staffer says their soy tonkotsu is the best anywhere.
Menchanko-Tei Midtown East: 131 E 45th St # 2 (212-986-6805)
Great ramen, but guests can expand their noodle horizons by trying the sumo-wrestler-in-training specialty, menchanko—giant cast-iron bowls of noodles with a wide selection of add-ins.
Menkui Tei: 60 West 56th Street (212-757-1642)
A tiny, cozy restaurant with hearty, filling ramen. Great stop after a visit to nearby MoMA or the American Folk Art Museum .
Naruto Ramen: 1596 3rd Avenue (212-289-7803)
A small, bar style ramen shop like you see everywhere in Japan, with good gyoza and solid miso and tantanmen. The service is fast and presentation is simple.
Rockmeisha: 11 Barrow Street (212-675-7775)
A late-night rockabilly izakaya haunt offering much more than Chinese noodles—including a jukebox, friendly staff and a host of creative appetizers.
Ramen Sanshiro: 249 East 49th Street (212-355-7722)
Japanese businessmen, nightowls and ramen enthusiasts know that after 11pm, the upscale restaurant SEO transforms into Ramen Sanshiro. The late-night limited menu includes two ramen choices - shio (salt) and shoyu (soy sauce). Cash only.
Souen (East Village): 326 East 6th Street (212-388-1155)
Vegetarian ramen with extras like kale and yuba that win over meat-eaters. The black sesame ramen is the best, but all worth trying, including seasonal offerings such as seafood ramen.
A.M., C.J., D.S., J.N.A, R.Y., S.J.
