Ramen-Ya

Ramen shops seem to be a dime a dozen nowadays, ranging from small, hole-in-the-wall joints to full-blown restaurants to late-night specialties. As a fan of spicy ramen, I would highly endorse Ramen-Ya. It is a hybrid of the small hole in the wall to full blown restaurant because the inside is intimate and the prices are reasonable ($5 Sapporo Draft Beer). We ordered the shio black tonkatsu ramen and spicy miso tonkatsu ramen. Both were delicious. The shio black tonkatsu comes with thin noodles, chashu pork, kikurage mushrooms, seasoned egg, scallions and black garlic oil in a traditional Japanese style black bowl. The broth was distinct and not overly salty very yummy broth and delightful topping options. Make sure you turn the menu over and try a few appetizers as well, I recommend the delicious crispy gyoza. The ramen noodles are really thin – and the scallion flavor really brings out the spicy heat of the broth. What a gem in the West Village! The noodles were the perfect al dente texture. The broth was so hearty and pleasantly fragrant from the garlic. Packed with flavor! The chashu pork and seasoned egg was the best I've ever had amongst the dozens of bowls of ramen that I've tried. The chashu pieces were lightly charred, had just the right amount of fat, and were so so tender. The egg had the perfect runny yolky center that I love. Ramen-ya might be my favorite joint in NYC. Because the space is really small one drawback to Ramen-ya's is the wait can be insane. I would suggest visiting at off-hours like during the day, during the week or off-peak dinner hours like 4pm or 9pm!

Ramen-Ya

181 W 4th St New York, NY 10014

b/t Jones St & Barrow St in West Village

Phone number(212) 989-5440

ramen-ya.net