Ramen Joints

Whether instant or for real, I love ramen. Of course, real ramen is much different and much better than the instant kinds you make at home. I've tried a few ramen joints here in NYC, so here's a bit of comparing and contrasting.

Rai Rai Ken - ok, I actually don't remember too much from this place because it was so long ago and probably the first time I had a real bowl of fresh ramen in the city. I think this place gets mixed reviews. At the time, I know I liked it, but I think I would have to try it again in order to give a real review of this place.

Minca - The broth for the shoyu ramen is definitely tasty, but it was a tad salty and heavy for my taste. However, the braised pork basically melted in my mouth. Out of all the places I've been to, this one had the best pork. They had really good gyoza.

Naruto Ramen - This place is pretty average, but it's nice to see a ramen joint in the UES. The first time I had it, I thought the Naruto Ramen broth was slightly on the bland side, especially compared to Minca. The second time I had it, which was a few days ago, the broth was much more flavorful. My one complaint about the pork is that the pieces they give you are a bit on the smaller side. The noodles are also somewhat too firm. I personally don't care about that too much. Better to be firm than soggy. Also, the egg yolk in the egg is very undercooked when they put it in the bowl, but the hotness of the broth cooks it a bit. I actually liked that quite a bit.

Menchanko-Tei - This is by far my favorite ramen joint. It doesn't have the ramen joint atmosphere where everyone just sits at the bar. It's more of a normal sit-down restaurant. The good thing is that they have a lot of variety, and you can actually order everything in half portions if you wish, which is nice if you aren't too hungry or would like to eat something else to accompany the ramen. The broth in the ramen was perfect - not too salty, not too heavy, and not too light/bland. This is the place I would recommend the most for a great bowl of ramen.