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It was my first time have tsukemen and I was not disappointed. I can't wait to go back and try out more of their menu. They have nice dividers between tables to make you feel safe to eat out. I visited on a cold day in Atlanta which made this soup even better. This place has some of the best ramen I've ever tasted hands down.

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There are three locations around the city, but we prefer the original East Village location, which has absurdly long waits much of the time. Consider making a solo pilgrimage, or just tell your boss you have to leave work at 4pm for a doctor’s appointment. The union of noodle and sauce is close to ideal; when it starts to seem too familiar, a squeeze from a lime wedge should rekindle your interest.
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The menu is fairly limited with just 4 options of noodles and sodas. But you can see them make everything from scratch and serve everything as you order. Ordering here is done by filling out a form and pressing a button, so human interaction is minimal. If you’re afraid of loneliness, you can eat in an actual dining room (or just lower the partition between booths). The highly customizable ramen is solid, and the overall experience makes this place worth visiting at least once.
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The thick, chewy noodles wrap around each slab of fatty pork like an octopus gripping onto its prey, and the broth is flavorful enough to function as full-on aromatherapy. Despite there being only eight seats in the cramped space, you rarely end up waiting more than 10 minutes to sit, and no one will rush you. We sometimes stop by just for pork buns and karaage. The rich, porky ramen at Ippudo is still one of the best bowls of noodle soup one can eat in New York City.
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When a diner orders the Himokawa udon, it arrives on the counter in a tray carrying noodles in a ring-shaped bowl like a shallow, lazy river, with a concentric circle dish filled with dipping sauce. The succulent simplicity of the noodle itself is best appreciated in this form ($24). But they are also served in broth ($24), where the noodles become softer, more translucent ribbons. The sets come with tempura, like shrimp, purple sweet potato, and applewood smoked bacon. You’ll have to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with your neighbors to eat at this teeny-tiny LES ramen spot, but their shoyu and miso ramen are totally worth it.
This tsukemen place in Chinatown makes noodles in-house daily, and you can tell - because they're excellent. The broth that comes with the dip ramen is a little underseasoned, but the noodles and the pork ribs it comes with are so good that it doesn't matter. We recommend this spot for a low-key weeknight dinner, even though you might have to wait a bit if you come with a group. If you see a line of people on the sidewalk around Orchard and Delancey, it’s probably for Okiboru.
Ivan Ramen
New kinds of ramen seem to be popping up in the city each week, made with everything from brisket and wagyu beef to bone marrow and black garlic oil. Save those instant noodles in your pantry for the next time you forget to buy groceries, and head to one of these places instead. If you’re looking for a hearty meal to fill you up on these cold winter nights, ramen is a perfect fit. And with lots of new ramen restaurants popping up, there are more flavorful ramen choices than ever.Many Asian chefs grew up with this noodle comfort food, which is said to also brighten the soul.
Himokawa udon originates from Kiryu city, Gunma prefecture — they “look like long pieces of silk, so thin they’re almost translucent. Everything about this place seems designed to get you in and out as briskly as possible, so the line moves fast. You’ll get your food minutes after you order—which you do entirely on your phone.

Yes, Tonchin is a delicious alternative for both tsukemen and ramen, but this Yelper needs to check their expectations again. This Midtown location of Tsurutontan serves sushi and unique bowls of udon in a big space with tons of seating spread out over three floors. Tucked away inside the Wyndham Garden Chinatown hotel, this place isn’t the easiest to find, but that’s good (for you) because it keeps the crowds away. Stop by for a bowl of Shinka’s bone marrow ramen with murky, beefy broth.
The broth at this East Village ramen shop smells like an essential oil diffuser that’s loaded with pure pig essence. The noodles are on the thinner side, and a few slices of straightforward chashu, green onions, and pickled ginger complete the bowl. Unlike some ramen places with more options than an old jukebox, Rockmeisha serves just one kind of soup (though they do have an old jukebox, and speakers blasting classic rock).
So you know you’re going to get some delicious flavors out of it. So that combined with this thick, rich broth was simply divine. The menu, too, is slender — and made to execute quickly. QR code menus became more prevalent after 2020 and have remained, to much dismay, as the standard across many New York restaurants. It can make an establishment feel sterile and stripped of its hospitality — but at Okiboru’s udon shop, it serves a purpose. Conjuring the vending machines found at ramen spots in Japan, not only is the QR code where you’ll find the list of options, but you pay and tip on it before trays hit the table.
You can also get a bunch of oysters, and smaller bites, like karaage. I couldn’t resist the spicy paste and threw the entire thing into the liquid. Dipping the cold noodles (and chicken), soaked up the savory briny flavors of the sauce creating a very cool experience. The East Village outpost of this popular San Francisco ramen shop is one of your better options for a quick bowl of noodles. The room fits about 20, and only cramped counter seating is available, so you’ll get to hear everything going on in your neighbor’s life as you eat one of the two types of ramen offered here. While you settle in to one of its two dozen or so stools, you scan the QR code on the counter in front of you.
The East Coast outpost of this popular San Francisco ramen shop is one of the better options for a quick bowl of noodles in the East Village. Tonkotsu ramen is their speciality, and the pork broth here is some of the richest, creamiest we’ve had. The Hakata Tonkotsu DX version comes with not one but two kinds of pork belly, both meltingly tender and deeply spiced, as well as corn, nori, and a very perfect soft-boiled seasoned egg. The noodles are of the thin variety, and they have a pleasantly chewy texture. Owned by Justin Lim, Okiboru specializes in tsukemen or “dipping ramen”, where noodles come served in a separate bowl and are then dunked into hot broth before eating. The restaurant makes its own noodles and does offer a small selection of other types of ramen on the menu, beyond tsukemen.
Kohoku-Ku ramen is a tiny restaurant in Hell's Kitchen filled with colorful paper lanterns, makeshift seating made from repurposed Suntory crates, and a very fun bathroom. If you like your ramen broth incredibly thick and rich, you'll love the soup here, which borders on gravy. The Kumamoto, made with an ultra-concentrated pork and black garlic broth, is our go-to order here, but the spicy miso and grilled mackerel options are great, too.
The menu is illustrated in rows of photographs showing every variety of soup on offer. You feed a few hundred yen into a slot, select the soup you want, and wait while a ticket is printed. Then you walk inside so you can hand your ticket to a cook behind the counter, who will prepare your bowl.
Download the ultimate insider’s guide to the world's best restaurants. Talking about “the best” restaurants in LA during a pandemic seems entirely unfair, and frankly irrelevant, considering what the industry is facing at the moment. Okiboru can get quite crowded (especially considering how small it is), but if you come at the right time, you should be able to quickly find a seat. I was annoyed by their futuristic way of ordering and paying all via an app. There are servers, but you are encouraged to ignore them and use this app for everything, including payment. One more way for us not to have to speak to each other.