Ramen Misoya in the East Village, NYC, New York

I will always be amazed by the number of ramen places in New York, serving different types of this delicious soup where slurping is not impolite. I were a kid, I would definitely listen to my Mom if she wanted me to eat this kind of soup, over a vegetable one I had in my childhood. 

Ramen Misoya is located in an area where there are plenty of Ramen places, but trust me, they have no problem getting customers. Or I should say that their only problem is the size of the restaurant.

It has probably 20 seats and, contrary to a lot of restaurants of that sort, the kitchen is in the back, separate from the dining room, so you cannot sit at the counter and observe the Chef do his magic.

We went there on a Saturday night, at 6pm, and it was packed from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. 

The restaurant serves three types of miso:

• Kome miso ramen, that they describe as: "made of rice, the standard miso. Intense flavor with rich aroma".
• Mame miso ramen: "made of beans, dark-colored miso. Among the three miso, it has the sweetest and richest texture". 
• Shiro miso ramen: "Compared to Kome Miso, Shiro Miso is less intense in flavor and sweeter. A light-colored miso".

If you look at the menu, there is no vegetarian option, all the soups being made with at least ground beef. In fact, they have a separate vegetarian menu that they will bring if you ask them. I am not sure though why they do not include the vegetarian options in the regular menu!

Jodi went for the vegetarian Shiro miso ramen:

It was composed of fried tofu, an egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoot, cabbage and noodles.

Mine was the Mame Miso Cha-Shu:

The presentation was very appetizing. It was made of pork cha-shu, a fried shrimp, an egg, ground beef, bean sprouts, cabbage, bamboo shoot and noodles. 

Both ramen were delicious, but I admit that I preferred the Shiso miso one, although it was vegetarian. It was simply because the broth was delicious, sweet, soft and light, very milky. The fact that the tofu was fried was a good idea as it gave a bit of texture and crispiness to the dish.

But, the shrimp and pork were definitely good, the pork having this braised taste that was heaven. Let's not forget the egg: it was so soft that my chopsticks cut through without any effort and the yolk was perfectly runny. And the noodles: they seem to be the same in both bowls. However, mine were more al dente and the color darker, probably because of the dark-colored broth.

Both ramen were delicious and I can't wait to go back to Ramen Misoya. The food was good and the service efficient and courteous. I think Ramen Misoya is another alternative to the priciest and overrated Ippudo!

Enjoy (I did)!


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