The 20 Best Ramen Joints in NYC

One of the Bay Area’s most celebrated soup slingers, Marufuku Ramen, touched down in New York this summer. With a handful of outlets already around the country, this West Coast star is lauded for its Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen characterized with a milky 20-hour simmered pork broth and thin, straight noodles. Patrons can customize spice level and choose from a bunch of Japanese appetizers like gyoza and edamame.

Tucked within Citizens NY, the new culinary dining center right by Hudson Yards that debuted this past fall, Sa’Moto is the recently-minted counter-style pan-Asian dining concept from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. And alongside dishes like sticky ribs and crab spring rolls, he’s offering four noodle soup dishes. Of note is the Spicy Cloudy Pork ramen, which is made with a tonkotsu broth base, studded with braised pork belly, scallions, yuzu kosho, plus a tangle of lo mein noodles.

New Jersey-based Montclair Hospitality Group opens the 8th location of their popular ramen chainlet, Ani Ramen House, this month within Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place. One of the brand’s signature ramens is its Spicy Miso Ramen (on the menu for the last seven years), and chef/partner Julian Valencia says he was inspired by the fermented paste’s versatility. This version is made with a blend of four types of miso, as well as a chili paste, which add a creamy texture to a chicken broth base. Chewy Sun Noodles fortify the soup, as does braised pork belly, alongside yu choy, chives, cabbage, and scallion.

The top order at this long established Prospect Heights neighborhood favorite is Chuko’s Hakata-style sesame garlic ramen (that’s been on the menu for a full decade for good reason). This rich, cloudy pork and chicken broth is deeply flavored with a sesame-garlic umami and black garlic oil, and comes with thin noodles, spicy pickled mustard greens, wood ear mushrooms and scallion.

With locations in Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village, this American import of a Japan-based chain focuses on Iekei-style bowls, a tonkotsu/shoyu variety originally hailing from the city of Yokohama. Here, go for the E.A.K. shoyu, with a soup made from a broth blend that’s partly rich pork-based tonkotsu with chicken and soy-based shoyu added. Its noodles are short and thick, and the soup comes garnished with a seasoned egg, pork chashu, spinach, and nori.

This minimalist-designed spicy ramen stalwart serves some of Queens’ best ramens in a myriad of regional Japanese styles. But the signature order here is the HinoMaru namesake, a richer Hakata-style (aka tonkotsu) 17-hour simmered pork bone broth with thin noodles, chashu pork, scallion, bean sprouts, nori, wood ear mushrooms, and the special “fire ball” chili sauce. Patrons also have the option to customize bowls with additional garnishes like butter or a poached egg.

An early favorite in NYC’s ramen invasion, this Japanese chain export that drew crazy lines for its milky tonkotsu landed in the East Village over a decade ago. And after a 13-year run in Manhattan, it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that the soup slinger started to offer takeout and delivery. To this day, Ippudo’s creamy pork-based broth holds up against any other. With additional locations in Hell’s Kitchen and nearby Times Square, the shops offer a few soup options with Ippudo’s signature broth, such as Shiromaru Motoaji, organized with thick and chewy house-made noodles, chashu pork, mushrooms, scallion, bamboo shoots, and fish cake.

Chef Ivan Orkin’s ramen shop has been a fixture on the Lower East Side since its 2014 debut, with one of its most popular menu items a ramen Orkin developed while living in Tokyo (he commanded a ramenya of the same name for eight years there). Go for the Tokyo shio (shio means salt in Japanese), which is made with a split base of chicken broth and dashi, poured atop of a mess of thin, straight rye noodles, fortified with pork belly, a soft egg, and roasted tomato. 

With its bright, open, and modern feel, Jun-Men—helmed by chef Jun Park—specializes in a hybrid Hokkaido-meets-NYC-style ramen made from a rich pork bone broth (simmered from three different types of bones for over 18 hours) that’s luxurious but not too heavy. The pork bone ramen comes with a twist of straight noodles, loaded with chashu pork, a soft-boiled egg, scallion, wood ear mushroom, and bamboo shoots.

​​A twist on Tokyo-style shoyu ramen, chef and owner (and former Ippudo chef) “Foo” Kanegae’s Point Blank Ramen hit the menu last year and was so well-received (even during COVID) that it has quickly become a staple. The Fukuoka native builds his broth with pork and horseradish, adds thin, wavy noodles, and tops the broth with pork chashu, scallions, wasabi tobiko, and wasabi oil. On the side patrons snag a vial of yuzu juice, and Kanegae suggests adding it halfway through slurping to change up the soup’s flavors.

This totally unfussy, shoe box-sized joint is part of NYC’s original ramen wave, having earned a devout following over the last 17 years for its serious bowls. Fans come for the signature pork and chicken bone broth, with customizable flavorings like soy or salt, and various noodle options from thin to thick to gluten-free. Expect classic toppings like pork chashu, wood ear mushrooms, scallion, and seasoned egg. Note: it’s cash only.

Chef and owner Takatoshi Nagara earned a Michelin star slinging ramen in Tokyo at his eatery, Bigiya Ramen, before launching this blonde wood-bedecked sophomore effort in NYC six years ago. Fans especially line up for his Tokyo-style tonkotsu ramen, which has a 12-hour-simmered pork bone broth inlaid with thin, straight noodles, all with the option to be made spicy with a house-made chili oil and paste.

This quirky cocktail bar is the sophomore effort from rockstar barman Shige Kabashima, who cut his teeth at lauded Japanese cocktail den, Angel’s Share, before debuting his first solo project, ROKC (also on this list). In addition to curious and elaborately garnished cocktails flavored with ingredients like palo santo, one should come for izakaya-style bites and ramen selections that are both warm and cold. Don’t miss the brothless uni and salmon roe option, which involves thickly-cut, extra chewy noodles topped with shiso and nori.

Lauded Japanese ramen slinger Shigetoshi Nakamura first impressed New Yorkers with his balanced broths at Sun Noodle’s Ramen Lab back in 2015, and soon after he decamped to launch his own venture with Ramen Nakamura, a narrow spot that seats 18. Many of its ramen enthusiasts come for the Torigara, a lighter-style Jidori chicken broth seasoned with soy, loaded with the diner’s choice of noodle, and garnished with spinach, chashu, scallion oil, bamboo shoots, and fish cake.

Celebrated for his ornate tipples served in wacky vessels, this is the first solo project from acclaimed barman Shige Kabashima, formerly of lauded drinks den Angel’s Share. And new to his team is Sapporo, Japan-native chef Takashi Igarashi (previously of Odo and Kyo Ya) who has just added a ramen inspired by the soup-style popular in his home city. The Sapporo calls for a chicken and house-made miso broth, and it’s spiked with butter and garnished with bean sprouts, scallion, and chicken char siu.

Despite an expansive menu with options like pork baos and spicy tuna tacos, skip right to the ramen. The order here is the beef bone marrow ramen for which Shinka has won several awards. Though this is a Japanese soup—made from 14-hour simmered wagyu bones with their marrow—chef Waki Ng was initially inspired by a richly-flavored Korean beef-based soup called seolleongtang. The result is a creamy gyukotu-style (beef) ramen that hails from Japan’s Tottori Prefecture, with thin noodles, wagyu brisket, sliced daikon, garlic chips, chives, scallion and the signature broiled bone marrow.

Before opening in 2018, chef Tomo Kubo slept at his restaurant for a week so that he could closely monitor his uber rich pork broth—one that he strived to make not just the richest in NYC, but the whole country. This broth takes more than 60 hours to refine, and that’s because Kubo believes that a long, slow cook is the only way to extract all flavor from the pork bones. Straight from the heart of Tokyo, come for the Jiro-style (large, heaping portions) tonkotsu tsukemen (dip ramen). Noodles are so thick and chewy that the TabeTomo team nicknamed this dish “mochi ramen.”

At this modern and new American izakaya that serves ramen, come here for the wantan-men—basically the Japanese take on wonton soup—in this case a fish and pork broth with thin noodles, loaded with pork and shrimp dumplings, broccoli rabe, chashu pork, scallions, nori, and yuzu zest. 

While this spunky, hip, four-year-old izakaya-inspired eatery (which originally opened in Japan almost three decades ago) sometimes blends flavors from Japan and the U.S. via dishes from curry cheese chicken wings, it’s the ramen you’re here to experience. The classic Tokyo tonkotsu is the only item still on the menu since day one, consisting of thin house-made noodles in a thick tonkotsu pork broth, with chashu pork, soft-boiled seasoned egg, scallion, bamboo shoots and nori.

This popular midtown staple (with locations in Hell’s Kitchen and Midtown East) is part of the city’s older ramen guard and maintains its street cred even after a decade in the game. Patrons frequent Totto for its bird-based broths laced with chicken fat richness, tangled with thin, wavy noodles. Bowls are minimalist-adorned, with nori, scallion, onion, char siu and wood ear mushrooms.