EAK Ramen is located on 6th Ave close to 14th. I used to venture here all the time pre-pandemic, and there was always a line or people. I was curious to see how the restaurant was like since. Back in September 2018, I thought it was one of the better ramen places, but now, EAK also has a ton more competition all over the city. We were able to walk in on a Sunday early afternoon around 4 PM. We were the only diners, so we thought it was cool that we can eat at non-prime times.

I’ve been deprived of noodles in the city for a number of months now. Sure, there are sometimes where I get some Taiwanese noodles, but I also love soba noodles too. I was around the Columbus Circle area, and I was scouring for some alternative ramen places. This one peaked my interest because their specialty was not ramen but soba also known as buckwheat noodles. Buckwheat noodles are supposed to be pretty healthy for you, and on a summer NYC day like today, it seems like a win when opting for cold buckwheat noodles with a cold dip.

Summary

Astoria in the last few months has seen an uptick on Asian restaurants that aren’t fusion and are more authentic. This one just happens to be on Broadway near my partner’s old neighborhood. We’ve been around this area before going to eat Shanghainese food. Today, it’s for noodles.

This was the braised beef tendon. It was marinated in chili oil, garlic, scallions, sesame oil, and other things that I probably missed. It’s a very traditional cold appetizer dish. The beef tendon was actually quite crunchy but cooked properly and thoroughly. I’ve been to Chinese restaurants in NYC where the tendons were hard as rock. But here, it’s pretty clear that it was cooked thoroughly.

Summary

Typically when we walk north on 6th ave towards Trader Joe’s for groceries, we stop by Cava across the street for a snack. We saw this seemingly new interesting restaurant opened with no one in it. The space is very bright, modern, and definitely has a Japanese cafe-chic vibe to it. This dry “ramen” place just opened along 6th Avenue between 20th and 21st Street.

This is another one of those “pick X of this and Y of that” type of restaurant except the theme here is Japanese.

Summary

This ramen place is near NYU and Union Station, so it’s very accessible.

The spicy miso ramen comes with ox bones and marrow broth, spicy miso garlic base, bean sprouts, roasted corn, toasted nori, naruto fishcake, soy braised beef, scallions, and thick wavy noodle. THe broth is super rich, far beyond what I was expecting. It’s not spicy per se, but the soup doesn’t go down super smooth for me. At the end, the spicy pepper would always surprise for some reason. Maybe it’s attributed to the oil and thickness of the broth, I’m not sure. Regardless, I thought the ramen was acceptable, but there are better ones in the city.

Summary

This place has a pretty decent ambiance.

The yuzu margarita was surprisingly pretty good. If you haven’t had yuzu before and like citrus, I recommend you get this if it’s available. I just checked their website’s drink menu, and it’s not on there. This drink wasn’t strong at all, and had a really really good before and after taste. I would drink this over any regular margarita any day.

Summary

I’ve been to this restaurant multiple times in various neighborhoods, but I haven’t documented it till now.

I usually get the spicy tingly beef. It’s pretty good, but to be honest I do like Very Fresh Noodles in the Chelsea Market more. However this place was next to me, so the convenience is much appreciated.

The spicy and sour spinach dumplings are also really good too. I love the vinegary taste wih everything.

Summary

I don’t know much about this ramen spot other than it was on Chef’s Table, and how it really touched a lot of people’s hearts. So my review will be almost based solely on the food itself.

The pork musubi bites were surprisingly good. Each bite is packed full of flavor, although I am rather doubtful that it’s worth $5 a piece.

The Japanese fried chicken were an interesting spin on karaage. The crust was nicely crisp, and the sauce was very tangy. There was a little kick to it too. They served this with a sauce on the side that I don’t quite remember how it tasted like. I do remember that my first thought was that this was oversauced similar to how PF Chang’s would do orange chicken, but nonetheless it was decent.

Summary

Where to start with this. I loathe cash only places considering the price of this is not exactly cheap.

The U & I bowl was really good but not for +$20. The bowl was rather small although the ingredients were pretty fresh.

The flying pig bowl was the biggest disappointment I’ve had. The broth was just OK. It’s subtly different than the normal tonkatsu style broth. I also opted for an ounce of the jamon iberico. I added an additional onsen tamago, which is basically a sous vide egg.

Pretty good tsukemen. Get the spicy miso. Tsukemen seems fairly rare in NYC. Still looking for something similar to LA Tsujita.