Shuya
When we ate at Ogawa, we were talking to the restaurant manager in Miami, and he said his old friend ran this restaurant in NYC. Apparently this restaurant originally existed in Queens, but it moved into Manhattan. At last, we had a Friday where didn’t really have any plans, so I suggested this restaurant. I was able to book a table for 2 for 6:00 PM on a Friday evening a few days in advance without issues. This restaurant is known for their yuzu flavored ramen.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance inside is pretty no frills. It’s a small restaurant, and they have alcoves for tables larger than 2, a counter, and some small tables for 2 in the middle and along the wall.
The service was a bit manual, in that we had to flag the wait staff if we needed things. They seldom asked us for what we want. When you pay the bill, it has a QR code you can scan to pay via your phone. Overall the interaction with the wait staff is pretty limited.
Food
As a note when we arrived on a Friday, happy hour prices began when the restaurant opened at 5 PM and ends at 7 PM.
The Happy Hour Fuji Apple Fizz ($8 - right) tasted like fizzy apple soda with shochu (soju) in it. It was pretty good and light on alcohol.
The Yuzu Soda ($7 - left) was very delicious. The yuzu flavors were very prominent and were nice and pungent even when melted with the ice.
The Happy Hour Temaki ($5 per piece) which they said was toro. The one/two bites for this were just OK. I felt the fish wasn’t the best cut, and there were some tendons in it.
The Happy Hour Tebasaki Chicken Wings ($4 for 2 pieces) was actually pretty good. It was glazed with some sweet sauce, and the batter was crispy and delicious.
The Duck Tsukemen ($28) was very good. The noodles were thick, and the texture was very bouncy. The duck meat was very tender and good, and the broth was very savory with full of duck flavors. After you finish the noodles, you can ask them for dashi to continue consuming the existing duck broth.
The Assari Yuzu Shio Ramen ($19) was surprisingly very light, but also very good. If you’re someone that has a heavy salted tongue, you may find the soup and flavors bland. But if you really test your palette, you can taste the yuzu and the dashi broth well. It leans on the citrus flavors of the yuzu to provide the acid to substitute for the salt. The noodles are thinner than the tsukemen, and have a more flour texture to it. The noodles tasted pretty good. I came here to try this soup, and I wasn’t really disappointed. The 2 chicken pieces tasted as if they were sous vide, and so thus were very tender. The 2 small clams were a bit rubbery and forgettable. Was it the best ramen in the city? Probably not, but if you are seeking something that is an alternative to the normal shoyu or tonkatsu flavors, this is a welcome change.
Overall Impression
Shuya is certainly not the best ramen in the city, but it is a very good one with some interesting offerings. The side dishes are pretty good, though I didn’t care much for the sushi. The duck tsukemen is quite delectable, and if you’re a fan of yuzu like I am, check out the yuzu ramen.
Yelp & Google Jabs
The assari yuzu shio ramen was decent, but not my taste preference.
The shio ramen is going to have a light profile, and it will be difficult to dance between something heavy in salt and this one. The broth relies on aromatics and is generally considered the purest expression of ramen umami.
At the cost of being fast, though, we did feel a little rushed - we had a little less than 2 hours for our table which felt a little tight but maybe it was just a busy Friday night.
For ramen, this definitely is not as fast as this Elitist thinks it is. For ramen as a solo diner, I am usually in and out within 20 minutes. My partner and I were there for about 45 minutes, and we felt that it was plenty of time. So it really depends what you’re going here for. Generally, ramen restaurants will try to turn over tables quickly.
Revisions
- Jan 16, 2026 - Initial revision.