East Noodle

Change management, higher prices, terrible food now!!! What a shame! Place empty now. CLOSED NOW I wonder why. Lol

Walked by a few times during the holidays & they’ve been closed. Don’t know when they’ll reopen but hope the food improves! They were bought by global Japanese chain, Ootoya, that already has locations in Chelsea & Midtown. The restaurant will reopen under the same name.
Nobuhito Tanaka, who runs Ootoya’s US operations, bought Robataya from the owner Bön Yagi, who has 10 other restaurants in the area.

I came here not long after I moved to new york city. why?! The ramen soup was disgustingly oily, noodles were mushy. Yes, it’s cheap… but there are a ridiculous number of actually decent ramen places within walking distance. Save yourselves.

nice

Ehhhhh no taste in my ramen and it’s suppose soy sauced? I got the King Ramen. It was pretty big. I didn’t finish it because it wasn’t the taste I was looking for and I was getting full already. My noodle was too soft and felt like it was sat in the soup for a while.
It was a Thursday night. It was not full but our service was slow. It took a while to take down our order. I noticed the customers that came after us got asked first if they were ready. It seem like they just forgot we were new customers?

It’s a decent spot to hit up on a weekday. Their ramen are good as well as their broth. As for the porkbelly… I was hoping to be more… softer? Eventhough they say this is their popular dish. I recommend something else. As for their sushi. Can’t complain. Quite fresh, besides their squids. So I don’t recommend the sashimi version of it. But, it’s hard to say these days. All sashimi’s are a hit or miss at most spots. Just got to know where to get it fresh?

I must really be spoiled with Ippudo a few blocks away because my meal at East Noodle was so disappointing. Although we were sat immediately, we waited about 15 minutes to put in our orders. It was clearly understaffed because there was only one server working during lunch with several occupied tables. I ordered the spicy ramen and my boyfriend ordered the miso ramen. The spicy ramen was bland and not so «spicy» at all… my boyfriend didn’t seem to mind his miso ramen, so no complaints there.
They never checked up on us throughout our meal, nor did we get water refills. We finished our meal quickly, and we didn’t even bother to ask for the check and gave them our credit card without looking at the bill because it took awhile for them to come back to our table. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re in a rush.

I havent seen some of my friends from HS, so we had a small 3 people gathering… we forgot to book reservations at the restaurant that we were supposed to go. which resulted us walking to several locations.
After having to wait forever at all the other locations. we ended up here… i was a bit opposed to it. since this wasnt a great place to eat. but beggers cant be choosers…
I opted for the shoyu ramen, and my friends got the okonomiyaki and the noodles. My ramen was soso… nothing really spectacular… and my friends agreed as well.
Come here if you are really desperate…

How is this place still open? If you’re looking for a good bowl of ramen, do NOT come here!
My friend and I each started with a glass of lychee sake. He complained that his tasted like pure syrup, but mine was adequate. A bit later (because I have bad vision), I notice a little black dot floating at the top of my drink.
Lo and behold, it is a bug!
They gave me a new glass, and now mine tastes like pure alcohol. My friend and I ended up combining our two glasses to mix and then splitting it again to make it bearable.
Next, I ordered the tonkotsu miso ramen (soy bean paste flavor pork broth with roast pork, bamboo shoots, seaweed, bokchoy, fish cake, corn, and half a hard boiled egg). The soup was warm, at best — not hot — and all of the ingredients like the bamboo shoots were cold. The soup was murky and was way too salty. The serving size was very small, and my stomach was still grumbling when I was done. Stick to your Top Ramen and Cup of Noodles, and you’ll be better off.
I also don’t understand this place’s signage. Your storefront does not say East Noodle. Are you May Chan Ramen & Robatayaki? East Noodle? Are you Izakaya? Choose one name, and stick to it!

Had the yummy spicy Ramen noodle soup! Was real spicy! But not too overpouring! :). needed a lot of water!
The chipotle mayo chicken teriyraki was real good too, and nicely cooked.
Service was good.

I passed by this restaurant so many times & always said to myself, «Hmm… maybe someday I’ll stop by & check this place out…». Well, that someday is one chilly Monday night, my girlfriend & I were hungry. I was actually in the mood for some good burger but my girlfriend told me, it’s chilly & she was in the mood for a noodle soup. Well, being a good boyfriend, I said to her, «Sure, we can go for a noodle soup, if you want…»
Originally we were going to eat at Cocoron but they were closed on Monday. I was starving. I was still thinking of my burger but suddenly I was thinking of that noodle place that I always passed by near St Mark’s. I said to her, «Hey, let’s check out that noodle place near St Mark’s… we never been there… let’s give it a shot». She said, «Okay, let’s go!»
We got to the noodle place around 8pm. Plenty of tables were available. Our host were pretty friendly & energetic. He even gave us a recommendation on what’s good on the menu without us asking.
We ordered the spicy pork ramen, tonkatsu shio ramen, & okonomiyaki. I personally enjoyed my spicy ramen very much but my girlfriend thought her tonkatsu shio ramen were somewhat bland. The spicy ramen is spicy & packed full of flavor. It was really delicious. From one to ten scale, one is mild, ten is «habanero level», I’d say, I’m more like a four or five. The spicy ramen’s spicy level is just perfect for me, not too spicy or too mild. The noodle, the egg, & the pork were just average, nothing special. I took a sip of my girlfriend’s tonkatsu shio ramen & I must say, I totally agree with her. The okonomiyaki were also average, exactly what I was expected.
Two bowls of ramen & an okonomiyaki, total damage was about $ 29. The portion of the food were decent. We came in hungry, well, more like I came in starving & she came in hungry & we got out feeling full.
All in all, we were definitely satisfied with our meal there. Excellent service! Great price! We will definitely go back there.

Sometimes it is better not to glance at reviews before choosing a place to eat, stay, shop, etc. That was the case for me when looking for a place to eat in the area. If I just went off their rating I would not have eaten here.
My brother lives on the Upper East Side and has only been in this area once before. So we were looking for someplace quick and easy for lunch. This restaurant has some delicious soups and they have dozens of different soups to choose from.
I ordered a spicy ramen that had lots of vegetables. I found it very appetizing. Went with all of my family and all of us enjoyed our meal.
I would definitely come back if in the area.

After doing a Jack Daniels tasting event and eating at Lil Frankies, I there was a gaping hole in my stomach and it was craving food. We were on a mission to find ourselves Pommes Frites and you know what, random guy working at this restaurant saw me glance at the restaurant. With the first words out of his mouth being «Dollar beer! Dollar Menu!» he had me. French fry mission aborted we sat down for some dollar beers and their dollar menu. Unfortunately, what he didn’t tell us was there would be a minimum in order to get such awesome deals. No matter, I was hungry and had no problem hitting that minimum. It’s a typical Izakaya place and there were a number of items at a dollar and change. Nothing amazing, nothing bad, just cheap food, cheap booze, and fast service without some of the crazy lines you see at other more popular East Village joints. What’s not to like?

MAN THAT SOUP WAS SALTY! I ordered the spicy seafood ramen, not only did it not contain the four large mussels that were shown in the picture, it was extremely strong in flavor. Generally I don’t mind the stronger broth, but this was just wayyyyy too much. They used way too much spice powder and the flavor was overwhelming.
Honestly, my dining partner and I were just looking to explore the other ramen places in the neighborhood so we don’t keep going to Ramen Misoya which happens to be down the block, menkui ten a block away, or even Ippudo when we can get in. We probably should have skipped this place. They have monkeys in the kitchen if they consider that to be decent ramen. My dining partner had the Spicy Ramen which was a pork broth, FAIL! The flavor of that dish seems like it would be found in a mexican restaurant or something, because it was definitely not an asian spice.
The chicken wings and the Nigori sake were its only redeeming factors. The agadashi tofu was too firm, it wasn’t even agadashi tofu. The homemade sake with Lychee flavor — way to sweet. Seriously? Do these people not have taste buds? Tone everything down a bit and it may be okay, and this is coming from someone who likes strong and spicy flavors…
NB: I see that others reviewed this place based off some special half priced ramen and dollar menu. We paid full price for this meal, so no savings there.
Conclusion — SKIP this place! I should have checked Unilocal first!

Cold sunday afternoon, perfect day for some ramen! Sick of the usual places and not wanting to wait in lines… we walk down 2^nd avenue looking for some alternatives. The 50% off Ramen sign caught our eye… I really wish it hadn’t.
I really felt like some appetizers so decided to order Yakitori B. What I actually got was a sorry excuse for yakitori. Mozarella ball + tomato on a stick soaked in oil? A single massive meatball that is burnt on one side and dried to the point of not being swallowable without a gulp of water? 4 sloppy slices of eggplant covered in some goo? 4 pieces of hot dog lightly cooked (still cold) on a skewer? Skip it and save your $ 10! Really repulsive.
The ramen was super oily. I ordered the beef ramen and the fiancé got the pork belly ramen. My ramen tasted like it was in the korean suhlungtang — not very ramenlike at all. The noodles were pretty much out of a shin ramen package. My fiancé’s pork belly looked like a piece of pork fat. Not appetizing at all.
The 50% off may entice you but it’s definitely not worth your time or (half) your money.

Nasty, nasty, nasty.
I was fooled by the «$ 1 appetizer» signs on the windows. I’m from the DC area, it’s not like I can find takoyaki just anywhere, let alone $ 1 takoyaki. My boyfriend and I were a little tired from walking around NYC and we wanted to rest our feet for a bit, so we figured we’d sit down, have a quick bite and continue on uptown.
This was foiled when the manager came up to our table and said we needed a $ 10 minimum to even sit down and eat at this empty restaurant on a slow-​ass Monday afternoon. Which is understandable (though I doubt Max Brenner would have given me the same ultimatum if I wanted to sit in and have just the one mug of hot chocolate on an equally slow day), so we ordered a few items off the yakitori menu and hoped for the best.
The takoyaki was passable, but everything else? Blargh.
Boyfriend: «They look nothing like the pictures. They taste like the pictures, in that they taste like paper.»
Between the half-​assed yakitori and the advertising trickery, I seriously didn’t want to give anyone a tip save for the nice, attentive waitress we had. I tried to slip her a tip under the table, but the manager saw me and as soon as we walked out of the restaurant, he took the cash from her and put it in the tip jar.
I’d wish ill on this place, but I have a feeling it’ll shut down in less than a year. Nice Waitress Lady, you deserve better! Find a better restaurant and a better manager to work for.

I’ve passed this restaurant so many times and I’ve never bothered to try it. On a whim, and because everywhere else was packed, I ate here yesterday night. The wait was only 10 minutes whereas everywhere else in the neighborhood had 30+ minute waits. That right there should have been the red flag.
Regardless, my group and I sat down and ordered. I ordered a combo of skewers. Gizzard, heart, chicken, pork and beef. I was less than impressed. The meats were all doused in the same generic teriyaki sauce. The pork was like chewing rubber. The chicken was dry and the beef was chewy like gum. I will definitely NOT be coming back here again. There are about 40 other Japanese places in a 3 block radius anyway.

[[[ I agreeeee with the fellow Unilocalers who only gave 2 STARS to East Noodle. ]]]
My boyfriend and I were craving for some RAMEN, so we decided to try this place in St. Marks. Sighhh, we finished the meal in somewhat mild regrets.
Tonkotsu Ramen — Noodle itself is good but the soup base is too bland, too watered down! What happened to the flavors?
Beef Ramen — Same story. Noodle itself is good but the soup base is too bland, too watered down! Where is the beef flavor?
Okonomiyaki — Japanese style seafood pancake. It definitely looked great but looks are generally deceiving. We found the pancake to be too starchy. Too thick. Not enough seafood. ughh, totally did not expect this!
Gyoza — Fried pork dumplings… The pork inside tasted okay. Outside crust is too hard. Salty dumpling sauce. whoa, Gyoza, sorry to bash but you disappointed me a little bit.
Although the RAMEN is 50% OFF, I do not think I will return because I have had better RAMEN elsewhere. Therefore, so long East Noodle.

Long day from work, it’s late, you look like a mess, and you need a quick bite? East Noodle was the perfect spot. Japanese small eats, ramen, sake, and beer type of place. If you’re looking for sushi, hibachi, etc. you’re looking at the wrong place. The menu has pictures! The last thing I want to do is read long descriptions.
I had:
1. Assorted grilled items — Clams, triangular rice balls, shrimp & salmon skewers, which were good.
2. Beef ramen — Nothing spectacular. Broth was light, not as flavorful compared to most ramen spots, with half a boil egg, not the flavored kind, few pieces of shredded beef, some other vegetables floating around, and not too many noodles.

My party of four and I ventured here as nearby restaurants were crowded and unable to attain a table for dinner. Décor flows smoothly in the restaurant and the table settings are in a picnic table style.
As we sat in the rear closest to the kitchen, we unexpectedly sniffed the unruly scent of cigarettes which upon inquiring with several wait staff they simply brushed off our compliant. May Chan are you aware of the 1995 NYS no smoking indoor law signed by (I believe) Mayor Guiliani? Many of the staff have great difficulty in the English language for general oral conversations as our party have to point to the menu or reiterate the verbiage of our requests in several forms. Service was snail slow as a turtle which felt like an eternity waiting for the sky to fall down! Ayia, May Chan where are our Gyoza, Pork Katsu, pancake, Ramen Noodles, Bibimbap accompanied with one glass of plum wine and one Sapporo beer for our party?

We were coming back from Boston on a Friday evening via BoltBus and were significantly delayed, and thus didn’t make it out to East Village until around 9 pm. Our original plan was to go to Caracas (
), but upon entering, were told it would be an hour-​plus wait. So we put our names down and ambled towards 2^nd Ave to try to find a place to pass the time.
Lo and behold, we found May Chan, which looked absolutely new and relatively empty (still packed, but at least there were bar seats). Now keeping in mind that we were on the brink of hunger-​strike starvation (I exaggerate slightly), May Chan absolutely hit the spot. As this was supposed to be our snack/​appetizer before heading to Caracas, we ordered light: the chicken «burgers» (really mantou bread) and a shoyu ramen.
The girlfriend was absolutely delighted at the chicken burgers; she doesn’t eat duck, so every time peking duck is ordered, her mantou is stuffed with just veggies and hoisin. The fact that they served that alone probably garnered the place 5* in her eyes. The ramen was decent as well, and priced very well.
Our waiters were the friendliest in New York – and also absolutely clueless. You could tell the place just opened. They brought us the wrong ramen at one point, and our waiter ran around asking the cooks and other waiters what the heck had just happened. This probably happened three more times while we were there. We didn’t mind terribly, though, as they were all smiles while bumbling around.
If you don’t mind the «inauthentic» and «fusion» labels put on this place, they’re rather friendly, priced fairly, and nicely decorated. The 4* may be generous based on hunger level, but hey, new places need positive pub too.