Puff Cha Ramen

Lunch special portion is a bit small but still a great deal for Hell’s Kitchen Thai prices. It comes with a small cup of iced (unsweetened) tea. The mild level curry has plenty of spice, anything higher will probably put your mouth on fire. I also got a BBQ pork puff (it’s just diced Chinese style roast pork), which was way too oily. I loved the flaky pastry shell, but don’t think it was supposed to ooze oil out as I’m eating it. I would still go back and give it another try!

Excellent service and incredibly friendly and efficient staff. There is a M-​F lunch special of $ 7.50 for either a meat+rice dish or ramen with iced tea and spring rolls. Their ramen is perfect; not too salty and perfectly filling. I will definitely keep coming back!

My boyfriend loves puffs … every kinds of puffs. I planed to bring him here for a while but no changed. Finally we went here on weekends. They have a variety of puffs. I tried NY cheese cake puff, coconut corn puff and crab lagoons puff. Love all. My boyfriend who love something traditional so he ate 3 of original thai style puff. For main dish i had curry ramen and he had red curry with chicken, a bit spicy for him but he was done it anyway.

I had high hopes for this place. Maybe I caught them on an awful day, maybe I shouldn’t have ordered what I did but, my advise? Stay away!
But let me explain, while the experience is still fresh:
My friend and I order 3 puffs as appetizers, the Thai bbq, Korean bbq and original. Our mains, one curry ramen and one miso ramen. All is well. The puffs finally come and starving from work I quickly split all of them to eat with my main honcho. Not bad, definitely not the best but not bad. Then the Ramen came and it all went to bloody hell.
My broth (curry) was oily with a film of red pooling on top. The egg was cold, almost seemingly frozen and defrosting into the broth. The noodles tasteless. But what was worse? The pork pieces rough and tasting vaguely of plastic. My friend’s ramen didn’t fair any better as she immediately looked pleadingly at me to save us from this monstrous experience. We quickly ordered to go, and 20 minutes later we were both sick to our stomachs forcing us to do something no one should ever subjugate themselves to… Finding the nearest public restroom and hurling our guts out.
Never again Puff Cha Ramen, never again.

Puff the Magic Dragon must’ve sprinkled some of his magic into Puff Cha Café’s recipes because they are Tom Yummy. This is not your Japanese ramen shop, but a Thai Asian fusion restaurant. The curry puffs are Asian empanadas with my favorites being the basil chicken and Korean beef bbq. The spicy Tom Yum Cha Gung Lao Thai noodle soup warms you up with its layers of savory flavors. The portions are hearty and the meal was satisfying. The restaurant is small, so you may get to know your dining neighbor and can expect a wait at peak hours

Had three PUFFS: original, Thai BBQ, Korean BBQ and came with peanut sauce. All really good. Usually these PUFFS are not so good in restaurants, but good here, so get it.
And then had crispy duck noodles, ban mea something… That was good too. Nice chewy noodles (very satisfying), with duck that was surprisingly really good even fried. So yes definitely worth going. And so inexpensive too!
Oh and great service!

I ordered the miso ramen with an extra egg and it was damn near inedible.
After a short argument with the delivery person about whether my office address existed, he asked someone on the street and walked into the building. (Yes, he was standing right in front of the building. 10 minutes later I called to see where he was and he asked me to go down to the lobby…
The meat was extremely chewy; the ramen noodles themselves were low quality with similar color and texture of old, under cooked wonton noodles; and their eggs were hardboiled — not soft boiled — which I believe is a spite against the ramen gods.

A nice little ramen place in Hell’s Kitchen, just a 10-​minute walk from the theater district. When I say little, I mean little. It looks like they have about 20 seats in the narrow dining area (which includes several along a wall counter), and I don’t know how people can even walk through if all those seats are filled, but I guess they make it work.
Despite getting there at 9:00 PM (and the restaurant closes at 10:00 PM), we weren’t rushed. All the staff was very helpful and attentive.
We ordered the miso ramen and a dry ramen with crispy duck. Both were quite good. Of course, we also ordered a six pack of puffs: Korean BBQ (2), crab rangoon, Thai BBQ, New York cheesecake and apple strudel. They’re served with a peanut dipping sauce. All of them were good and surprisingly filling.
Oh, and the bubble tea with jelly was one of the best we ever had!

Oh My Cha!
Located on 10^th avenue (almost) and 50^th street and far removed from the tower (ing) businesses of Broadway is a nice little 20 or so seater ramen and puff restaurant known as Puff Cha.
The puffs that must be tasted upon entering:
1. Original
2. Original
3. Original
4. Crab Rangooon
5. Thai BBQ
6. Korean BBQ
The curry puffs are deep-​fried goodness and are the reason I order curry puffs in the majority of Thai restaurant I visit now, and none have come close to Puff Cha (maybe Pure). One bite and you’ll be hooked!
If you are adverse about anything curry then the other puffs are worth a try since they have little to no curry in them, but the quantity of curry in the original isn’t overpowering in any way. You may not taste it at all in certain batches.
While the curry puffs are the main reason to visit, you have to have a main course with it. This means you must be having the ramen. With angel hair pasta as its base it’s a nice warm up on a cold winter day, or summer day (drink some iced tea to cool down). Of course I’m writing this at the tail end of the Christmas Heat Wave.
A filling meal with quality ingredients and good portions of meat (no veggies for me).
Of the dishes I’ve tried, I recommend avoiding the pad-​thai (lunch special when I tried it). It was a flavorless mess. The take-​out dish looked as though it was formed from the ingredients normally used in the ramen. Not a bad thing, but there was no flavor, only blandness.
The bubble tea and Thai iced tea is worth a glance as well.
Overall: 4.5 Stars
The burning hot puffs scorch your tongue so good!
Lunch Special @ $ 6.95 with Iced Tea and Salad???
While take-​out for the dishes is an option, you are far better eating in and trying the dishes as they come out of the kitchen and not building ramen in your home/​office.
Watch out for that first step, it is a little treacherous if you aren’t paying attention.
I wish I didn’t move further away from Puff Cha, but I will be back!

This is my go-​to (or take-​out) lunch spot! For $ 6.95 ($ 7.57 including tax) you get an entrée, salad, and iced tea. The portions aren’t huge, but the quality is pretty good, so it’s worth it. The iced tea is your average sweet tea with a lemon and the salad is a small bowl of seemingly fresh romaine, carrots, radicchio (?), a tomato, and really yummy thai peanut dressing. For the entrée, I usually go with the soy or curry ramen, which isn’t as fancy as Totto around the corner but is really flavorful and always has a good helping of non-​noodle ingredients (brown seaweed (?), egg, bamboo shoots, peas and carrots, etc.)– I’m always tempted to slurp up all of the soup but somehow restrain myself haha
I’ve gotten their entrees over rice and dry noodle, bubble tea, and puffs, but stick with the ramen because it’s the most tasty and filling.
In terms of ambiance, I like the spot because the staff is friendly (but not all up in your face) and it doesn’t feel awkward to eat alone. They will seat you at the bar or, if the restaurant isn’t busy, your own table. Either way, I’ve always been satisfied (and I go/​get pickup about once every two/​three weeks!)!

I think this place is good for what it’s worth. This isn’t the place where you’ll get fresh hand pulled noodle but what you’ll get is a flavorful, rich, and perfectly sized portions for under $ 15.
Here’s my experience:
Black Friday midday and I find myself hungry as usual. I went for a walk around Hell’s Kitchen and found myself in front of puff cha. After about 5 minutes of staring at the menu I decided to step in. I was immediately greeted by a server and my order was placed before I even sat down! My bowl comes out and I start slurping in between chewing delicious fatty pork slices. Hey even put my Coke in a attractive beer glass. Paying the bill couldn’t have been any easier. Overall the experience was good and I was in and out.

3.5 stars rounded down!
Great lunch menu with very good prices. Although the quantity isn’t very big, but that just means you get to try many of their puff pastry treats!
I’ve had the taro, spicy chicken basil, and korean BBQ. Of the three I was only able to really taste the korean bbq, the rest were simply too bland!
The ramen is solid, the broth is not too thick or salty, the noodles are thin and firm.
They also serve bubble tea or boba here. I ordered a jasmine green milk tea which also tasted a little watered down. maybe my taste buds were just in a weird mood that day…
A few blocks walk from the C or 1 train!

Puff Cha is a really small spot so I feel like whether or not you have to wait long, is really a hit or a miss. I came in with a coworker for lunch on a Friday at around 1 and there were still a few empty tables. When we left an hour later, there was almost a line out the door.
To start, I decided to try one of the puffs. I was debating between the Pad Thai puff or the Korean BBQ puff but I finally settled on the Pad Thai. Maybe I picked wrong because I did not like it. It tasted fine but it tasted nothing like Pad Thai. It had tofu, carrots, onions, none of which are actually in Pad Thai, except for maybe the tofu. It was very deceiving but what can you do.
Onto the entrée — for this, I definitely picked right. I had the peanut khun tao noodles, which was ramen (no broth) with peanut sauce, bean sprouts, and ground pork. This was really good! There are no peanut bits (which I don’t like in my food), it wasn’t overly saucy, and the density of the noodles was just right. I almost wished that I hadn’t ordered the lunch special portion (which comes with a small side salad). I was full from it but it was so good, that I probably could have kept eating more if it was in front of me. So maybe it’s a good thing that I ordered the smaller portion.
There are so many other broth-​less noodle dishes that I want to try, so I will definitely be back! But next time, I think I’ll stay away from the puffs.

Came here last night after my Tough Mudder to eat with my friend. What a great suggestion! We arrived at about 6.30pm with a minimal wait time. The place is tiny, so would suggest coming in earlier to avoid waiting in line.
Between the two of us we got 3 curry puffs: original, basil, and Korean BBQ. The best flavour is undoubtedly the basil. I love curry puffs, being from Malaysia and all, and this is the closest thing I’ve ever found to my grandma’s curry puffs! How exciting. I love the flaky crust, not the dense thick kind that most people usually make like they would for an empanada.
For mains, I got the tomyam soup noodle with roast pork. The roast pork was delish, and the soup was sufficiently spicy (read: very spicy because I insisted on putting in a lot of chili powder). My friend had the roast duck with rice, which seemed a bit small from where I was sitting, but I did not try it. Prices were reasonable. The mains cost only $ 10 each! I was surprised. The curry puffs were pricey though at $ 2 each, but I understand the level of work and care that goes into making curry puffs after years of having watched my grandma make them.
Tip: don’t forget the Unilocal check in discount like I did. Will be back to try more things!

This was some serious yum! Loved the Puff Chas and ordered the duck ramen. I loves me duck, and this didn’t disappoint for the price.
Got a Unilocal check-​in discount, and the service was really good.
Not usually in this neck of the woods, but I’ll have to make an exception whenever I’m back in NYC.

So as a sit-​down spot I’ll have to rate this place at 3 stars, but as a potential take out joint it would probably be up to 4. Due to my unfortunate inability to give halvsies, I will defer to the higher rating.
We stroll to the front of the restaurant at 11AM sharp to avoid any lines and we are told to come back in 15 minutes because the joint isn’t open yet. Needless to say my grumbling stomach was not pleased and no one likes me when I’m hangry.
Thankfully the Jolly Goat is around the corner and there are few things a nice chai tea latte can’t fix.
We get there and look at their puffs and order 6 of them for two people while also getting a ramen and beef soup. Yes, the eyes never cease to be bigger than the stomach for me.
The Puffs:
— Original: curry puff very similar to an Indian samosa
— Basil: more of a thai flavor
— Korean: korean flavoring with ground beef
All were full of greasy deliciousness and potent flavoring which paired well with the peanut sauce which was also used on the salad.
Shoyou Ramen: this was kind of a run of the mill ramen with not enough soup, leaving a wad of clumped noodles in the middle of the bowl. There was half an egg, some bamboo and a couple of pieces of pork. The noodles were generic, but the broth was pretty decent.
I got the lunch special so it came with an ice tea and salad. Pretty solid deal for only $ 6.95 in the city. My partner in crime got the beef noodle soup which also came with a paucity of soup, yet commanded a much higher price point — almost double that of the ramen.
Either way, if you’re looking for a quick bite these puffs are solid. If you’re looking for ramen, keep on lookin good people.

I came here even though I was in a noodle mood, and I knew Puff Cha was better known for their puff pastries. But despite Puff Cha’s reputation, the noodle soup was also delicious!
I am used to Chinatown quality noodle soups. And although I love them, I acknowledge that sometimes the broth has been sitting around for a few days and is a milky/​cloudy color. The meat tends to be lower quality, customer service is lacking, and don’t even think about presentation of food.
I found all of these things at Puff Cha — beautiful presentation of the noodles, duck, and veggies in my humble takeout container, friendly customer service, high quality duck, and a clear DELICIOUS broth.
Unfortunately, I have to knock them one star because of price and quantity. I paid $ 10 for wonton noodle soup, and it was a small amount of soup/​noodles at that. I actually ended up going to get more food somewhere else afterwards because I was still hungry after my soup and puff pastry. So honestly, I’m not positive that I’ll be back because of those 2 factors.

$ 10 for a big bowl of ramen? Definitely the cheapest I’ve found in the city.
Soy ramen — pretty good. Not the best in the city but satisfied my ramen craving for the night. The noodles were straight, thin, and chewy so absorbed the flavors well. The pork belly on the other hand was HUGE, super thickly cut and in super large chunks, too much for my liking. They didn’t have much flavor, just lots of size. The soft boiled egg was super well done. I’m used to having my egg yolks slightly runny, so these tasted pretty lackluster to me. The seaweed and other veggies though were great additions. The soup was just the right level of saltiness and savory for me. It’s also quite light compared to most ramen broths, so if that’s your preferred style of ramen, this is a good choice!
Original puff (taro and chicken stuffed in a sweet puffy bread) — Since this restaurant is named after its puffs, I think the puffs are definitely a must-​try. I wasn’t mind blown but not disappointed other. (The puff reminded me of my favorite flaky bbq dessert pork buns that I can get at dim sum!) Some have commented that the puff was too oily, but I actually think it’s alright. I really like the crusty sweet layer on the outside. I wished the chicken inside was more flavorful though! I’m also not a huge fan of taro, so maybe next time I’ll go for a no-​taro puff.

Made in New York noodles (rice noodles, i’d recommend) is awesome. I can’t describe what the sauce is, I dont think I’ve tasted anything like it before, but it was good enough for me to get it every time I come here. My friend got the pork noodles, which was good, but I think Made in NY still tops it.
They have a really cheap but great lunch menu for $ 6.95 (!), so if you are around the area during 11~4 i’d try the lunch sets.
It’s a tiny space, but with a good layout. Would not come here with large groups without reservations though (esp during peak hours).
Some of the waitstaff spoke poor english, and even with the menu that has pictures of almost every dish, our waitstaff could not understand our order, so we had to repeat several times… it was weird.
Price Range is not one dollar sign, majority of the noodles are at or over $ 10.
anyways, come here for made in NY!

Rounding up to 5 stars for their puffs! food is great and def worth the money!
This place acts more like a café type of setting which is great for quick dining. The have about 16 flavors of puffs. I would say try all of it. They are all really different. They fry it right away at least that’s what I think cus its’ hotttt. Def recommend trying the taro flavor! so yummy! and the tum yum noodles soup is really good as well! A bit on the salty end but i absolutely love ittttt. Will come back to try other stufffff