Ramen-Ya

The place is extremely small. It can fit maybe 25 – 30 people. My friend got the shio black ramen with the tonkatsu base. The noodles were slightly undercooked but it still tasted very good. The base was good as well.
I ordered the rice with cha siu. There was a generous amount of cha siu given; I believe it was around 5 pieces. The ramen had 3 unless you asked for double for an extra charge. I enjoyed my dish as well.
The service was very attentive and the servers were very polite as well. I would definitely come back to try the ramen myself.

Nitamago is sweet
Broth is well balanced and salty
Most drinkable broth
Noodles are thin and wiry not my taste but cooked right
Slightly smoky and sweet flavor to the chashu from being seared, unlike what I’ve had before

Really delicious ramen. One of my favorites. Loved the broth and the noodles.
We got the spicy miso ramen. Loved the runny egg.
It hit the spot.

*3.5 for now*
Had this two weeks ago with a friend as I was craving ramen for the longest and being that my friend had Ippudo a day ago and asking for dinner recommendations and remembering a friend of mine mentioning Ramen-​Ya, we went for it. No wait at all like Ippudo… yay! (I mean it was like 6:05 p.m.)
It is a small, cozy place with tall stools around and like a few tables. We wanted to sit at one of the tables to have more room but the waitress said those were for +2 people… okay. We were crammed by the side bar and I sat close to the wall… I like to have more space, but I guess they were prepping for other customers-​understandable.
What we ordered:
— Shio Black Ramen for me (straight thin noodles in the original «Tonkotsu”(pork broth) topped with chashu pork, kikurage mushrooms, nitamago (seasoned egg), scallions and black garlic oil. The pork belly was tasty though two pieces wasn’t nearly enough. I think maybe I should’ve asked for extra. The broth was not too rich, not too bland. I enjoyed it.
— Sukiyaki-​don for her (a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce and red ginger pickles) — I took two bites. Smelled great and tasted pretty great, too! The portion was pretty large too (much more so than my ramen).
Overall, great meal but I felt kinda pressured to eat quicker? Nonetheless, decently priced ramen for the West Village.

Has always been my go-​to place for a ramen fix ever since a friend took me here last December, because:
— The line is pretty reasonable, it doesn’t get super crazy during rush hour like other popular ramen joints like Totto. You could get away with that easily by coming a slightly off hour (came there at 6pm on Saturday once and there were still plenty of tables available.)
— The ramen is consistently amazing. The broth is thick but has the right amount of fat. The toppings are super generous and delicious. My favorites are Spicy Miso and Abura Soba.
In fact, I wanted to give it 4.5 stars if I could. The only minuses about this place are:
— Customer service: the waitresses here obviously hate their jobs lol. They always handed us the check when we were mid eating, which wouldn’t bother me at all because that only made me stay longer.
— The Spicy Sauce (+$ 1) option for the Abura Soba is a mystery to me. It just isn’t worth $ 1 for a tiny bit of sauce.
Overall, I love this place so much and will keep coming back :)

For some great ramen at a casual, low-​key joint, I would highly consider this place. I can say it is one of the better casual ramen spots. It was a spontaneous decision to go the first time few years back, but a more recent return was a sure reminder that Ramen-​ya does indeed serve a great, authentic bowl of Japanese ramen.
Hopefully when you arrive, there won’t be a line. There usually will be depending when you go, but the wait was never a huge issue. It is a tiny restaurant, with seating at a bar and a few tables, but it doesn’t feel claustrophobic otherwise. Their selection of ramen is pretty great, but my go to order has been the Spicy Shio Ramen — thin straight noodles in Tonkotsu (pork broth), with chashu pork, kikurage mushrooms, nitamago (seasoned egg), scallions and black garlic oil. As an appetizer, I recommend their Pork Gyoza or Spicy Pork Gyoza. The broth is not too overwhelming in terms of oil/​grease. The noodles have a nice texture. Egg is perfectly soft boiled. The chashu is fatty and tender. Overall, I can say this is a very solid bowl for the price point. I would definitely go back and try other ramen flavors, perhaps Shoyu or Miso based (my usual favorite has always been Tonkotsu, which can be on the heavier side compared to Shoyu or Miso).
I highly recommend Ramen-​ya for a pleasant and satisfying bowl of ramen, in a casual and no frills space. The location is great, right in the middle of the West Village. Open late too if you need a midnight food fix. I can also state that it is better than or about even with some of the more expensive ramen I have tried.

I was introduced here by my cousin. She told me this is one of many stores in NYC. We tried their Shio Black with extra pork. It was pretty pricey, but it was decent. The noodles and the broth were adequete, the best part of the ramen were the pork.

The Skinny: the ramen broth has minimal depth in flavor (2) service: is good but at the time of writing this joint has a B grade from the health department and I threw up afterwards (1) value: avoid!
Okay the hub was hankering for some ramen so we hit this joint.
We ordered a tonkotsu black shio ramen $ 12 and an abura ramen $ 12 with some tatsu age chicken $ 8.
The tatsu chicken was the best thing we had here. It is basically karaage (fried chicken) with white meat instead of dark meat. The coating was a bit too thick and moist without the crispiness. Totally meh. And this was their best dish.
The tonkotsu ramen broth was not up to standard. Minimal pork flavor rendered this a completely mediocre dish. It was also very salty.
The abura ramen was also lacking in complexity of flavor. The abura ramen was served lukewarm with a watered down soy sauce taste. Decidedly not delicious. The tamago was also odd and did not have the slightly molten center characteristic of the perfect egg. Boo.
As of May 9, 2016, they have a B grade from the health department and a few hours after eating here I threw up. Avoid this joint like the plague!
FYI — bathrooms here are small and if you have a small child in diapers, forget about changing them here.

Excellent bowl of Ramen. When the bowl came, I took a good whiff of the savory soup. Then picked up a piece of pork and took a small bite. It was fatty pork with a delicious sweet glaze. Just a really nice sweet and savory dancing in your palette. Then I took a sip of the broth, it was delicious and well balanced. Now was the time to try the noodles. Noodles were aldente… and now along with the julienned scallions and black fungus brought a nice crunch to the bite of noodles. Add some of the broth together with all of the above… WOW! Truly delicious. I have to mention that the Ramen are of the thinner kind. Some people like the thicker type, but I like all types and this was quite good. So good, I had to save some broth for Kae-​dama (or extra noodles). Next time I go, I would totally ask for extra pork and corn in the bowl as well.
The only negative I would say is the layout of the space. It was very cramped. Getting into your seat meant sticking your buttocks in someone’s face. The counter takes up way too much space. Just not the best use of space in the restaurant. Décor was also lacking. But otherwise it was a good food experience.

I honestly never had ramen at a ramen restaurant before Ramen-​Ya. So my friend and were walking around the city one sunday and decided to stop here for a quick lunch. Of all the fun activities that we got to do in the city that day, getting ramen for lunch at Ramen-​Ya was the best stop we did all day. We were very hungry and once we started eating it was only silence and looks of enjoyment. I loved the ramen here. Probably the best I’ve ever had. I actually tried another place in Philly chinatown after eating at Ramen-​Ya and it was absolutely not the same. I cannot wait to come back, i might even make a special trip, I will come all the way from Philly just to get ramen from Ramen-​Ya.

Came here after reading Helen Y’s rave recommedations. Ramen-​Ya is just right off the West 4^th train station, and is a favorite hangout for the nearby NYU students. Be forewarned, this is a small, cramped place. There’s only a few tables and a small corner bar. I was very lucky to grab a seat by the bar, as everywhere else was filled up.
I ordered the most popular demanded ramen, the Shio Black. Its the pork bone broth with added black garlic oil. I have to say, after coming off of the really rich broth I just had at Terakawa Ramen up at Columbus Circle, the broth here at Ramen-​Ya tasted a little bland by comparison. There’s nothing really wrong with it, its just thinner and not quite as creamy rich as what I enjoyed at Terakawa.
Still, it was comforting, as a hot bowl of ramen & soup are on a chilly April day. I once again ordered Kae-​dama, as one measly serving of noodles is just never enough! If I had to rate by accurate stars, I’d rate Ippudo the highest at close to 5 stars, Terakawa at 4.5 stars, and Ramen-​Ya at 3.8 stars.

Maybe it’s just me but I like their 3^rd street location better. I fell in love with their Shio Black on 3^rd Street and I thought this location was just a-​okay.

We stopped by this place on a rainy day and wanted to order everything on the menu, literally every single thing. The place has such nice décor and great ambiance — it reminded us so much of small restaurants we saw in Tokyo. Fortunately, we were able to hold ourselves back and ordered:
— Spicy pork gyoza
— Shio Spicy Pork ramen
— Abura Soba with pork
— Mini curry bowl
Abura soba with pork was just perfect for me — I have to confess that I am secretly not a big fan of ramen as sometimes I want to avoid the thick broth (I am indeed a big fan of phở broth — I like things nice & simple like that). Back to ramen, even though both is not presented, the noodles were perfectly cooked/​seasoned and go so well with other ingredients. My husband liked his spicy pork ramen a lot too.
The only complaint I have is that we were seated at the corner of the communal table and thus I was facing the stranger who was finishing his ramen. It’s really awkward for he (and him too) — I really wish that the place has some standard on how crowded is too crowded…

So solid.
Recently came in around 1pm on a Friday, and was able to snag 3 seats at the bar with a couple friends. The inside is pretty cramped and while the space isn’t the most well-​kept, it’s at least clean, and to be honest, you don’t really come here for the ambiance. The no-​frills vibe is quite fitting, and I’ve always felt comfortable.
I got the Shio Black ramen with extra pieces of charred chashu pork. I highly recommend the extra pork or chicken, since 2 slices just isn’t enough for me, personally. The broth is decently rich, and the vegetables and mushrooms were cooked to the right tenderness. The egg yolk was cooked to the right consistency, although I kinda wish they just gave me the second half of the egg. Oh well. Anyways, the default straight thin noodles had plenty of good chew, and by the end of the meal, I was sloshing around from drinking up all the broth, which is a good thing, haha. They have a lot of other options for noodles and even chicken broth. My friends tried the okra dumplings which they noted were very interesting, and not too slimy, which okra, if improperly cooked, can turn out.
Service was attentive and friendly, although the language barrier was a little tough to work through. In the end however, it all worked out and I got what I ordered, so it was fine. The base price of $ 12 for a bowl isn’t too bad, and with the extra pork for $ 4, the entire meal is about $ 20 with tax and tip.
In the realm of ramen experiences in Manhattan, I’d rank it up there with the better places like Ippudo and Totto, especially at that price. Obviously, I’ll be back, simply because it’s just always been a consistent experience, and there haven’t been any crazy waits when I’ve tried to get a seat.

This is a solid little ramen place in West Village, surprisingly close to the NYU campus! Pricing is on par with other ramen places in the city, but the selection — especially of appetizers and other entrees — is a little more limited here. No matter, we’re all here for the ramen anyway. ;)
I chose the miso ramen with pork broth because I wanted the ‘thin noodles’, which I thought were the regular ramen noodles. Wrong. These were actually much thinner and much more undercooked than I would have liked. I had a really difficult time chewing through them! The broth was super yummy though, and I really enjoyed the seaweed topping a well as the softboiled egg.
My friend ordered the shio black ramen with chicken broth which came with the thick noodles (ie. the regular ramen noodles). I tried my friend’s chicken broth and thought it was yummy, but I definitely preferred my pork broth over his. To each his own though, my friend downed his entire bowl of broth after finishing his noodles.
This location is really small and oddly shaped so that any seating arrangement isn’t super comfortable. I’d definitely suggest coming in parties of 3 or less! I’m not sure if this place ever gets super busy, but at 4:30PM on a weekday afternoon service was quick and we were in and out of there in less than an hour.
PSA; they are cash only!

The ramen I had here was good but I have had comparable ramen several other paces and a few that were much better.
The broth was very good, flavorful, rich etc. Not the best but certainly pleasing.
As another reviewer noted, the noodles have a decidedly al dente texture. As with all of the best pastas, the best ramen noodles are made fresh. This them pastas a kind of chewy tough resiliency when bitten. They almost let out a little «Ka-​tunk» sound when you bite into them. But Ramen-​Ya noodle texture is decidedly different and instead just tastes uncooked.
The egg was also overcooked for a traditional ramen. Some of the most authentic ramen places will just crack a raw egg into your ramen right before they hand it off to your. At most you want a soft boiled egg in your ramen with a goey center but this egg was totally cooked.
The real stand out here was the pork. It was basically a big seared piece of pig fat. That is of courser all in a days work for the kind of pork belly that goes best in ramen. Needless to say it exploded my palate with savory deliciousness. But if you are not used to/​expecting it, the giant hunk of pig fat might throw you.
In any event, if you are in this neighborhood and are in the mood for ramen this place hits the spot. But it is not a place to go our of your way to try.

Is this a spot that you absolutely must try now? No. Will it satisfy your ramen needs? Absolutely.
My boyfriend and I came in looking for something to warm us up (since it was snowing). The place leaves much to be desired — there’s nothing too special about the décor. It’s small and easy to miss. But that’s okay. You’re not here for that. You’re here to grab a quick, warm meal.
Same thing with service — it was fine. We were able to be seated right away. We put our orders in and got our food pretty quickly.
Food:
— Shio Black Tonkotsu: savory, well-​flavored brother. This comes with a lot of straight noodles, two pieces of pork, and an egg. The pork was a bit too fatty, but the rest of it was super tender. I finished the whole thing!
— Mini Chasu Bowl: apparently this is only available as an add on to the ramen. I don’t know that I could finish his on my own in addition to the ramen, but it is definitely something good to share. The pork was SOOO good. It smelled overly soy-​saucy at first, but it actually had a lot of flavor (other than soy sauce).

COME HERE IF YOU’RE IN A BAD MOOD AND NEED A HAPPY TUMMY!
Was in a horrible mood coming into this place, and I left a very happy man.
Came in with my girlfriend, and we were greeted and seated, immediately. The space is small but seats about 20 people; great use of the limited space. They’ve got the authentic ramen-​house feel down to a T, with bar seating, japanese-​style light fixtures, art, bonsai’s I believe, and orchids. The extent of my «ramen-​house» knowledge comes from Animé but we’ll just say that it’s credible. *cough naruto cough* We sat at the bar and the bar stools have backs on them which I really appreciated!
Food:
Shio Black (Tonkatsu): Girlfriend got this and it was super savory! The Pork Chasu just melts in your mouth. The straight thin noodles are a little harder to handle so I’m more of the wavy egg noodle guy lol.
Shio Black (Chicken Paitan): I got this cause of the WAVY EGG NOODLE, and I got chicken paitan @ Totto, so I guess I’m in a chicken paitan phase. Anyway, similar setup to the shio black tonkatsu except for noodles and the broth, it normally comes with the chicken chasu but I’ve only had pork chasu, and I don’t know if I’m ready to change it up just yet. Again, tons of umami flavor!
Mini Chasu Don ($ 4): This is a must… I don’t care if you don’t think you can finish a ramen bowl, you gotta get this. It’s a chasu rice bowl, MINI! They’ve got about 2 hand-​fulls of chopped up chasu on rice. I’ll say it again because it needs that extra emphasis… MEAT MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH #pause. The sauce and juices run down into the rice making the rice super tasty even when the chasu is gone!
Service: Like I said before, we were greeted and seated very quickly, they took our orders right away, finished eating, got the bill, paid and left. We were there for 30 minutes TOPS. Great way to spend a snow day, and if you’re looking for desserts afterwards, Greenwich village got options!

A tiny ramen joint that serves good ramen. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long on a Friday night even though the restaurant was a bit cramped. Actually it looked like it used to be a small living room. Also, cash only places are kind of a nuisance. At these prices ($ 12 — $ 14 per bowl), I think they should accept cards.
$ 12 Kojiro (Paitan Chicken Soup) with Shio Black (salt base) with chashu chicken, kikurage mushrooms, seasoned egg, scallions, black garlic oil:
This option comes with wavy thick noodles, which I prefer. The noodles were embedded in a salty, savory broth. The egg yolk was not runny, but just slightly soft-​boiled. Very delicious.
$ 13 Musashi (Tonkotsu Berkshire Pork broth) Shio Black (salt base) with chashu pork, kikurage mushrooms, seasoned egg, scallions and black garlic oil:
This option comes with straight thin noodles, which I do not like as much, but it still tasted okay. The pork broth had more flavor than the chicken soup.
If I were to choose based on what I know now, I would like the Musashi broth with thick noodles.

3:30 PM on weekday
My hubby and I thought it’s a good chance to avoid that long wait. Luckily, one table for two just moved out and got a table next to the entrance door (not a good table for cold days). I got Pork Gyoza to start. I don’t know what it is but their pork gyoza has been not my liking. It is the filling. There are new Gyoza choices, Okura Pork, Tomato, Squid, that I should have tried the new. This pork filling is not fatty that their Gyoza sauce comes with needs sesame oil or some oil to balance off its acidity.
Tonkotsu Shio Ramen ($ 12)
The watery and salty broth was different from how I remembered, compensating by more salt (?). The Char Siu was tender and tasty as before. My hubby said, Umami (the fifth taste/​savory) was missing. We might be so spoiled by not-​good-​for-​you but delicious instant Ramen from Japan (?).
There were two reasons that we had not return for while. One is that my hubby started to order Ippudo and other high rated Instant ramen from Japan, very cheap (about $ 3), but not so much to bring here (about $ 10 each); with a long list of unknown ingredients but they are tasty as at the restaurant. Second reason was obviously the long wait. I’ve been to other location, 3^rd St. but my experience with Yaki Ramen (Yakisoba) and pork cutlet were huge let down. I didn’t have the ramen but it might be same as other location.
No longer «Fan» but it was not «Okay» rating so my experience this time was 3.5 star.