Ramen Misoya

I love ramen. One summer, I ate at Ippudo almost every week, and I even ate there several times by myself. You really have to love a place to be willing to repeatedly ask for a table for 1. So I was really excited to hear about another ramen place opening up in the East Village and was eager to see if it might give Ippudo a run for its money.

While I was waiting for my husband to join me at Ramen Misoya, a Japanese man came by and took a long, tentative look at the place. I think he couldn't quite figure out if the place was open yet since there was no one inside, but being much too quiet and polite, he remained standing there for over 5 minutes until someone inside noticed him and told him he could come inside.

Ramen Misoya specializes in miso-flavored broths (hence "miso"ya). My husband and I ordered the $9 lunch specials (appetizer + your choice of various miso ramens). I ordered the Shiro Ramen (lighter broth) with the Chicken Karaage (fried chicken nuggets).

My husband ordered the Ramen Misoya (darker broth) with gyoza.

The broths were intense and flavorful, the noodles were just the right texture, the tofu on my ramen was nicely fried, the gyoza skin was perfectly thin with a balanced and tasty filling. However, the chicken karaage was very dry and (perhaps I've been spoiled (forever) by Ippudo and Totto Ramen) the broths, while tasty, felt overpowering and heavy. And they definitely were overly salty / msg-laden, because both my husband and I were really thirsty for the rest of the day.

So if you're looking for a quick ramen fix and don't have time for the Ippudo wait, Misoya (along with any of the other East Village joints) will definitely satisfy the warm bowl of noodle soup craving. But, unfortunately, you won't find me at Misoya asking for a table for 1.