Late-Night Ramen in NYC (Open after 10pm)

Decided to give the monthly special a try at the always reliable Nishida-shoten on 49th, which this month is the Kimchi Ramen. It is a chicken based broth, but I couldn’t discern that over the ample spices from the Kimchi. This was not usual tame version of kimchi one finds in Japanese places - this was much more sour and funky. The noodles were the thicker of the two varieties that are served at Nishida. The kimchi itself was at first difficult to find - it was only after I had polished off some of the noodles that I began to find some cabbage. I imagine when plating they are probably putting the kimchi right at the bottom of the bowl with the tare so that when the soup is added they are getting a good mix of those spices to turn the soup red. Three healthy slices of Kakuni pork and some delicious mushrooms were good toppings. I generally love age-dofu (fried tofu) but not so much in this bowl. As it soaked up the soup it just became soggy and difficult to pick up. And I didn’t love that this was an egg drop soup. Creative idea, but for me I would have just appreciated more kimchi. Still, overall a very good bowl, and I like that they have monthly specials to mix things up for the regulars.

Visited Nishida-shoten in the evening, which finally allowed me to sample some of their alcohol selections. But even more interesting was the special they were running: a bowl of “Mega Jiro”. Of course, I could not resist giving it a try. It is indeed “mega”. Tons of moyashi bean sprouts, cabbage, raw garlic and hunks of chashu pork. The soup had the familiar Jiro porky tang, leaning much more tang than pork. Surprisingly the ample servings of raw garlic were tamed by the karame tang from the shoyu tare, which pleasantly made the garlic a complementary jab rather than a knockout punch. The noodles were the thicker of the two varieties usually served at Nishida shoten but not the even thicker multigrain variety usually found in a Jiro bowl. Still, loved that they didn’t skimp on the cabbage as many Jiro offerings around town (and in Japan) have recently been wont to do.

did you guys try this mackeral ramen. secret hidden jem

Kohoko-ku Ramen is named after one of the wards of Yokohama, and having lived in a neighboring ward of Yokohama for three years, I was expecting to find some Yokohama specific things here(like some Iekei ramen?), but instead it is more a celebration of general Japanese ramen culture, with lots of old signage and even some beer crate stools. Their signature is pork broth tonkotsu, so I went with that in their offering of Kumamoto Ramen, which differed from the regular Tonkotsu with the addition of black garlic oil. Their signature broth did not say Kumamoto to me - actually more like a balanced tonkotsu shoyu that felt closer to Iekei than Kumamoto to me. But why get hung up on names, the soup was good though a little on the tepid side. The oodles were standard firm thin straight that were indeed in the style of Kumamoto. The toppings included two pieces of thicker cut chashu, a nice jammy egg, one piece of baby bok choy and an oddly shaped shishito pepper. Suddenly all of the “shishito” peppers in town are wide like mini bell peppers. What the heck is going on? Washed it down with a Kirin, as they had a huge factory a train stop away when I lived in Yokohama so it was the beer of choice locally. Fun tiny spot - not exactly destination ramen but pretty darn good.

The best I have had of the Jiro style ramens in the US. The soup was funky porky garlicky goodness. The pork back fat and tang of the shoyu taste were in perfect balance. The noodles were thick and full of wheat flavor. The chashu was thin sliced pork belly, a slight departure from usual thick hunks of pork shoulder, but was so succulent and flavorful. An outstanding bowl!

my favorite here is the shoyu. chiken broth is surprisingly rich. Tare makes me confused tho but I think thats what makes me keep drinking the soup. yuzu and greenonions good combo

Heavy broth unqiue base mixed with tonkotsu and shio. karage was excellent

Kushi Kushi Yaki was a hit. We came with a group of 8 from Laura’s ramen meetup—easy seating, friendly staff, fun vibe. I got the basic tonkotsu: rich, savory broth with firm noodles, and they bring free hot seasonings on the side to tweak the heat. Yakitori was excellent and the cocktails were legit. Lots of ramen choices (around eight). Great spot for groups—would definitely come back.