Cospa Ramen

🍜4 / 5ramen rating

Service: 5

Atmosphere: 5

Spend: $10–20

“Cospa Ramen is a relatively new spot in the garment district serving up Nagahama Style Tonkotsu Ramen. “Cospa” or コスパ is a Japanese abbreviation of “cost performance” and generally means offering up value for money. Cospa ramen serve only one ramen and only two sides, but have regular and spicy versions, and charge only $9.99 for the basic bowl. The bowl is a little on the smaller side, but still very filling. Went with the flagship Original, with an egg and extra chashu and scallions. The soup is true to the Nagahama style, a light tonkotsu that is very different than the usual heavy creamy tonkotsu in the US. It is a very pure and clean taste of pork without much in way of fat or collagen in the bowl, and also without the usual added garlic. I enjoyed the first few sips of it, which were nostalgic of the Tonkotsu ramen from the Toshiba Hamamatsucho HQ cafeteria ramen, which I always believed served a purposely lighter variety so workers would not be tempted to fall asleep at their desks after lunch. The noodles are super thin, usually prepared in a very short time, and while delicious were cooked too long and had lost the al dente texture. The chashu was very thin yet meaty pork shoulder - cutting it so thin not only improves the “cospa” but also is a clever trick to ensure chewy pork shoulder is a little more tender. The egg was jammy and super well seasoned. Adding the pickles at the table transformed the bowl, lending some nice acidity and spice to the bowl. Also ordered the karaage fried chicken, which comes dusted with nice chili powder and were meaty with a nice batter. The place was jam-packed, and I was easily the oldest person in there by a few decades, which is hopefully a good sign for the ramen scene here. It also should hopefully show ramen shop owners to stop trying to offer a long menu of mediocre items and instead pick a few things you make really well and concentrate on those. That has always been the formula for success in Japan, and as the US ramen scene gets more knowledgeable and sophisticated, it is sure to be way to succeed here.”