Vegetarian & Vegan Ramen in NYC

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.

That ramen was delicious. They specialize in the “jiro” style and it’s not a simple meal lol. Come with an empty stomach and a good spirit. I split a bowl with my friend and that was a great choice. The service was on point and I’m pretty sure our server was the only person working in the front at that time. He held it down.

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.

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

While the rest of the Big Apple was crowded into Irish bars, I finally scored a very difficult to get reservation for Tonchin New York on 36th street in Manhattan, just down the street from my favorite steakhouse, Keen’s. While Keen’s is as old school as you can get, Tonchin is on the other end of the spectrum - a modern, culinary school approach to ramen. I went with their signature Tonchin Classic Tokyo Tonkotsu. The soup is rich yet “clean”, with no pork funk and perfectly balanced with a umami-rich shoyu tare. The noodles were medium thick Tokyo wavy made in-house. The chashu was the sous vide roast beef style, but was well seasoned and perfectly sliced. And yes, the egg was a perfect pudding consistency. This is flawless-execution-of-everything-ramen, and while I usually lean toward the more OG style, I very much appreciate a bowl like this. Also tried the fried fish buns, covered in sauces that exploded with flavor, which paired so nicely with crunchy fried fish. And a Tokyo martini that tiptoed down the middle of olive brine and sake sweetness. Worth the hype. And definitely worth a trip back to try the rest of the menu.