Miso ramen from Ramen Misoya
Thirty five point two nine percent. That's how much of my life has passed by based upon a life expectancy of getting to 85-years-old. It certain could be shortened by the large quantity of junk food that I consume, or it could be voluntarily shortened be a small caliber bullet should I ever want to join the U.S. military and get picked on for being Asian. All this to say that I've been lucky thus far in layoff roulette and perhaps it's time to start thinking about whether or not I should try a thing some people call 'a career'. Even as job boards offer no comfort, at least eating and chilling out at home does. One of the more comforting foods to eat for me is ramen, especially in the winter. Ramen Misoya is one of the newer kids on the block that came under focus after it opened late last year. Being that it's in the East Village, the question that most ramen aficionados want to know is how it stacks up to the ramen powerhouse in the area, Ippudo.
They serve three types of miso ramen broth at Ramen Misoya. Kome, shiro, and mame miso. They all possess different flavor profiles, but I suspect asking a normal westerner like myself (haha, I'm an Asian westerner) to discern the different types of miso is like asking most Asians about the difference between cheese (and to most Asians living in Asia, cheese falls into two categories: 1. it's not toooo bad 2. holy shit it's fucking disgusting). The way the waitress explained to us was that they came with different toppings. Kome came with corn. Shiro came with tofu cubes. Mame came with a fried shrimp and was a sweeter miso.
I picked kome miso just because of the corn, and Steph got the mame miso. We both got it with char-su pork and a bowl of that is like $14 pre-tax. It's priced very closely to Ippudo's ramen. In terms of the value proposition, Ramen Misoya gives you more pork, with three slices per bowl when you order it with the ramen. You can also get the char-su pork as a topping to any bowl of ramen. I would say the char-su pork is not a mind blowing version, although decently tasty. The broth is very good, vastly superior to any random miso ramen dish you could get at Setagaya. The noodles are pretty good too.
Even with all these things, I can't find myself to really get behind Ramen Misoya because it's priced too closely to Ippudo. Yes, there's no wait comparatively speaking, however value is a more important thing for me. If it's just all about getting ramen without much of a wait and still getting something good, I would just go uptown to Tabata. If you must stay in the village for your Japanese noodle needs, then yes, Ramen Misoya provides a very viable alternative to Ippudo for those who are averse to lines.
I'm not sure noodles and broth could ever really soothe my mind of the issue of getting a real career, but it sure as hell fills up the belly.
Ramen Misoya
129 Second Ave.
New York, NY 10003
212-677-4825
Do they offer eel rice too like Ippudo?
dad
January 17, 2012 9:03 pm