Ramen Misoya

My ramen quest is never ending. And this tiny hole in the wall is off the grid for most tourists and novice. They specialize in miso based ramen only and located right next to a couple of my favorite drunk snatch shacks, Cheeps and Paul's Burger Joint. If you don't open your eyeballs, you will easily miss this armpit.... Which I'm OK with because who needs Bubba from Alabama taking up 2 valuable spaces up in this piece. The space is not as small as Totto Ramen (one of my favs) but if you don't get there early before the rush, you'll be waiting a good bit to nosh on their fleshy noodle. This is the first NYC location for this international franchise... What? Yeah, who knew they were a multi-location, multi-country chain located around the world. But the question is... Is it worth the valuable pouch space?

Time to put up or shut up. So, what is good to eat here... You got 3 types of miso- Kome (red) Hokkadio style, Shiro (white) Kyoto style, and Mame, popular in Nagoya. There's also a bunch of extras and other filler shit to dump in your bowl of noods if you like playing Top Chef. The lunch special is a really good deal if you can swing it during the week days. It's like $10 and comes with a ton of shit. You can watch the FOBs in the basement make your bowls on a TV screen. Fancy.

Kome Miso. The ramen noodles are thicker than most joints. A dealer breaker? Nah, the broth is where is at. Not as salty as I thought but it had a nice soothing flavor to assist the thick noodles slide down your hole. The potato wedges were kinda weird and didn't do much to enhance the flavor except maybe for texture or something. I also got some fried tofu slices which were nice. The softish boiled egg was nice, still runny enough to coat your throat. This is a big bowl of ramen noodle and a steal of a deal for lunch if you're hungry. Wait, the shit doesn't stop here...

Kara Age. The lunch special I chose also comes with fried cheekan nuggets and rice. Holy shit that's a lot of grub. These cheekan bits were pretty awesome, crispy thin crust, juicy tender inside and some sea salt to topped it off. It's funny that they give you rice as well... It's starchy overload! Love it!

Is this ramen shop a contender in a city with noodle shops on every corner? Yes. I would totally go back for the lunch steal. Sometimes, it's not always about the infamous tonkotsu ramen... Well, maybe. But this miso joint is a nice getaway from the hip and trendy spots that you have to wait hours to get in to... Fuck that noise, especially, if you're in a rush or have to take a dump.

1.5 Stars.

129 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-4825
http://www.misoyanyc.com