Last year, I wrote an impassioned manifesto on the stupidity of New Yorkers’ aversion to warm-weather ramen that sent shockwaves through New York City’s slurp curious community. Oh, wait. Never mind. A few people clicked on it, and more people scrolled through the associated Instagram carousel and commented with issues the piece addressed, then returned to their summer diets of hot-dogs, burgers, BBQ, and crudo.
In fact, it made so little difference that one of my sources for that piece, the beloved Prospect Heights institution Chuko, recently announced they weren’t subjecting themselves to another summer slog and would be closing their doors, eating rent till September, rather than operating at a greater loss. It only reaffirmed my dedication to this single issue and motivated me to contribute yet another piece of service journalism, in the hope that anything one lonely soldier could write could change this seasonal inertia/mental sickness that has imprisoned the majority of we New Yorkers..
The following is a list of 15 ramen variants on offer right now in Brooklyn you should work into your regular summer rotation. In doing so, you will join the many parts of the world that don’t even have cold seasons but retain their love of this soul-comforting staple cuisine, as well as the seasonal parts of the world where the vast majority of the market doesn’t share our summer aversion/derangement. You won’t just be treating yourself to a great meal, but will be committing a vital act of community-building, supporting a local ramen industry that needs our support year-round, not just when it’s freezing out.
Ippudo V
117 Adams St.
Order: Green Day Ramen
Ippudo—the “McDonald’s for Ramen” Japanese chain that transformed the American ramen industry when it debuted its first location in Manhattan in 2008—has expanded nationwide and is even playing with variants intended to cater to the American diet with “V,” a “flexitarian” Ippudo franchise with a location in DUMBO and one in West Hollywood. Their Green Day is a summer special with a “tonkotsu” (the plant-based restaurant added the quotation marks to the menu description) enriched with curry and garnished with Thai herbs.
Karazishi Botan
255 Smith St.
Order: Point Blank
It’s hard not to be jealous of Carroll Gardens having one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic ramen shops in the country, tucked away on an unassuming stretch of Smith Street. Fumihiro “Foo” Kanegae is a former Ippudo ramen master who put 600 varieties of ramen on the menu during his time at the company, before he went indie with his own shop in Brooklyn. The menu changes frequently at Karazishi, with nods to this deep roster of historic bowls having sequential designations like “No. 427” written next to ramen titles on the menu. I pretty much pulled at random from what’s there right now, recommending the Point Blank because only Kanegae would think up and have the balls to flatter my Jewish taste with both a horseradish- and pork-based broth in July, and (I’m choosing to believe) an homage to the hard-boiled 1967 John Boorman classic by way of its name.
Tonchin
109 N. 3rd St.
Order: Ban Ban Chicken Mazemen
A reliable ramen chain in Williamsburg that occasionally brushes greatness, Tonchin offers this soupless chicken ramen (with a vegan alternate), elevated by its house “Ban Ban Sauce,” a zippy, sesame-based condiment that bathes cold noodles in flavor.
Kyuramen
155 5th Ave.
Order: Yinyang Bowl
A ramen chain after my heart with its assertion that “Everyday is Ramen Day,” Kyu—at its Park Slope location, like all others—offers a custom bowl with an equator curling down the center, segregating its compartments and allowing indecisive in-house customers to sample two soups.
Photo by Abe Beame
Toyo Ramen Bar
349 7th Ave.
Order: Summer Chill Soba
Toyo on is offering a temperature-friendly soupless soba that bends breakfast, with apple and chicken sausage in a bowl alongside picked radish and cherry tomatoes.
Wanpaku
Wanpaku
621 Manhattan Ave.
Order:Katsuo e Pepe
Wanpaku is yet another reason to be jealous of Greenpoint’s deep and diverse selection of incredible Japanese restaurants, this one an only-in-your-dreams proposition of a Cambodian izakaya. There’s a big and interesting menu, but the option that jumps out is their play on an old nonna classic. They didn’t invent cacio e pepe mazemen, but by mixing in Japanese mushrooms, topping it with a dancing blanket of bonito flakes, and cutting the umami bombed creamy unctiousness with yuzu, they’ve arrived at a perfect compromise between Italy and Japan.
Orion Bar
157 Suydam St.
Order: Budae Jjigae
This Bushwick soju bar—with menu sections dedicated to shots and makgeolli—rules, and its gut-bomb ramyun in a bowl with spam, rice cakes, and cheese is more proof.
Kogane
76 Henry St.
Order: Red Tonkotsu Ramen
It’s hard to fuck up spicy, and Brooklyn Heights’ Kogane delivers by stirring chili paste into their tonkotsu.
Manchego-Koko
Manchego-Koko
1502 Cortelyou Rd.
Order: Salmon Miso Ramen
Only on Cortelyou in Ditmas Park will you find the marriage of an existing Spanish tapas bar and ramen shop that keeps both concepts intact within the space. Koko’s menu of ramen options is restrained and fairly standard takeout, but their chicken broth miso, topped with a fat filet of salmon, is a fun swerve if you’re interested in a (slightly) lighter-protein option.
Photo by Abe Beame
Ramen Danbo
52 7th Ave.
Order: Tomato Tonkotsu
Danbo is another Japanese import that has grown from a single location at the northeastern border of Park Slope to a second store in the West Village. It’s the same service style as Ichiran, which allows you to customize everything from richness of broth to thickness of noodle. The menu doesn’t change much, but their tomato ramen is a perennial summer visitor, a relatively common seasonal special in New York that introduces some sweet-and-sour funk by infusing broth with tomato flavor and garnishing it with chunks of fruit.
Photo by @haroldandmaudevintage
Samurai Papa
594 Lafayette Ave.
Order: Vegan Spicy Dan Dan
Who wouldn’t love a ramen shop like Bed-Stuy’s Samurai Papa in their hood? The cousin of the beloved and belated Bozu in Bushwick has a full sushi menu and Japanese drinking food classics to complement their ramen and mazemen options. In the interest of variety, and in deference to the other options on this list, I’m highlighting their vegan dan dan, a meatless take on the spicy-tingly staple Sichuan flavor profile.
Enerugi Ramen
1020 Manhattan Ave.
224 Atlantic Ave.
Order: Hiyashi Sesame
Enerugi is a local mini-chain with locations in Greenpoint and Carroll Gardens that has several iterations of a seasonal ramen dish that functions as that cuisine’s pasta salad equivalent: Hiyashi Chuka, or cold, brothless noodles typically garnished with egg, a protein option, and crisp fresh or pickled veggies. This version gets a sesame dressing and corn, and kind of reads like a play on the mesclun salad you’d get at an old-school sushi joint.
Unoriginal Noodles
Unoriginal Noodles
687 6th Ave.
Order: Seafood Ramen
I discovered Unoriginal in May while prepping for my Open Kitchen interview with chef Jayesh Kumar. His FOLK restaurant is located on the same miraculous little commercial strip of South Slope basically above the Prospect Expressway I didn’t know existed before trekking out there. Unoriginal’s menu is as unlikely as its existence, a tight roster seemingly incapable of mailing in an idea, from the duck wings and the fried oysters to the ube crème brûlée. This extends to the seafood ramen, which has thoughtful “What the fuck is this doing here?” touches like saffron and yuzu and red onion, shit that makes no sense on paper but you can sense are the products of exhaustive, fearless R&D.
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
171 Banker St.
Order: Crab Mazemen (add caviar)
Ramen is so diverse, yet frequently enjoyed as a budget lunch option, so I wanted to mix in a luxe variant if you’re in the mood to splurge. Consider the uniformly excellent Rule of Third’s crab mazemen “worth it,” with tricolore noodles (whole wheat, soba, and squid ink) and chunks of crab and pollock roe sauced in koji butter. It’s another mazemen idea you may have seen before, but brought to its logical conclusion with the highest possible concentration of oceanic flavor in every bite if you gild the lily with a regal $20 spoon of osetra caviar on top.
Ichiran
374 Johnson Ave.
Order: Classic Tonkotsu; Strong, Extra Rich
For the most, part with this list, I’ve paid mind to the delicate New Yorker’s summer predilections, a list of lighter broths, and soupless ramens and chilled noodles to try and discourage as few readers, and diners, as possible. But with this final beat, I am emphatically saying fuck that. If only for a moment this summer, give yourself the opportunity to see how the rest of the country, and the planet, lives with a big, rich, delicious bowl of steaming noodles and broth like the plussed-up kind you can order at another outpost of a ramen empire, Bushwick’s essential Ichiran. They offer private dining booths where you can avoid the self-imposed shame of summer ramen, if you must. But you may find, after the meal and a good sweat, you have dropped your body temperature, and you are refreshed and ready for anything—which could mean riding to the beach, or taking a nap, or running through a brick wall.
The post The Brooklyn Summer Ramen Guide appeared first on BKMAG.
