Cho-Ko

The vibe is relaxed and perfect for unwinding after a night out. It’s right in the heart of the East Village, and the owner is incredibly kind and welcoming. Food: Where do I even begin with the ramen? It’s phenomenal. One bowl in and you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the streets of Japan, craving something warm and comforting. Absolutely mouthwatering, I was ready for a nap afterward. The gyoza is just as impressive. I’m usually hesitant because it’s often overfried at other spots nearby, but this was shockingly fresh and perfectly cooked. Highly recommend the pork shoyu ramen and the gyoza. Plus, the lunch specials are available on weekends too, such a steal!

Walking into Cho-Ko feels more like stepping into someone's home than a restaurant. Ran by a single man, he will greet you, take your order, cook your food, and serve you your food. In a sea of restaurants trying to impress you with their decorum, their service, and their ingenuity, and their fancy plating. We forget that there are places that exists just to simply serve you food. I ordered the Wontons as my starter and a good old fashioned plate of Yakisoba. Ten wontons were served inside a small bowl, swimming in a salted broth. The Yakisoba was not trying to be anything else. It is comparable to the ones that you would get at a cart during a seasonal festival in Japan. Simple. I dont think anything here was impressive. Its just good affordable food.

Humble, quiet, independently-owned spot. Nothing fancy but cozy, traditional home-cooking! It's run by one older gentleman named Kei on his own. When I went, it was empty, and he shuffled out to meet me. If he doesn't come out to instantly greet you, he is cooking an order at the back. People who frequent seem to know all this and seat themselves patiently. Can enjoy some ramen while watching life float by the window. Come support Kei and Cho-Ko!

This was the nicest ramen restaurant I've been to in years, and I mean nice like KIND. The food was incredible, don't get me wrong, but there were so many little things that made it feel wonderful inside. The bathroom is through the kitchen, but they still let you go inside, and there are toys on the sill. The music is classic rock hits from your childhood. The prices are so so reasonable! Did I mention the food is incredible?

Ok, so, here's the thing. The food won't blow your mind away. It's comfort food, with a very good quality-price ratio given today's NYC standards. The place has an authentic character, and transports you to Japan instantly. It's been a neighborhood staple forever, and it's ran single-handedly by Kei and his wife. Don't expect speed, but also, you won't be rushed out. Some dishes are better, for example, the curry-based ramens are tastier and have a bit more to them than the shoyu and miso ones. The house sake for $7 per carafe is pretty good. It's a business worth supporting, even though it might not be all you would love it to be. These places are disappearing from our streets...!

It’s a small place but get there when you can. The food is good with a lot of selections. I had the miso soup and my boyfriend had the seafood . 10/10 broth was full and delicious 😋 also try the duck bun. Another 10/10

uncle rlly did his big one with this. friend and i got the yakisoba and it was very good and the portions were quite generous. this is the type of place i’d go to after a breakup or a tough day and u get some banging food a thing of beer and then u wash it down with a cigarette. great stuff

I was there for the first time. The ramen was very tasty and flavorful. Everything was great!

Came here around late lunch time on a weekend afternoon and was surprised to see that almost all the tables were taken by food delivery drivers(?) We were able to snag a table and order a ramen set and the takoyaki appetizer. There was a guy who had just put in a takeout order right before us it seems so we ended up waiting 30 mins for our food. Not the greatest wait time and seeing how there is only one guy working the restaurant. The food itself is good we really liked it. The prices are also super affordable. Definitely would recommend calling ahead of time to place a takeout order rather than coming in and sitting down. Nevertheless, the worker was a nice guy.

So funny how we found this! We were watching a Japanese netflix show and got hungry after the midnight diner show and I was like I need to see where is open for ramen and we found this thats open until 2am! Definitely the cheapest ramen/Japanese food in town with great flavors! I would recommend this to anyone who is open to a small shop where the owner does everything (usher, chef, waiter, etc) and the food tastes amazing. The portion is also generous, especially with its cheap price. Always like to support small businesses like this

$10 ramen?!! Unheard of. I thought this dish was such a steal considering I got a decent amount of toppings for the price. It was also extremely hearty and satisfied my ramen craving. I got the shoyu ramen, which is a classic dish. I saw a few bad reviews, but I think the best way to avoid an unpleasant dining experience is to stick with classic dishes that are priced affordably. There was only one older man working when I went so I had to be patient, but he was so nice! Definitely give this east village gem some love.

I ordered take out from Grubhub without realizing this is the place down the block from me that's always empty and now I know why. All I ordered was kimchi and wonton soup. How can you mess that up , right ? Both were flavorless to the point that the wontons in particular were inedible. They were mushy , had hardly any meat in them and the broth clearly was just chicken bouillon. What a waste of 6.50. And the portions are tiny ! Don't order from here, you'll be disappointed. Chinese owned fake Japanese food. It's no wonder no one goes here. I feel bad putting down a business during these struggling times but maybe they should find out what they're good at and stick with it instead of wasting patrons money.

Incredible place! Great service and even better food. The plum wine is amazing,Definitely recommend.

My go to for ramen and duck wraps. Everything is good. Nice authentic atmosphere also. I usually do take out though.

I got the miso veggie ramen and it was really good! The place is very sweet and cozy. Would come again!

Food is great. Me and my nigga tweek tune always pull up and get the chicken terriyaki, gyoza, and j pops. It's a nice small intimate spot to have a quick cheap meal. The owner K is super friendly and always takes care of us. This is a reliable place that we enjoy coming to frequently

Delicious Ramen! The duck wraps were amazing. Great service! Just great great great all around! Yum!

If you want simple ramen then you should go here. I tried out the lunch special of pork buns and ramen. The meat was alright nothing special. The guy at the front is sweet and does understand some English but knows Japanese as his first language. The place is small so you might be lucky if you can sit there.

Prices seem good but the food doesn't taste good. I ordered to go. Grubhub said my order was ready at 115am but when I got there I had to wait an extra 15 minutes. I had the wontons but it didn't have much flavor. I wished they had shrimp. I had the tan tan men soup. The noodle was soggy since they didn't separate it from the broth. I also had Gomomu yaki soba where the noodle was over cooked and burnt. These two were quite oily with little flavor. I wished there were more veggies since that was the best part of all the dishes.

This is such a hidden gem in the neighborhood. First of all, I'm just so, so, grateful that they are open until late and it means a lot for people like me - who work until late without getting a proper meal for more than 10 hours. It's not like one of those fancy ramen places in the neighborhood but, hey, where can you get a decent bowl of ramen for only $10 in the city?! I had Miso Ramen($10) and Yaki Soba($9) which had a lot of vegetables and I enjoyed both. I'll visit here again, for sure! Thanks!! (Oh, I loved such a quiet and cozy vibe of the restaurant.)

Food is just 1 star but the owner is really nice so give it extra star. It's a Chinese place fake up trying to sell Japanese food which is not authentic at all. Got the beef curry and the curry is water down and beef is very stiff. The curry also has very strong beef smell (stinks). Seafood yakisoba is straight up Shanghainese deep fry noodle. Noodle is way too crispy like cracker. Also, the seats are very tight and the place is very small. Even though it's cheap just 10bucks for a meal, I rather stay home eating instant ramen than coming here.

The restaurant looked closed from the outside but the menu prices seemed like a good deal. When I went inside, the space was small and most of it was taken up by delivery bikes. I was the only customer inside along with a couple of delivery guys and the chef/owner? The place was a little dingy and there were a couple of fruit flies flying around. For food, I ordered the chasu, wantans and mabo tofu over rice. Chasu was sliced pretty thick and seared, drizzled with some chili oil and fresh scallions. It was ok but I wish it was sliced more thinly. Wantan soup was a bit on the bland side but the wantan itself tasted pretty fresh. I enjoyed the mabo tofu with the silken tofu and gingery sauce. Overall a decent hole in the wall but I'm not sure if the place was meant for dining in.

If You Like The Show "Midnight Tokyo Diner" You Will LOVE This Tiny, Tasty, Treasure. Chef Prepared Delightful Edamame & Cheese Crispy Spring Rolls And Spicy Chicken Ramen Was Slurptastic!!!

Great gem in LES for ramen! Came here several times and have not been disappointed yet. Great prices, especially in an area like LES!

I am writing this review in regard to my experience purchasing four bowls of ramen (Seafood Ramen, Gomoku Ramen, Shio Ramen, and Ma Bo Tofu Ramen) from Cho-Ko. If you're ordering takeaway, I would recommend specifically asking for the broth to be separated from the noodles, as the noodles would absorb the broth during transport. As for the broth, it seemed to be on the salty side.

Amazing find this cute little Japanese joint. Very authentic, owner is so nice! Never had such great Ramen for only 10 USD!

This place is much smaller than it appears in photos. It can only fit about 8 people inside. They serve some sauteed noodle and rice dishes, but most people come here for the bowls of ramen. And for good reason too. I came here with a friend and we had the Tan Tan Men ramen and Gomoku ramen. Both bowls were very sizeable and did not skimp on the meat or vegetables either. Our only criticism was that the broths for both were a little too salty.

You'd have to be pretty wasted (or have lost use of your tastebuds) to enjoy the ramen here. The food is barely serviceable but at least it's cheap...although If you have a few extra bucks and enough energy to walk on to ANY other ramen spot in the area, it's worth making the effort. Or just get pizza.

The food here is amazing and the service was so quick! It was a really nice meal after a cold day. Would definitely come again. I got Shoyou Ramen

If greasy spoon applied to ramen it would be this place. Great for late night. I'll go back after more late night drinks.

Really good prices! I had the noodles without soup but looking forward to! Family owned business that is simple but provides a good amount of food for a good price! They also have a lot of Japanese drinks like sake and and mixed drinks!

Perfect local Resturant! Simply and wholesome food. Excellent friendly service. Great find on 1st. Avenue . Another great dinner tonight!

Amazing! Hole in the wall, chefs kiss! The pork buns and number 13 is delicious. Definitely be back for some ramen!

Chinese owned Ramen shop. Just can't be good when it takes more than 20 minutes to cook a bowl of ramen

We came here when our lunch spot had a wait time of another 45 minutes (it was already 1:30 pm). Cute little ramen place that seats roughly a dozen people. One friend and I decided on the lunch special. She got the Shoyu Ramen + beef curry rice on the side and I got the Shoyu Ramen and Pork Shumai (another option was gyoza)..$13/$14. The Pork Shumai was okay. The given sauce was in a cute little star dip plate, but it was way too salty. The ramen broth was okay, but that's just it...the whole thing was meh okay. The pork was a bit dry so I had to dunk it in the broth for a while before chewing. The bamboo shoots seemed a bit soggy. I'm not sure if it's just what I got, but it did not really meet my expectations in terms of taste. :(

Got a gomoku ramen and would say it was a big portion for just $9. The broth is thick and reminds me a gravy I had with noodles from the chinese restaurant. Service was decent and is a pretty small restaurant. Overall it's a good price in the area with the quality and quantity of the food.

It is a hobby for a New Yorker to slurp far and wide and critique the infinite ramen choices. I have come to see it like wine: sure, anyone can drop $50 and get a good wine, but the real skill is finding a great wine at a good price. I continue to be disappointed or underwhelmed by hip and hyped ramen places. This place serves you a solid bowl (and a great lunch special) at a good price and good tunes to match, without the bullshit of a lot of other places. They just added tonkotsu to the menu so, eat your heart out, ramenheads!

2 years later, still going strong. I have advanced to the seafood ramen at the time, unbelievable! I come here mainly due to the VIP vibe, as in when I come, no one is here, I get the whole spot to myself and whoever I bring. I do come at odd times but cuz I know what I'm doing. It's the broth!

Today I ordered the duck rolls and the the pork noodle dish, "Zah Jiang Men." I didn't love the noodle dish. It had tons of noodles, little meat, no veggies, lots of sauce. It was okay, but I won't order that again

I got #35 stir fried nood and my dusty boyfriend got the standard ramen Cheap small and cute but very questionable meat This was the first actually bad food I've had in the city. The pork tasted rotted and the fish was rubbery and discolored. We both stopped eating the meat and opted to only eat the noodles. The sauce on mine was so oily I couldn't keep eating it. We got excited when we saw the cheap prices and meat options, but it was not edible and left us with upset stomachs. Came in late night on a Saturday with no one else there, but the place only has 3 tables and a bench No bills over $20 and a $10 credit card Will not come back and don't not recommend anyone to go

Great ramen and good price. Small spot but I prefer that over the over-crowded, over-hyped and over-priced other places out there in NYC. This is the real deal.

Was looking for something warm and tasty after work and ran into this place. I got really excited because I saw that they served Ramen and I've been dying to try it. From the looks of the spot I could tell they served Authentic Asian food, loved the vibe very warm and Cosy. The server was very nice and the seafood ramen was so yummy my boyfriend got the beef ramen and enjoyed it as well but the seafood ramen was hands down the best ! Will definitely come back again

Cho-Ko is lost. Cho-Ko needs to see new people, travel the world, and really get in touch with who Cho-Ko is. Cause Cho-Ko is having a serious identity crisis. Technically speaking, this is a Japanese Ramen joint. The menu is ramen and soba heavy, with certain Japanese staples as appetizers. Nothing here gets your panties in a bunch. There's passable Shoyu Ramen with a nice split open half cooked egg, scallions, bamboo shoots, thinly sliced pork, and naruto. Gyoza is middle of the road. You'll also see edamame and pork buns on the menu which are pretty straightforward. Then you'll spy some "Ma Bo Tofu Ramen" and get confused. This sounds disturbingly like Mapo Tofu, a distinctly Chinese dish consisting of tofu and ground pork in spicy sauce. And that's pretty much what this dish is, but in ramen form. You'll also see wontons under appetizers, another well known Chinese creation. Then, for the pièce de résistance, you'll spot an appetizer called "Kim Chee" which they claim is Chinese cabbage. Uh, isn't that a Korean dish consisting of fermented cabbage? The food is okay and the service is fast, but everything here is far from authentic. This place could almost pass as a parody of Asian Fusion if it weren't for the obvious spelling mistakes. Cho-Ko may need professional help in finding itself. Can anymore recommend a good therapist?

I ordered the lunch special for 13.00 dollars and a hot green tea, which comes with a tea pot, for 2.00 dollars. The special came with gyoza, I got vegetable ones and they were delish - not too hot but not cold. The ramen I ordered was #27, it came with pork, a hard boiled egg, spinach, bamboo shoots and scallions in a soy sauce broth. It was delicious! So great for this chilly day, perfect way to warm up. And for a total of $16.33 I am very full and very pleased with the food and overall experience.

Great food at reasonable prices.. Friendly and helpful service, in terms of explaining items on the menu.. Some flexibility with dishes which I really appreciate(I asked them to make one of the ramen soups with seafood base instead of soy sauce base like on the menu and it was no problem and no extra charge).. Been here twice and will be making this one of my regular spots.. Chashu, 4 on the menu was so good, roast pork that was cooked to perfection, it is sometimes a bit dry but not here.. Also loved the oysters and duck wrap.. Have not tried the soy sauce based soup, but the seafood based ones are incredibly filling and tasty..

Great ramen place. There's never a line for this place. The best ramen for summer would be the jajiangmyun. I had a seafood broth soup ramen in the winter and it's amazing. The pork bao is also amazing. A regular place for seamless orders! Small but definitely great for a quick bite!

Amazing curry ramen (would recommend) . Me and my boyfriend Love the place. Small and food comes out so quick. The owner takes your owner himself and gets it out within minutes. Never had better edamame and cheese rolls. With the sweet sauce. Their perfect. Favorite ramen place

Food is nothing to write home about. Also they have a $15 credit card min and don't accept bills over $20. Ordered the seafood ramen and cheesecake. For the ramen, it is a filling portion, but the quality is average. I highly doubt they make the noodles in house. Is it worth $9.50? I don't think so. Most ramen around NYC will cost at least $15, but I would probably pay the extra $5 for something actually delicious. I'd probably eat this when I'm sick and all food taste bland anyway. I also ordered the cheesecake, and it was impossible to eat because it was frozen. I couldn't use my fork to extract even a small piece of it. So I'm writing this review as I'm waiting for the cheesecake to defrost. The entire restaurant is small. It's fits about 12-13 people comfortably. It's small but not cramped. The decor is nice and the place is clean (didn't check out the restroom tho). There were two employees there and service was acceptable. They were obviously busy cooking and delivering orders, but I appreciate that they refilled my water.

Hole in the wall. Great stop by for no fuss, decent modestly priced ramen and wanton soup which is what we had. Pay and go for the next person spot.

While Minca and Ivan Ramen are nearby, you won't find Cho-Ko in Timeout magazine. But it's hard to beat the quiet atmosphere and food made with care.

Such cute quiet late night spot! We had spicy ramen and pork buns and warm sake. The owner was japanese- seemed very quite and serious- but he did not hesitate to give us suggestions when we asked for it, and he was nice. It just was a perfect place to be at 11:30 pm at the cold winter night drinking Sake and warm soup. All the dishes we ordered were so good, and the place was so cozy and cute. I felt like I was in some little cute neighborhood restaurant in Japan.

Have been coming here multiple times with my girlfriend and friends even on birthday events the food is cheap for the amount you get and the quality is always great . I mostly come at night time and the vibe is always chill and it's never packed when I go they also play a radio station that plays throwback music in my taste that's a bonus

Cute hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The entire restaurant fits about a dozen people. Their main dish is ramen but they also seem to have some fusion dishes from Chinese and Korean cuisine. I got the tan tan men ramen and kimchi as a side -- both of which were good (I was surprised because I didn't know what to expect, the reviews on yelp seem to be a hit or a miss). The ramen was good and had a lot of flavor, nothing to complain about, I finished the entire thing. There wasn't a lot of people there when I went Friday at dinner time. The service is good, when I went there was only one person working in the front and he was nice and quick to bring out any food or requests. They do have a credit card minimum of $10 I think and don't accept large bills. Overall if you're in the area and craving ramen I'd recommend this place for a quick bite.

I really enjoyed having dinner here recently. Our server was very polite and he was very attentive. The restaurant is small, but I consider it cozy. The salmon sashimi tasted extremely fresh. The entrees we choose were different ramen noodles, and the entrees came with a side of miso soup. Also tried a side of bamboo, it was good, but I liked it better when I put some wasabi and soy sauce on it and the veggie gyoza. Along with dinner my date and I tried the J-Pop grapefruit beverage, the plum sake (in a tilted, funny glass), and a bottle of refreshing sparkling sake - all of which were a nice accompaniment to the meal. I have to add that the ramen dishes were so filling, that I had to take leftovers home and it was still really good the next day (especially since my seafood one marinated nicely in the sauce).

Easy place to miss if you're looking too hard. On a saturday night it was great no need to wait hours in line. Shio ramen is good, but best Tonkotsu Ramen I've had by far compared to lots of places. The prices are pretty fair and cheap for this type of neighborhood and the portions are large for the price range

This place is accommodating and the food is great. Ordered a chicken ramen extra spicy and it was the perfect amount. The spring rolls and seaweed salad was on point Recommend for late night or when you're stuck in the rain

As a ramen lover I was pretty let down by this place. My miso ramen tasted like they used two too many scoops of paste or powder or whatever they used making my broth salty and unpleasant. I also think they didn't start making my food til I got there being that I ordered on yelp. The meat/veggies in there tasted like they were a "just add hot water" type of meal. I could've picked up a ramen packet at the grocery store for all this. 2 stars because they were one of the few places open past 12