Niche Drive [Niche Tours]

Niche on the Lower East Side Serves Some of NYC’s Most Creative New Pastas | Eater NY

"At Niche I encountered a broth‑lite style of ramen that Nakamura dubs “Japanese pasta,” and its signature ribeyemazemen—yellow‑tinged alkaline noodles topped with sauteed greens and blow‑torched, diced ribeye—turns what could be a gimmick into a revelatory plate: the noodles sit atop a blend of pork paste, garlic, and soy that, when mixed with the medium‑rare beef nuggets, tastes like the emulsified juices of a fire‑roasted steak folded into an Escoffier‑style sauce, with pork‑fat‑slicked noodles and a gentle chew. Chef Shigetoshi Nakamura, a Tokyo “ramen god” who runs a heralded soup spot next door, leans into Italian forms (carbonara with bacon and egg, vongole‑style clams, pomodoro riffs with tomato, basil, and even seaweed) while keeping prices modest (no pasta over $23; a two‑course meal can be had for under $50). The menu has standouts and misses: an $8 uni toast piled generously, a masterful Sichuan‑style mapo riff studded with tiny brunoise Japanese potato, a tomato mazemen with kombu and chile that clings with umami complexity, and a vongole fortified by yuzu‑shellfish dashi and tiny clams; by contrast the carbonara felt lukewarm and under‑baconed, and the Russ & Roe with lox seemed bland (though the $7 ikura pops pleasingly). Practical realities matter here too: seating is one communal table of roughly 14, walk‑ins only, often a 45–60 minute solo wait, a single server for the room, an inward‑swinging door that creates bottlenecks, and no dessert offered." - Ryan Sutton