Ramen Misoya

"If you’re already in the East Village with a group of friends and everyone wants big bowls of ramen without any stress or pre-planning, head to Ramen Misoya. It’s easy to walk into, especially on weeknights. The shareable carafes of sake are cheaper than one average NYC cocktail, and the dining room's brick walls and hard surfaces mean the volume of chatter is just loud enough to muffle your story about how your least favorite coworker sabotaged your presentation. As for the ramen, you’ll choose from three miso-based broths, and then pick one of five bowl options. Go for any of the kome miso options—the broth is rich and buttery without being too heavy. Just make sure to eat the fried potato wedges out of the bowl first to avoid sogginess." - Ciera Velarde

"Ever feel like a bowl of ramen doesn’t quite add up to a full meal? Specializing in a choice of three miso broths (brown, white, and red) that it makes extravagant health claims for, the East Village’s Ramen Misoya encourages you to supplement your noodles with added proteins, including lovely miniature pork cutlets and tempura shrimp. They contribute immeasurably to the pleasure of the meal." - Robert Sietsema

"There are a lot of good ramen spots out there right now, and Ramen-san in River North is a pretty decent one In fact, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be in your ramen rotation too. We’ll get it out of the way and say that, strictly from a food standpoint, Ramen-san isn’t our favorite bowl of broth and noodles to slurp. This isn’t to say we don’t like it, because we do. The broths are overall solid, even if they don’t blow us away. On more than one occasion we have thought things have ranged from too plain to too salty, and that left us feeling like there was some room for improvement. Another slight negative is that you’re not getting out of here for less than $20 if you want a complete bowl. We’ll at least give Ramen-san a free pass on the price, because it's River North, and this neighborhood is usually expensive. We don’t want to focus on the negative though, because at the end of the day the food is good. What we do want to focus on is how great the restaurant and vibe itself is. Ramen-san is a good option for a quick River North bite, particularly when we are in a weekday dining solo mood. Quick and quality don’t really go hand-in-hand with River North, so we're glad this place can be in the rotation. Post up by yourself with a warm bowl of ramen at any of the counter seats, or come with a small group and add on some spicy Szechuan wings and a round of cold Asahi beer on tap. It’s still f*cking cold outside - eat ramen. Food Rundown photo credit: Ramen-San Spicy Szechuan Chicken Wings Great wings, plain and simple. A little bit of heat, good crisp, and a really nice Szechuan style sauce. photo credit: Ramen-San Pork Belly Mantou Buns A decent pork bun, although we don’t love the mayo sauce that comes on it. We’d forgo the sauce next time around. Shio Ramen A chicken broth base with some molten egg, tofu, and nori. We like to add some soy sauce chicken and kimchi to the mix, which both we and Ramne-san recognize is not very Japanese. Add a generous amount of dashi flakes at your disposal for a little extra flavor and heat. photo credit: Ramen-San Tonkotsu Ramen Rich pork flavor with chasu pork and molten egg. We like to add kimchi and buttered corn here too. photo credit: Ramen-San Sumo Bowl The sumo bowl comes complete with a lot of meat, pork and brisket. It’s a giant $18 bowl of ramen that’s definitely a unique twist and a hearty meal." - Sam Faye