Misoya, welcome to Ramen Central, East Village NY

Eugene and I were about to grab a bowl of borscht and a tuna melt at B&H dairy on 2nd avenue and 7th street (highly recommended- sit at the counter and enjoy the banter) when we noticed a new Ramen joint next door at 129 2nd Avenue and decided to give it a try. Misoya is a Japanese chain that seems to have its sights set on US expansion, this being the second American restaurant ( the first is in Santa Clara, California). Misoya specializes in Miso Ramen, and makes a further distinction between three varieties of Miso broth: Hokkaido, Kyoto, and Nagoya style.  The menu is downright confusing and does a poor job differentiating between the three varieties, but thankfully there were some handy pictures to help us out. For a good description of the differences between these miso ramen styles check out my fellow blogger Lauhound's post on Misoya. The restaurant offers a $10 lunch set menu which includes your choice of Kara Age (boneless fried chicken), three Gyoza (Japanese dumplings), or sticky rice. We didn't realize that Cha su roast pork isn't included with the lunch special, but we were able to remedy that situation with a $1.50 side order- not bad for a tasty and surprisingly thick slab of pork. I apologize in advance for the quality of these pics- I was having a bad camera day....

Fried chicken- they need to work on that batter

Perfectly fried Gyoza

I've read some so-so reviews about the Gyoza at Misoya, but I was very happy with the one I tried. True, they are heavy on the chives but they were perfectly cooked and managed to pack in a lot of flavor. The fried chicken was filling and tender but rather bland and probably better suited to your inner 10-year old who still craves chicken fingers. I'm used to this dish being a bit spicier and saltier, a little A little Five Spice in the batter might have been a welcome addition.

Eugene ordered the Shiro Ramen, and I tried the Hokkaido style. I believe mine was made with red miso paste and Eugene's was made with white. Both of the broths were extremely tasty and redolent with veggies like bamboo, corn, and scallions. Eugene's was even anointed with a couple of pieces of fried tofu, and mine had a couple of surprisingly tasty roast potato wedges in it.

Hokkaido style Miso Ramen

Nagoya style Shiro Ramen with tofu bonus

A tasty side of Cha Su

This is what get's posted when you try to evade the camera Eugene!

The noodles didn't seem to be made in house, but they were a very serviceable version of the type of noodle you find in a package of Top Ramen, only of much better quality. They were tender and slightly chewy with a nice bounce. I really enjoyed the side order of Cha Su pork, which came fresh from the oven or pan and was still sizzling when it arrived. The pork wasn't cooked into oblivion as Cha Su often is, resulting in a piece of meat that didn't crumble to the knife .We really enjoyed our meal, and at $23 plus tip, it was a good deal cheaper of the equivalent meal at Ippudo.

The East Village is Ramen Central in NY at the moment and there are quiet a few choices, including David Chang's Momofuko right up the block, Minca on 5th street, and scores of others attempting to cash in on the current noodlemania. Compound this with the current trend of Japanese noodle imperialism: Ippudo, Ramen Setagaya, and now Ramen Misoya have all raised their flags on a patch of the East Village.  Considering the the veritable tsunami of choices, Misoya compares rather favorably with just about all of them, them, with the exception of Ippudo--only one doesn't need to wait an hour to sit down at Misoya and the price is much more reasonable. While none of the ramen restaurants can come close to either the noodles or the broth at Ippudo, Misoya does a very serviceable job. True, I couldn't taste the sweat of the pig in mine, but that's not always necessary at lunch time, especially if you'd like to move around a little bit after you eat. If you find yourself wandering around the East Village with a sawbuck in your pocket, pop into Ramen Misoya, you'll be happy you did.