yaokui: Rai Rai Ken

Address: 214 E. 10th St, New York

Phone: 212-477-7030

Eating in Rai Rai Ken is like eating in a ramen shop at one of the alleys in Shibuya, Tokyo. The 14-stool shop is always packed with people slurping down their bowl of ramen but the good thing is, ramen is a fast meal and you will get your seat relatively quickly (Ramen is a fast food in Japan, as is Mc Donald’s in America). Overall, the ramen at Rai Rai Ken is pretty good, springy and fresh, although I would like it even better if the soup base is slightly more flavorful like tonkotsu base. They use pork as well as various vegetables as the base of the broth. But I think that’s just personal preference since Gan loves the Shoyu ramen at this place just fine. Other dishes I usually order here are Gyoza (pork and chives dumplings), Menma (stir fried bamboo shoots), and Cha-An (fried rice). These are the typical side dishes for ramen. They also serve delicious Hiyashi Chuka (cold Japanese ramen), which is refreshing, during summer time. With so many ramen restaurants popping up in the village, Rai Rai Ken still remains as our favorite in Manhattan because unlike other places which try to sell food based on gimmicks; Rai Rai Ken stay true to itself as a ramen place that does one thing perfectly well.