We were looking for a place to eat downtown when we stumbled upon EAK Ramen that we passed by multiple times and always wanted to try. I love ramen that has been a never ending trend in the city for many many years now: perfect on a cold day, comforting and delicious. So we decided to try the American outpost that started in Japan.

The place was quite bright with all the holiday decorations and we decided to sit inside, not really enthusiastic about the idea of eating outside with my coat on (I already do not like to eat with my suit jacket on, so imagine a coat!).

I started the meal with a pork bun or Butakaku bao. Good start: the bao itself was fluffy and slightly sticky, filled with pork belly smothered by mayo and surprisingly topped with a boiled egg.

Then came the ramen. Jodi got their Umami mushroom shoyu that is a vegan ramen made with a dashi broth (kombu and shiitake mushrooms), spinach noodles, shoyu tare (soy sauce seasoning, shiitake, maitake, shimeji, baby corn and snap peas. She asked for tofu that came separately, in a small dish. The ramen was disappointing: there was a spinach smell and taste that overpowered the whole thing that is sad because the mushroom broth was quite good. I wish we knew and she could have asked for different noodles, mine being quite good. They were also cheap on the other ingredients: there were barely any corn or snap peas.

On my side, I ordered the zebra shio, a Yokohama style pork and chicken broth that simmers for 18 hours. It was composed of shio tare, spinach, chashu, butter, garlic oil, nori and I asked for an egg that was perfectly cooked, the yolk being runny. The broth was superb, creamy and milky, not too salty. The only thing I did not like was the spinach. There were also not that many toppings in it. The noodles were thick and well cooked, having a nice bite, better than the spinach ones in Jodi’s ramen.

So overall it was ok. For similar prices, I would rather go to Ippudo…

Enjoy (…)!

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EAK Ramen -469 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011

EAK Ramen in NYC

I Just Want To Eat!