Minca

"This long-running East Village ramen parlor established itself way before Ippudo, and it takes its ramen every bit as seriously — with a jazz soundtrack. It also hasn't hesitated to innovate, as demonstrated by its ramen that’s deconstructed in the Tokyo style, with thick noodles, a spicy miso broth, and a whole slew of extra ingredients to add to the bowl at your pleasure." - Robert Sietsema

"Minca’s cramped dining room is situated around an open kitchen, with hot steam constantly flowing through the space. It’s perfect for a soothing solo meal or casual date night in the East Village when you don't want it to seem like you’re trying too hard. We love that you can get a bowl made with half pork and half chicken broth, and the tsukemen here is particularly great. The daikon salad, a mountain of shredded radish drenched in sesame sauce, is one of our favorite ways to eat that particular vegetable." - Will Hartman, Willa Moore, Sonal Shah, Neha Talreja, Kenny Yang

"Minca’s cramped dining room is situated around an open kitchen, hot steam constantly flowing through the space. It’s the kind of place to go alone when you need to be soothed or when you want to impress a date without looking like you’re trying too hard. We love that you can get a bowl made with half pork and half chicken broth, and the tsukemen here is particularly great. The daikon salad, a mountain of shredded radish drenched in sesame sauce, is one of our favorite ways to eat that particular vegetable." - Carina Finn

"One of the city’s tastiest bowls of ramen can be found at Minca, a ramen shop that predates the likes of Ippudo in the rife-with-ramen East Village and Alphabet City neighborhoods. A highlight is the Tokyo tsukemen spicy miso iteration: the thick broth is served separate from wavy noodles, roast pork, corn, scallions, and more add-ins, for dipping, dunking, and mixing the various components together as desired." - Alexandra Ilyashov

"This relatively unassuming neighborhood ramen joint turns out 15 varieties of the noodle soup, which include pork, chicken, and vegetarian broth styles. Customization is encouraged here — choose from thick, thin, wavy, whole wheat, or even gluten-free bean noodles. Purists should look to the house shio, a half-pork, half-chicken broth seasoned with salt and roast garlic flavor, while adventurous eaters play dealer’s choice with the experimental ramen. Past experiments have included pan-fried ramen and tomato ramen." - Dan Q. Dao