TabeTomo
Ramen restaurant · East Village
131 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009
Highlights
Tsukemen & ramen, Japanese small plates, sake, cozy vibe
Tsukemen & ramen, Japanese small plates, sake, cozy vibe
"We want our shrimp chips, and we want them now. And while you’re at it, throw in some frozen pork buns, chili crisp, and our new pantry staple, instant pancit canton. We aren’t this rude when we put in a grocery delivery order on Umamicart, but our internal monologue can get demanding. Umamicart is an online Asian grocer that makes same day deliveries in New York, and we’re obsessed with it. This Friday from 6-9pm, they’re celebrating AAPI month with their first popup at Tabetomo, where you can sample snacks and win prizes. All proceeds will go to Heart of Dinner, the grassroots organization combating food insecurity and social isolation within NYC’s elderly East Asian American community." - neha talreja
"After a May fire that closed it for five months, TabeTomo at 131 Avenue A has reopened; Chef Tomo Kubo first opened the restaurant in 2018 (before launching TomoTomo in Midtown in 2020), and TabeTomo specializes in tsukemen-style ramen." - Emma Orlow
"Like the best Lindsay Lohan movies, TabeTomo prefers things “Fully Loaded.” This bright and buzzing East Village izakaya specializes in tsukemen and topping-heavy jiro ramen, and they offer bowls in various sizes. The standard tonkotsu jiro has a 60-hour boiled broth that’s rich and sweet, and comes with slices of chashu, thick and chewy noodles, and some veggies. For an extra $4, you get even more pork and a marinated soft-boiled egg. But if you’re feeling like a real hero, there’s the $48 Megamori Tsukemen Challenge: finish a bowl with more noodles than a college student's ramen care package in under 30 minutes, and your meal is free. Tsukemen is the star here, but there’s also Sapporo on tap and affordable sake options to pair with bites like karaage chicken and takoyaki. With exposed brick, warm lighting, and old family photos behind the bar, TabeTomo feels like a neighborhood living room—but if you’re thinking of stumbling in, do it on a weeknight: they don’t take reservations and there’s often a line outside on weekends. " - Will Hartman
"The food came in a gradual succession so I could enjoy each dish, and I washed them down with the first sake on the menu (miyozakura junmai, $10), ritually served by placing a glass in a wooden box and pouring the beverage into the glass till it overflowed into the box: an exercise in some logic I didn’t understand but thoroughly enjoyed. The guy next to me struck up a conversation, and I wish I’d asked his name. He, too, had looked in the window and ventured in because the place was so chill." - Robert Sietsema
"From a directorial debut that went on an hour too long to a virtual date that went on for an hour too short, there are countless reasons you may feel like hovering your face over a steaming bowl of soup at 11pm. When that urge hits, order the “soul ramen” with beef and pork for delivery from Tatsu Ramen in the East Village." - matt tervooren
