Rai Rai Ken

I recently went to Japan. I ate Ramen from Yakushima, Kagoshima, Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. The ramen here had nothing to do with Japanese ramen - please replace the cooks with some Japanese cooks. You can't expect people who have never lived in Japan or trained under a Japanese chef to know what it's supposed to taste like. Broth was more soysauce than broth. Pork chasiu was soggy and bland, old tasting. The ramen was over cooked. I have nothing against foreigners cooking food. Even the rice was mushy rather than sticky. Go else where. You could make better ramen at home.

Come on, what do you expect from a tiny place? It's a place where you would want to hit up if you have absolutely nothing to do with no dinner places in mind and don't want to spend too much that night. It's ramen and it's good.

I am Japanese. I don't want Americans to think this is Japanese Ramen.

Arguably the best ramen in NYC. Been going for years, and will often wait a long time for a stool. Always worth it. The fried rice is also amazing.

Good food, prices are definitely worth it. As far as service, it's a small place with only a couple waiters at a time, and big groups are hard to fit as there's just a counter with stools really. Great for a two or three person meal.

i first went to rai rai ken was in 2003, right after i came from japan. i didnt expect good service or better tastes, because this isn't in japan, everything is different yet ra-men was taste better than i expencted like i ate sho-yu ra-men in my hometown. gyoza was good as well. i have been there many times, but these days, soup doesnt taste great , and everytime tastes different when i go, noodle is kind of swallown already, and gyoza is over cooked. the service is just an OK, because ra-men is fast food!

this place is the bomb. don't mind the 'bad service'. it's a ramen shop not bleedin' Balthazar.