Minca Ramen Factory - 536 E. 5th Street between Avenue A & Avenue B

Minca "Basic" Ramen

Now that it’s Fall and getting colder I now have even more reason to go to Minca than I did before. There are a lot of ramen places in New York City, some of which I’ll be sure to get to later but Minca is at the top of my list. What distinguishes it from other ramen places? There are still other ramen places I need to go to, but Minca has some of the BEST Tonkotsu ramen you’re likely to have in the city. I took a friend of mine (who in his previous life must’ve been some sort of carnivorous beast) to Minca because it’s one of the meatiest most delicious meals you can have.

My girlfriend who is from Kyushu vouches for its authenticity, except she says that the noodles are a bit too thick.

The first thing different about Minca’s ramen is its broth. Normally when you go to a ramen shop you’re going to get a broth based on salt, soy sauce or miso which is the most basic of ramen broths. Minca’s however is pork based which means it’s a lot thicker (which the first time I had I wasn’t fully prepared for). It’s absolutely delicious.

The second thing is that Minca has by far the tastiest Char-shu (pork slices) I’ve EVER had in a ramen dish. The only way to describe it is that it MEEEEEEEEELTS in your mouth. Don’t believe me? Go to this yelp page for Minca and do a search for the word “melt” and see how many people agree with me.

Next is their brown eggs. Lots of people unfamiliar with brown eggs get really turned off when they see it. Basically a brown egg is a hard-boiled egg which has been sitting or stewing in a meat broth for a day or more soaking up the meaty goodness until it turns brown. Some other ramen places offer brown eggs, but they’re usually not as brown as Minca’s. I always save my brown egg to eat last. Oftentimes I’ve seen less experienced ramen eaters remove their brown egg from the bowl which always makes me cry on the inside.

The noodles are also very good, a little chewy and not too soft, kind of like good rice. The rest of the bowl is rounded out with nori (seaweed), bamboo shoots, and scallions.

The bowl is a fairly modest size compared to other ramen places, but it’s so rich I usually don’t end up finishing it. The restaurant itself isn’t very big so if it’s just you and one other person you’ll probably end up sitting at one of their counters or next to someone at their back table. Their largest table will fit four people. When I go with my girlfriend we get a hot sake (always comes very fast), a beer, pork gyoza and two “basic” ramen. It usually comes to around $42.00 with tax and tip. At this point the waitress pretty much knows we get the same thing every time.

Very Highly Recommended!