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Sometimes only a big bowl of soup will do. At Sapporo, a Times Square slurp spot since the swinging seventies, you order your soup, you get a lot of it, and you get it fast and cheap. The ramen is quite good, especially considering the price, with springy noodles, modestly rich broth, and savory supporting players like fish cakes, tender and flavorful roast pork, scallions, and the somewhat superfluous addition of corn. The menu offers nearly a dozen varieties of soup, flavored with everything from curry to sesame paste. For sides, skip the flaccid gyoza dumplings and order the piquant kimchee, equal parts crunch and fire. The crispy, crunchy Pork Cutlet Fried Pork is tasty at first but becomes as redundant as its name. Lit with a department-store glow, the ambience is what you’d expect: hanging paper lanterns and blond-wood tables, and chairs and wall plaques branded with Japanese characters. A diner-style counter offers front-row kitchen views, providing the entertainment angle at this theater-district mainstay. — Raquel Pelzel

Kimchee $4; miso ramen, $7.50; yakisoba, $8