F, V at Lower East Side-Second Ave.; L at First Ave.
Prices
$8.50-$13.50
Payment Methods
Cash Only
Special Features
Late-Night Dining
Lunch
Open Kitchens / Watch the Chef
Reservations Not Required
Alcohol
Beer and Wine Only
Sake and Sojou
Reservations
Not Accepted
Profile
Like typical eight-person ramenyas in Japan, Minca is cramped, not air-conditioned, and has exposed brick walls and just a few tables. The best place to sit is at the long wooden bar facing the kitchen, so you can watch the chef cook. Ramen is Japan's most popular street food, so it's no surprise that lots of teenage Japanese expats frequent the place, along with suit-and-ties pausing for a quick after-work meal. Aside from a few Japanese beers, appetizers, and one rice dish, there's nothing but ramen on the menu—so it's a good thing it's done well. First, you choose from four types of broth; the best option is shoyu, chicken and soy sauce, which has a thick, meaty texture; the noodles are springy wheat chukasoba noodles. The best dishes combine chunks of pork or seafood with the noodles: Charshu ramen has two types of mushrooms and melting, buttery, thin slices of pork cooked in oil and garlic in front of you; seafood ramen contains generous pieces of shrimp, baby conch, squid, and bay scallops, which give the broth a tantalizingly briny taste. All ramen bowls are topped with scallions, black mushrooms, a sheet of nori seaweed, and tamago, half a hard-boiled egg cooked in soy sauce. — Timothy Cooper
Recommended Dishes
Shrimp gyoza, $5.75; charshu ramen, $4.50
7.7
"Recommended" Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10
Every since I saw the article on rameniac.com, I've went and tried every ramen shop in town. I would rate this place the best. First, it has the most variety of noodles and broth. I chose the Minca Shio Ramen. Unlike a lot of places, the broth is not overly salty. Some may say the garlic is strong but I think it adds just the right amount of bite to differentiate it from the others. The noodles are perfectly cook, you can see the attention the owner/cooks put into it because he has a timer set on the counter. They top it with seasoned bamboo shoots, mushrooms (wood ear), egg, nori, and choice of meat. The pork, as everyone else has mentioned, absolutely melts in your mouth.
You find flaws in almost every other ramen shop in the East Village but about the only thing I can complain about this place is that its so far off in the middle of nowhere.
Being from Japan, I miss ramen a lot. I was really looking forward to this place. I've had a variety of ramen in my life and this ranks very low in my opinion. The shop is sparce and reminds me of a Japanese corner ramen shop. The price is fair enough (although not CHEAP) and the service is very good. The bowl is very hearty with bamboo shoots, nori, seaweed, chashu, egg, negi, and lots of noodles. I like the variety of noodles and recommend the mochi mochi wavy noodles.
The broth was tasteless. It was greasy, which I usually dig. However, without any taste, I was just drinking a greasy tasteless broth. It was thick and almost disgusting. Unfortunately, although the chasu and egg was decent, the broth ruined everything. (if you are having a soup-type dish the broth is crucial)
The gyoza was very disappointing, also. The pork dumplings had little meat and also little flavor.
I DEFINITELY prefer ippudo (even if it tastes different than the one in Japan).
It was definitely a disappointment. I had high hopes for this place.