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Home > Restaurants > Minca Ramen Factory

All Reader Reviews of...

Minca Ramen Factory

536 E. 5th St., New York, NY, 10009
nr. Ave. A
212-505-8001

7.7 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
71% Would you go back?
71% Would you take a date?
14% Would you take kids?
42% Would you go on business?
57% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 7.3
Service: 8.7
Décor: 7.3
Value: 8.0
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  • Showing reviews 1 through 7 of 7

Best in NYC

overdedge from 08816 | Posted on 2/23/09

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? Yes
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 9
Décor: 8
Value: 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.

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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good service, tasteless broth

umi from 10019 | Posted on 9/12/08

Overall Rating: 5 (Mixed Reviews)
Would you go back? No
Would you take a date? No
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? No
Food: 1
Service: 8
Décor: 5
Value: 3

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.

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1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

*burp*

lestat from 10013 | Posted on 4/18/08

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 5
Value: 10

lack of decor, but so what? everyone knows the places with the best food is the ones inside a hole in the wall.... the Tonkotsu is the thickest and best i ever had in in the states. Japan imports, Ippudo and Setagaya were both disappointing, nothing compared to how it is in Japan... Order the Charshu Tonkotsu Ramen... its to die for

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3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Excellent

Finney from 10021 | Posted on 6/14/07

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 8
Value: 10

I liked this excellent East Village ramen place very much. Everything was very tasty, and there was a great vibe and atmosphere there. The same dishes in a fancier uptown place would have cost three times more, so the value is really good. Very downtown, so I recommend it.

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154 out of 398 people found this review helpful.

Spot-On

RichardFolster from 10012 | Posted on 5/27/07

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? Yes
Would you go on a special occasion? Yes
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 10
Value: 10

The ramen at Minca is absolutely delicious and satisfying, and is authentic to the region that the owners of this fine little establishment come from. Their tofu appetizer, salads, gyoza, and ramen are all spot-on. The place is always packed with Japanese, which confirms the authenticity and quality of what they have on offer. We live downtown, go there often, and are never ever disappointed. Let the negative guy who dissed them below stay in Midtown... That's one more table available for the rest of us at Minca.

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251 out of 514 people found this review helpful.

Soup is horrible.....

goldalipuff from 11375 | Posted on 5/22/07

Overall Rating: 1 (Not Recommended)
Would you go back? No
Would you take a date? No
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? No
Food: 1
Service: 5
Décor: 6
Value: 4

Service is good and interior is nice, but the ramen is horrible..... Pork Cha-shu tastes good, but they need to work on that soup and noodle. It's NOT authentic Japanese ra-men. You should go to Menkui-tei in midtown. You'll see the difference.

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162 out of 370 people found this review helpful.

Toyko on 5th St

paulvcarter from 10029 | Posted on 9/26/05

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)
Would you go back? Yes
Would you take a date? Yes
Would you take kids? No
Would you go on business? No
Would you go on a special occasion? No
Food: 9
Service: 9
Décor: 9
Value: 9

Having spent a year in Tokyo I find this place one of the most authentic spots in town, at any price. The ramen menu now has grown to include some lighter broths but which ever you choose the suculent roast pork or chicken will have you going back & back. The pork over rice looked great yesterday....I must try it next time.

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283 out of 550 people found this review helpful.

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