With a focus on chicken broth, Okiburu at the Dumbo Market serves its beloved noodle dishes, including Tan Tan Tsukemen and Tori Paitan Ramen. Catering to all appetites, its Vegan Tsukemen will also be available as well as its cold noodle Matcha Zaru Udon served on ice, just in time for summer. Beyond noodles, gyoza—both steamed and fried—chicken tempura bao buns and garlic nori fries round out the options.
Ramen is a format, not a fixed dish. Like a hamburger, it’s a canvas for expressing personality, skill and philosophy. Some places are obsessed with crafting their own noodles, while others buy them from a vendor. Some worship the egg; but it’s an afterthought for others. Should broth be subtle and salty or rich and spicy? And what about you? That à la carte menu is there for a reason, so are you going to throw a knob of cold butter in there, corn, mashed potatoes (yes, really)? The point is that there is no ‘correct’ bowl of ramen, just the one you love. So, below you won’t find the best per se, just the ones that impressed us for one reason or another. From finely-tuned specialists to crowd-pleasers, we’re casting as wide a net as possible. Some places go way outside the box, some hone the dish to a fine point. The only commonality is noodles, a bowl and soup. For that reason, in an effort to present some reasonable basis for comparison, we chose to look at each respective place’s standard and near-universally ubiquitous tonkatsu pork bowl, but made sure to include indications for vegetarians (and vegans where possible) so nobody’s left out. And in an effort to respect each restaurant’s point of view, we’ve broken each entry’s bowl down into its constituent parts: broth, noodles, chashu (or equivalent), veg, and egg.
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Before we get on with it: yes, there is indeed a correct way to eat ramen. First, take in the bowl, appreciate its gestalt. Second, take only a modest bundle of noodles with each bite, not a heap. Third, slurp. Seriously. Air wakes up the noodles’ flavor, so you’re supposed to make some noise. Don’t bite the noodles in half. You won’t be able to fish those little ends out, so you’re cheating yourself. Just go for it and have a napkin handy. Finally, don’t linger too long: ramen is meant to be eaten quickly, while the broth is still hot and the noodles still chewy.
September 29, 2025: As ever in New York, some past favorites have closed since you last checked in. Fall is approaching and before you know it, winter will be upon us so now is the time to get your hot-soup ducks in a row. In this edition, we’ve added a few new(ish) standouts who are doing things a little differently: tsukemen, birria, chicken-based broths–each is worth a trip.
