Upon hearing the word “ramen,” most are quick to imagine the cheap Maruchan packaged ramen that college students are all too familiar with. For this reason, people are often confused to hear that my favorite food to eat is ramen.

However, the ramen that I am referring to is not packaged, and sadly it cannot be bought for 99 cents at the grocery store. True ramen is art, and while there are a plethora of authentic ramen shops in New York City, I feel that ramen is at its best at Ichiran Midtown, located at 132 W. 31st street.

Taking a step into Ichiran is like taking a step into Japan. One of the most defining features about Ichiran — besides their marvelous pork tonkatsu ramen — is the seating arrangement.

Similar to traditional Japanese ramen shops, Ichiran is set up in a long aisle with private flavor concentration booths. These booths are fully equipped with dividers and a curtain that separate you from the server. Imagine a study desk at the library, except you are there to enjoy a full meal. It is peculiar at first, yet intimate, as it encourages the focus of the meal to be primarily on the food.

Ichiran is unique in that you go through your whole meal without seeing your server’s face, as the curtain is low enough that it doesn’t allow you to see the upper half of their body.

Once it’s time to order, you get the pleasure of choosing your preferences for your bowl of ramen via pen and paper. This impersonal process allows for full customization of your bowl from noodle thickness to spice level. After finalizing your order, you press the call button located on the corner of your booth. A server will promptly roll up the curtain and obtain the order form, and thus your journey towards flavor excellence has begun.

As the curtain begins to rustle and the overwhelming smell of broth hits your nostrils, you can’t stop your mouth from watering. Served in a black ceramic box, this beautiful ramen concoction features a milky pork broth, vibrant green scallions, a shiny soft-boiled egg that you are forced to peel yourself, tender pork belly, delicate wheat noodles and a hint of fire red spice.

My one rule when it comes to eating ramen, which I consider the golden rule, is to always taste the broth first. When you dip your spoon into the beautiful broth, it swirls into the spoon with elegance. The broth is oily yet thick as it carries the fat of the pork.
As soon as the broth hits your tastebuds, you are met with a porky explosion of flavor. The broth is strong and complex, as the porky flavor and intense spice fuse together to create a masterful mayhem of flavor. Each slurp of soup will have you savoring the richness of the pork broth while being enticed by the addicting heat of the spice.

Next come the noodles, which should never be overlooked. While there are a variety of different styles and preferences when it comes to ramen noodles, a reliable indicator of good noodles is how well they absorb and hold onto the broth.

Ichiran’s noodles effortlessly grab onto the thick broth, creating an amazing bite that fuses the bold broth flavor with a refreshing springy chew from the noodles.
When you need a break from the broth and noodles, it’s time to explore the delicacies of the ramen, which happen to be the pork belly and the soft boiled egg. Starting off with the pork belly, it is important to note how fatty and rich these pieces of pork are.

The pork belly melts in your mouth and hardly requires any chewing. Pair this with a piece of egg to create a deliciously creamy bite. The velvety egg yolk goes perfectly with the pork belly, and if you chase it with some broth and noodles, you’ve got yourself a bite of food that you will not forget.

I would like to give a three part rating based on taste, presentation and economic value. Starting off with taste, I give Ichiran a hefty nine out of ten. The fact that the flavors are so bold and complex yet perfectly in tune with one another is why I appreciate Ichiran’s flavor so greatly.

Moving on to presentation, I give a score of seven. Like most ramen places, the beauty of Ichiran lies in its flavors, and while these flavors taste beautiful, I believe the ingredients could be configured in a more visually pleasing way. By all means, Ichiran’s ramen looks delicious, but I wouldn’t say that its presentation is its strong point.

Finally, I give the value score a seven as well. In terms of ramen prices, Ichiran is standard, running at about $24 a bowl. However, in terms of food as a whole, it is not the greatest deal to pay over $20 for a bowl of noodle soup, which is why the value score is where it is.
Overall, Ichiran is a must-try, and I definitely recommend it as a first stop for those who have never had traditional ramen and are looking to try a place in the city.