Nakamura
“When I first went to Ramen Lab, Chef Nakamura's torigara and miso ramen were the only types of ramen there.”
“I had the Shaki Shaki Spicy and he had the Yuzu Dashi.”
“UPDATE: We also had the Teppan Gyoza – this thin skinned crispy delight was a perfect teaser.”
Nakamura
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Nakamura Ramen definitely goes for a more refreshing and subtle taste. Thinner noodles, and less grease and salt than most Ramen-Ya's. The pork was soft, and incredibly flavorful to counter it. Broth was lacking that special something…But all things considered, I'm a fan! Will get the Gyoza next time.
Totto Ramen is still #1 for superior detail and texture in broth, but Nakamura is a solid second place!
This Ramen-Ya is off the beaten path, and as a result, has a sort of "hidden gem" charm. Ambient lighting, industrial accents, beautiful wood detail, charming view of the Brooklyn bridge… This really sets them apart from the typical kitchen cramped ramen style shop (don't get me wrong, those can be charming if authentic). Nice for a date or a relaxed evening alone. Staff was efficient but didn't rush. I expected to enjoy the ramen, but I didn't expect to enjoy the peaceful and quaint vibe.
Lovely.
I will definitely be back.
**Note: Open till midnight, but last order 11:30pm. No credit card minimum!
I came here on a Tuesday around 7pm with a friend. It's located right next to the entrance of the Williamsburg bridge. I tried coming here before on a Sunday, but apparently they close on Sundays.
This place has only seatings for about 15. They have daily rotating menu, and it was creamy mushroom on Tuesday. I ordered the Yuzu dashi ramen. The soup is light and a bit sour, which was good for summer. The noodle was done well. They only gave us one slice of pork, which was less than I expected. It was the non-fatty kind, but nicely charred. I would visit again and try the more traditional ramen.
This super small ramen joint seems a little out of place on the block, all bright and open next to the shadow of the Willamsburg Bridge. There are maybe five 2 top tables and another 4 or 5 seats along a narrow bar. The bathroom is located through the tiny kitchen, but is kept clean and is open to patrons despite the "employees only" sign outside it's door. Not a great place to bring a big group or a fussy child in a stroller.
The ingredients are great, the seaweed has a nice crunch, the soft boiled egg was cooked perfectly, crunchy bean sprouts, but the ramen was underwhelming. Me and my dining partner both agreed it was like light, or even diet ramen. There seemed to be a necessary amount of fat that just wasn't present in our broth and so everything was very mild. The Shaki Shaki Spicy ramen was not spicy whatsoever. It also doesn't come with any meat, that costs extra.
The gyoza are alright, I wouldn't order them again. They stuck to each other and the hot plate they were on, causing the dough to puncture in places, but the meat was solid.
Asahi in cans. Everything from the water to the beer gets poured into these tiny glass beakers. They're cute but I didn't really enjoy drinking out of them, the beer foam sometimes escapes from the beaker spout.
Really enjoyed this place. Literally at the end of Williamsburg Bridge, it's not the easiest to find or most visible from the road, but it is worth finding and going to whenever you have a hankering for good ramen in the Lower East Side.
TORIGARA (chicken-based broth): Not as rich and hearty as a tonkotsu (pork-based) broth (which they do not have fyi), but for New York, where the life-sucking humidity of summer is the stuff of legends, a less heavy broth will do just fine. Though not heavy, it is full of flavor. Come with thin noodles (though thin, its a nice firmness) and normal ramen fixings (chashu, kamaboko, spinach, nori, bamboo shoots). Good noodles and broth, can't complain.
Granted, like other reviewers say, it's not cheap, but it's not out of line with the price points of other quality ramen joints in the city. This is just what you gots to pay these days for good ramen. At least Nakamura doesn't seem to have a long wait to grab a table like a lot of other ramen shops seem to have these days, so there's that.
Nakamura's really good, definitely a fan of this place!
KenScale: 8.0/10
I have a serious craving for ramen every once in a while; New York City has no shortage of great ramen places such as Ippudo, Totto and Mu Ramen, but there were a couple of newcomers I've been meaning to check out. One such place is Nakamura, opened by chef Shigetoshi Nakamura who previously opened Ramen Lab that now hosts guest chefs all the time before striking on his own at this tiny space just next to Williamsburg Bridge. My recent visit on a summer Tuesday did quite well to satisfy my craving.
Before you move on with getting one of the ramen options, don't skip on appetizers. Szechwan chili cucumber was surprisingly delightful with the spicy kick that was perfect to whet my appetite before getting to the main, and gyoza was also more or less perfectly prepared with very nice balance of flavor and texture of fillings inside. I really debated what I should get for my ramen, and decided on the chicken broth-based jidori ramen. I've always been very partial to rich and aromatic broth of pork-based tonkotsu ramen, but the one I had tried, which also came with nicely cooked grilled chicken, offered something quite different. The broth may not be as decadent as tonkotsu counterpart, but its clean flavor more than made up for such shortcoming and the hand made noodle had ideal level of firmness to it that, combined with the chicken, made for a very satisfying bowl.
The restaurant doesn't take reservations, but you won't have any problem getting seated at this warm, cozy space that not a lot of ramen aficionados in the city still don't seem to know about. You can complement your meal with concise list of beer or sake options. Nakamura is the type of place I would really love to have in my neighborhood to satisfying my ramen craving periodically, with unassuming place and a diverse range of interesting ramen options that I would like to try all some day.
open till midnight – great for a late night snack. think the owner the same guy from Ramen Lab. awesome ramen with daily specials. cute decor in an intimate cute space with great service.
Super cute, tiny little shop in a really sketchy area. It's open late, which is great. The interior is decorated with low-hanging light bulbs and a huge lighted sign. Super cute and really belongs in west village. Stepping outside, you risk getting mugged.
Food is decent. Gyoza and edamame were good.
Honestly, I can't figure out why I wasn't crazy about it, there was nothing inherently wrong, but it kinda didn't feel like ramen to me. It felt like beginner ramen or diet ramen and it would be good for someone who was having ramen for the very first time. I think my major issue was the chicken/fish broth, yes it was light but it also lacked flavor. When I think of ramen, I think of tonkotsu ramen which has such a depth of flavor and it takes hours and hours to prepare, the ramen here was completely missing that element.
The food:
Torigara- #26 cut thin noodle, light chicken and fish broth, chashu pork, bamboo shoots, spinach, naruto fish cake, nori with Ajitama egg added. Overall, just an OK bowl of ramen, the broth was very light and clean but lacking in flavor. The noodles had a nice texture and the add on Ajitama egg was good, it was perfectly runny but was on the salty side, I also thought it was really weird how they served the egg before the ramen and not with the ramen together? Huh? The pork was good, it was tender and had nice fat content. The nori they use was really good, it had a nice bite to it and it didn't just fall apart in the broth, I really like their seaweed. yelp.com/user_local_phot…
Teppan Gyoza- Pot stickers with thin skin. I wasn't terribly impressed with their gyoza. The filling was just OK, and the wrapped was barely there. The wrapper was too thin, I like the wrapper to give it some type of texture. The spicy seasoning wasn't all that spicy.