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Rai Rai Ken Noodles East Village New York

By Plate of the Day   Apr 23, 2006

As most college students on a budget, I survived on Ramen noodles. Besides being a cheap food that is quick and easy to make, it’s also great after a long night of drinking - it satisfies your hunger and prevents you from getting a nasty hangover the next day. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the 14 available seats at the tiny hole in the wall Rai Rai Ken Ramen Noodle bar in the East Village are always taken. The key to great ramen noodles is the broth. At Rai Rai they serve a few types of MSG-Free broths for their ramen including a seafood base, a soy sauce base and vegetable base. I got the soy sauce base with a slice of roast pork and it was great. It comes with a half slice of a hard boiled egg, seaweed, etc. If you’re not into ramen noodles Rai Rai Ken also offers curry plates, fried plates and gyoza. The interesting thing that we noticed that night was that the cooks behind the counter were speaking Shanghainese!! I guess that these guys are originally from Shanghai and then spent time in Japan? Not sure of the full story. Anyhow it’s not an uncomon thing - I mean you’ll find Vietnamese bakers at Absolute Bagels, Korean cooks at Taco Fiesta, and Mexican cooks at Chinese restaurants. Sometimes the cooks blend their heritage into their regional cooking like at La Caridad 78 where Cuban and Chinese combine. FULL REVIEW

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Rai Rai Ken

By The Impetuous Epicure   Jan 30, 2006

Rai Rai Ken is a hole in the wall. Complete with noren, and the obligatory shelf-styled dining arrangements of course. The eating area is tiny and the kitchen isn’t much larger. There’s still enough room for two gigantic stock pots full of broth, however. (Pst, I spotted some apples bobbing about!) Dimly lit and built for major slurping action, Rai Rai Ken is a quick pop-in and go ramen restaurant. Well, in my case, it was more of an “ALLEN! I want to eat ramen! Where should we goooo,” type of affair. So last week (timestamp says the 21st), I went to the city and met up with Ada, Cathy, Carvey (Ada: “Like Harvey with a C”). FULL REVIEW

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Rai Rai Ken and a delicious blob

By The Girl Who Ate Everything   Jan 27, 2006

If you live in/around NYC, then you'll know that yesterday felt blood-freezing (which I guess also means ...human freezing) cold. You know that feeling you get in your hands when it's cold and you're walking around and your hands absorb the cold and you can't feel your hands because it's cold but then you go to a warmer place and your hands regain some feeling after the aforementioned cold numbingness, but instead of feeling like normal hands, they feel kinda (WARNING: fake word up ahead) spingly like a hand transplant gone wrong? Yeah? ...No? Nevermind. FULL REVIEW

Miso ramen at Rai Rai Ken.

By Twenty Bucks A Day   Oct 26, 2005

Last night’s dank and dreary weather required an infusion of warm comfort food – this according to my girlfriend, who decided that we should go to Rai Rai Ken, on E. 10th St. between 1st and 2nd Aves.  Hey, I’m in no position to argue: ramen is one of the better dinners I can think of on a cold night, and after yesterday’s disappointing yet filling lunch, I definitely wanted something on the lighter side of excellent (no more greasy golden bags!). FULL REVIEW

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Rai Rai Ken

By Hungry Hedonist   Mar 23, 2005

At the time of this writing, the Times had recently done a feature on ramen joints in the city. A ramen enthusiast recommended that I try Rai Rai Ken in the East Village on 10th St between 1st and 2nd. With only 20 x 8 sf, the shop sits around 12 people at a bar. The decor is interesting, a fusion of traditional homestyle Japanese and urban western culture (graffiti style wall paper, the bar stools). FULL REVIEW

Rai Rai Ken

By Pabulum   Dec 08, 2004

While Rai Rai Ken reminds me of the Japanese movie Tampopo, it is my quick trip to Tokyo a few years ago that always comes flooding back whenever I enter the shop for a simple bowl of ramen. Separating the banners overhead at the door, I immediately get transported back to winter Japan; its narrow space and wooden bar remind me of cold cheeks and frozen hands after my usual bike commute through the suburbs of Tokyo. A simple menu of three kinds of ramen bowls: shoyu, a soy sauce-based broth, shio, seafood-based and miso, made of soy beans, all served with bamboo shoots, spinach, roast pork, nori (dry seaweed) and scallions — all topped with the ever-so Japanese pink fish cake. FULL REVIEW

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