Hanami Ramen — Restaurant in New York

Restaurant Review

Hanami Ramen is a charming new addition to the neighborhood, offering an authentic modern izakaya experience with a thoughtfully curated menu. The restaurant strikes a perfect balance between casual comfort and culinary excellence.

Food

The menu, while focused, delivers exceptionally well-executed dishes. The karaage features a delicate, crispy coating that gives way to perfectly juicy chicken, complemented by a house-made mayo and Japanese chili peppers. Their gyudon stands out with clean, vibrant flavors, featuring a harmonious sweet-savory sauce and crispy onions that add textural contrast.

The signature Knoko ramen offers a light but flavorful mushroom broth with pronounced umami notes. While the portion is generous (especially with extra noodles, which proved unnecessary), the broth maintains its delicate character throughout the meal. The ramen egg was perfectly prepared, adding richness to each bowl.

For dessert, the black sesame cheesecake, though petite, delivers intense flavor with its dense, creamy texture and subtle black sesame notes. While it could benefit from a crust, it's a satisfying finish to the meal.

Atmosphere

The space embodies a neighborhood izakaya vibe - welcoming and unpretentious. While it may not be a destination restaurant, it perfectly serves its role as a local gathering spot for quality Japanese cuisine.

Value

Prices are very reasonable for the quality and portion sizes offered, particularly the karaage and donburi dishes.

Final Thoughts

Hanami Ramen proves that focusing on doing fewer dishes exceptionally well is better than offering an extensive but mediocre menu. Its combination of quality food, comfortable atmosphere, and reasonable prices makes it a welcome addition to the neighborhood. While there's room for minor improvements (like adding a crust to the cheesecake), the restaurant shows great promise and warrants return visits to explore more of their...

Such an amazing spot for not only ramen but just food in general. Honestly would love to keep this place lowkey, but I just feel like people have to experience this at least once in their lifetime. The ambiance of the restaurant is very appealing and everything from the chairs that are also storage bins to the way that the doors are made seems very intentional. The food was so good that I couldn’t believe that I found this place in such a rural part of queens. The tonkotsu ramen was very rich and flavorful and the karage chicken was super crispy and juicy. The chef and all the staff seems to be very happy to have people in their establishment so it made the dining experience very enjoyable and peaceful. I’m just very glad to have found this place and now won’t have to travel all the way to the city to find a good food spot. I hope anyone that is having second thoughts about trying this place should totally give this place a shot! If there was a picture on how it felt to eat at this place, the picture...

Nice little addition to the neighborhood! Went around 12:30 and place wasn’t busy (maybe cus they opened around 11:30). Not too much seating, but it’s a cozy vibe. They have a nice lunch special that ends around 4 PM, (choice of ramen, 4 gyozas, and a drink. P.S. if you get the matcha latte or strawberry matcha, there is an extra $1 or $2 charge). Service is fast, great, and food comes out in a reasonable amount of time as well!

Onto the food, I got the tonkotsu ramen which was great (could’ve used a bit more salt, but that’s just my opinion) overall very solid. Great chewy noodles and they give you a WHOLE soft boiled egg (cut into halves). Gyozas were good too. Also got the chicken karaage. I do think it’d taste better if it were marinated longer/more salt, but again just my take. I do also wish the pieces were cut a bit smaller, but overall still tasty.

Overall I’d def come back to eat here again. (Def get the strawberry matcha, great refresher especially for the...