Ramen Misoya West Village — Restaurant in New York

Misoya is a hidden ramen speakeasy located in a basement down a sketchy staircase in West Village. Once you step in, the restaurant is spacious with warm tone lighting and clean bathrooms. They specialize in all types of miso-based ramen, including Hokkaido, Kyoto and Nagoya style.

We ordered 3 apps and 2 ramen for two people. Everything was authentic and enjoyable. Highly recommend trying their signature miso ramen as this is what they are known for.

＊Black Pepper Tuna The seared raw tuna sprinkled with black pepper is so delicious and full of flavor. The dijon mustard adds a tangy and sweet flavor that complements the tuna's natural sweetness.

＊Ikura Tofu* I described it as a tofu version of chawanmushi. The tofu is incredibly silky and jiggly, literally slipping into my throat. The dashi sauce coated on top has a slight hint of ginger-y flavor. They also give a decent amount of ikura to ensure you have it with tofu at every bite.

＊Ebi Dumpling I’ve never seen a whole shrimp wrapped in gyoza skin before. It is so unique as an appetizer and a less meaty appetizer to pair with your ramen.

＊Shiro Miso Cha-Shu Ramen** Shiro miso is a Kyoto style ramen using sweet and light soybean paste. This type of miso is less salty and milder compared to their two other miso options. We couldn’t stop but kept drinking the soup. The cha shu is seared to give a slightly smoky, caramelized exterior. The meat-to-fat ratio is simply perfect.

＊Cold Dipping Noodles** Summer special. I really enjoyed this soupless ramen as it is served cold. Very refreshing on hot days. The dipping sauce is miso-based with chilli powder on the side. The sauce is thicker and richer than the white miso, and the thick noodles hold up well to the sauce.

Keep in mind both ramen come with many bean sprouts. Personally not a fan but my...

Hidden spot This restaurant is located in the basement and has two sets of door. Once entering the restaurant, the interior is nicely lit and kept clean. Service wise, because there was only one waitress who was taking care of everyone, it felt a bit chaotic. The table in the middle was being used as a take out order preparation station. Overall she was able to take care of everyone just took a bit longer.

Food wise, i ordered karaage and shiro miso cha-siu ramen.

The karaage The exterior was over-fried to a dark brown color. Not much of seasoning for both the batter and the chicken. The chicken was juicy. The dipping sauce was an interesting mix of soy sauce, vinegar and scallion. It’s unique, but definitely did not go well with the overcooked karaage. The only upside is that there were 6 big pieces of chicken if you care about volume.

The ramen The broth was light, not too salty but also lack of depth. The chasiu was greasy in a sense that when i bit into it, that’s all i could taste. Perhaps next time I’ll try the broth with a richer flavor. The fried tofu, perhaps because i didn’t eat them immediately, instead of being crispy, the exterior was sticky/chewy.

The best part of that bowl of ramen was probably the bamboo shot.

I was excited to try this restaurant because the rating was quite high. Perhaps i tried the wrong type of ramen. Will try to...

This place is in the located in the basement to the left of a bagel shop. It might've been used as a storage or waste disposal space in the past but the restaurant did a good job of renovating the space into a more welcoming atmosphere (once you get past the front door). Inside there were a few tables and counter seating in the main dining area. There were also slightly larger tables further in but the lighting seemed really dim there for some reason. The bathroom is beyond this area so the walk there was also a quite dim but at least the bathroom was cleaned and well stocked.

I didn't realize till after I ordered but apparently they also have lunch specials! Will have to check it out next time. I ordered the Shiro Miso Cha-Shu Ramen and boy was it a lot of food! The chashu was okay, I wish it was slightly more smoky. I appreciated the copious amounts of bean sprouts as a beansprout fan. Below that were a good amount of ramen noodles. The soup wasn't too salty or oily, very drinkable (though probably not a good idea).

Service was attentive, the waiter refilled my cup of water whenever it...