Sakai Ramen and Izakaya — Restaurant in New York

Sakai Ramen, Staten Island, NY These folks have a giant E Honda on the wall overlooking the dining area so you know they mean business. This spicy Sakai Ramen bowl was really, really, enjoyable. The broth was thin and delicious, not overly salty as some places tend to be. I could drink a whole bowl by itself, f'real. I asked for extra spice and it wasn't really very spicy by my standards. It was tolerable by a lot of people who probably don't do spicy. I will say though, that during my bowl about halfway through, I ended up having some go into my airway and I had to chew super fast, put my utensils down, and swallow before I coughed my mouthful out all over the table. It caught me off guard. For the next 3 minutes I was fighting back more coughs, sniffles, and watery eyes. So embarrassing. But man, this is what it feels like to be alive. The bowl came with chicken chashu and pork chashu standard but I asked for more pork chashu and I'm very, very glad I did. The meat in this bowl was very soft and delicious and had its own unique flavor. Like the broth, it wasn't too overpowering or salty so I could really get into it and eat a lot without feeling like a dirtbag. I'm usually not a fan of thin noodles, but in this bowl with everything else meeting my expectations and tasting delicious I didn't even care. The noodles soaked up the broth just fine and complemented the bowl nicely. Everything else there; bamboo, seaweed, and corn, was a nice touch. Overall, I'd say this is probably my favorite Ramen Shop on Staten Island now. I don't think there's a whole lot of them out here but I bet it would be hard to find one much better. A+...

The environment is nice but that’s about it. The food is very basic and some dishes don’t even taste that good. It’s also pretty pricey especially being that the taste is just so so.

Ramen: The Sakai Ramen was $13 and comes with many food items/toppings like pork chashu, chicken chashu, corn, etc however, the soup, that was supposedly boiled for eight hours for flavor, had little flavor at all and didn’t even arrive to the table hot. Not only that but the noodles were too soft and the overall ramen, despite having the large assortment of toppings, was not filling.

Small dishes: We ordered a couple of small dishes but I’ll only review one or two. The chicken wings were not worth it at all. Honestly, you could probably go to a supermarket, buy a pack of frozen wings, and make better wings yourself. The chicken was dry and the sauce tasted like your typical Tabasco sauce. The Hamachi Kama tasted fine and so did the sauce however there was nothing special about it. In other words, it wasn’t worth going out to a restaurant for. I personally have made Hamachi Kama before and all I do is pop it in the oven for 25 minutes or so, drizzle soy sauce over it, and surprise! It tastes just the same.

Ice tea: SUPER SWEET. It was like drinking straight up sugar!! I’m sure that could probably be fixed upon request but I don’t think I’ve ever had anything as sweet as the...

I felt compelled to leave a hot take for the Un Initiated, those not acquainted with Sakai Ramen. A staple of the menu, and in the Shoyu Ramen soup, you will find chicken Chasu. Im not sure, but I think this Chasu is a specific korean cut of pork and / or chicken. Its got some fat on the outside and its lean in the middle. Before you go all " oh but the ramen at this place had pieces of fat on the chicken" , well this is the point! It adds the signature flavor to Korean Ramen.

This place is another hidden gem. Quite an impressive sake menu also. The small plates / tapas/ appetizer menu is pretty ambitious as well. If you are an adventurous pallate, you can get super funky and take it down to Chinatown. Well, actually Korea town. But I digress. The menu is as authentic korean as us gringos probably want to get. It can be a little on the expensive side though, if you really start diving in with the al a carte and a few bottles of sake. To be fair though, they have a wide range of sake from the really basic cheaper hot sake, to more fine floral sakes, which are meant to be consumed chilled. Some after thoughts, there is a nice party room with seating for 10, I imagine the bubble tea is pretty good, but thats not my thing, and service is good. Closed...