Yasubee Authentic Ramen — Restaurant in New York

Ambiance (4/5): It is a classic Japanese vibe of sitting at the bar countertop and watch as the chef prepares your food. In this case, it was a high schooler following instructions posted on the kitchen wall… Stools do not have a backing so you can't get too comfortable. Service (N/A): You order via a QR code assigned to your seat #. The 1 manned kitchen was servicing 3 guests during his shift and would have struggled to keep up if there were more. However, when asked for additional requests (napkins, to-go containers, etc), he was very quick to help me. Server also gave me a FREE Kung Fu Tea green tea can!! [Only later did I realize that you can get one free for writing a review… but I did not know this until after I visited so he gave it to me for free slash without writing a review] Tsukemen Shoyu Ramen (5/5): Typical that tsukemen broth can be a bit more salty than your standard bowl of ramen, which it was. Broth was full of flavor, depth, but also a smidge too salty. I found it nice that you can order the noodle temperature to be customized as it is typically consumed (cold) or warm (to your preference). There was plenty in portion size for the price point and comes with minced pork, and a half seasoned boiled egg! I added an order of $4 charshu since the meal did not come with it. The meat is a good mix of fat to meat, charred/smokey taste. The noodles were chewy and similar to that of lo mein, which I enjoyed because of the bounce and how easy to was to dip into the ramen to soak up the flavors. The bowl came with a variety in toppings. All around great in taste, price, and quality!

Public bathroom located inside the ground floor just outside...

I'm not sure why but I always come to this food hall expecting more options and always have to settle for something I probably wasn't in the mood for. Case in point. I was drawn in because of the sign that said soft-opening (but I now see that this place has probably been open for longer than I realized).

We grabbed the Samurai special and a second dish. The special comes with a noodle dish, a drink from Kung-Fu Tea next door, and two pieces of fried chicken from TKK Fried chicken on the other side. The fried chicken was fine-two pieces fairly salty but nicely moist with a nice crunch on the outside.

For noodles, we got one shoyu ramen and one miso tsukemen . The ramen was really fine, certainly better ramen options nearby. Meat could have been prepared a little better. And I don't totally know why there is an egg in the tsukemen but not the ramen (which seems like a mistake). Usually would drink the broth more but it was just too salty to do so. But if I thought the ramen was salty, I could not believe how salty the tsukemen was. I'm typically a fan of dishes like this on the saltier side but this was almost unbearable and even burned somewhat. The minced meat was almost an afterthought because I just kept focusing on the flavoring.

One thing I will say, though, is that I felt like the noodles were prepared nicely and were plentiful. But this could not save the...

Yasubee is a solid, no-frills destination for authentic Tsukemen, the Japanese style of eating thick, chewy noodles dipped into a separate bowl of rich, concentrated broth. The appeal here is two-fold: the thick, springy noodles have an excellent, satisfying chew (often served cold, which is traditional) and the savory, tonkotsu-gyokai (pork and seafood) dipping broth is deep in flavor without being overly salty or heavy.

A major draw is the great value, as they often offer small, medium, and large portions of noodles for the same price, a dream for those with a big appetite. Popular orders include the original and the spicy miso Tsukemen. The experience is enhanced by the available counter toppings like chopped onions and fish powder, which allow you to customize the broth's flavor.

The only minor common critique is that the dipping broth can sometimes be served lukewarm, which cools down quickly when you dip the cold noodles. However, they typically offer a soup-wari (extra hot dashi stock) to thin out and heat the remaining dipping broth into a satisfying finishing soup. If you're looking for quality, customizable, and filling Tsukemen, Yasubee is highly...