Minca – Alphabet City

Minca is a small ramen shop I stumbled upon when I lived in alphabet city. It’s located on East 5th Street between Avenues A and B. Minca and Kambi on 14th st are apparently owned by the same person but I think Minca is far superior. Minca is small and because the place gets packed it can feel very cramped even though it seats a few more people than tiny ramen shop Rai Rai Ken. The wait isn’t too bad but you certainly do feel awkward when you stand around waiting for your seat because it’s too cold outside and end up hovering over diners’ tables.

Aside from the lack of personal space, Minca offers a nice ambiance and seats at the bar get a nice view of the open kitchen. I have had some of the more extravagant ramens here but this time I kept it simple with the Minca Shoyu Ramen and Pork Gyoza.

The menu at Minca is simple, they pretty much stick to ramen and gyoza. The pork gyoza is really, really good with a nice thin skin and tasty pork filing. An order equals 6 hand-made dumplings for $4.85, highly recommended to complement your meal (pork overload yes!!!). Minca’s website states “We Take Pride in Our らーめん” (Ramen), and they do. It’s obvious the love and care put into these ramen bowls. The minca shoyu ramen features a pork & chicken mix broth with a soy sauce flavor  and is ridiculously delicious- thick and meaty! The charshu pork is amazingly fatty and tender, it seems to melt in your mouth. It’s such a shame you only get two pieces- lucky for me Eileen isn’t so down with fatty pork and gifted me with some extra pork- YUMMMMM. The ramen is also topped with a soy sauce infused half of a hard-boiled egg, scallions, mushrooms, seaweed, and bamboo shoots. This ramen is, simply put, fucking delicious. Also, the bowls seem to be pretty low on the MSG and I never leave with that weird after-taste MSG gives you. The standard Minca Shoyu Ramen is $9.50, a better deal and better tasting than Ippudo. Some of the more intricate ramens at Minca range up to $14.

Minca is an amazing, authentic ramen shop and places in as one of my top places for ramen noodles in the city. I’m also a big fan of Menkui Tei and Ramen Setagaya and will get to reviewing them at another point! If you know of any amazing ramen places in New York that I may not have heard of please leave me with a suggestion!

Minca can be found at 536 East 5th Street between Avenues A and B in Alphabet City.