Jun-Men Ramen Bar

Mind-​blowing. MIND-​BLOWING! Came in earlier this week with moderate expectations simply because I’m an Ippudo-​stan and haven’t found another ramen spot to top it. But the spicy miso ramen here gives Ippudo a serious run for their money. Everything was really balanced. The level of spice was perfect: not overwhelming, but just enough to get the spicy flavor and slight mouth tingle. The broth was incredibly flavorful, not too salty. Well cooked noodles & egg, and plenty of chasu. I can’t wait to go back to try their pork buns!

This is the cutest damned little ramen spot I’ve been to.
I went with my roommate and we almost couldn’t find it as it is not well marked. The interior has some very chill vibes and you are welcomed by a polite and attentive staff. There are tables that are ideal for small groups and a bar if you want to grab a quick lunch or dinner solo. Side note, the overall appearance of the restaurant is like hospital level clean, which is always a plus.
I had the Spicy Miso Ramen, because I need to eat something spicy everyday or the world will end. The waiter warned me that it might be too spicy, but it was a good balance of heat and flavor, which is not easy to achieve. That said, I generally prefer my spicy food to induce feelings of immediate regret and leave me gasping for air in between giant gulps of water (which is what I was expecting), but what the ramen lacked in spiciness, it made up for in flavor. Portions are also on point; not too much so as to leave you hating yourself and not too little so as to leave you hangry.
I’d come back.

A relatively new tiny place that opened last October. Friendly and attentive service.
Spicy pork ramen: tasty; ask for the spicy mix on the side, as it IS hot. Two delicious pieces of pork belly.
Spicy miso ramen: pretty good, but I prefer the pork ramen.
Uni mushroom mazemen (dry «ramen»): truly memorable. I know… $ 18 is pricey, but you won’t believe how good this is. It’s a DRY noodle dish with uni, porcini mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, cream, truffle oil… all expensive ingredients. The combination of these flavors is heavenly. And the noodles are thicker and more interesting. You’ve got to order this!
Green tea cheesecake: not good; it tasted like butter, and nothing else. $ 8 thrown away.
Overall, a solid ramen spot, but go early because they only have 27 seats.

I went at around 7 with a large group. The wait wasn’t as bad-​they even had a bench outside to wait on. Dunkin donuts is also nearby, just leave your name at the door.
The ramen selection was limited, but what they had tasted great. I had the kimchi ramen and tried a bit of the pork bone and spicy pork bone. The kimchi was actually spicy (I have a high tolerance to spicy food) and the ramen was firm, exactly like the hand pulled ramen I’ve had before at another ramen restaurant. The soup bases were also flavorful, but some (non soy lovers) might call them salty.
The wait staff was also super polite and friendly. I tried the green tea cheesecake. It is dry for a cheesecake, but considering it was green tea, it actually was not too dry.
The only downside was that the bar is small-​our table was a combination of three tables.

It was about 15 degrees outside with the wind chill so my 5-​star review of the pork bone ramen might be a bit biased =)
The specialty, the pork bone ramen, is very satisfying but as satisfying as it is, it isn’t overly rich. That excessive richness (kotterri style) has defined what makes (or breaks) a ramen shop in the U.S. but I’m glad more restaurants such as Jun-​Men don’t strictly adhere to that. Just because there isn’t a ¼-​inch layer of oil doesn’t mean it’s inferior.
The BBQ pork buns are decent. That is, on its own and in absolute terms, it’s good. But relatively, the pork meat isn’t as soft. Again, nothing to poo poo on.
I’d be surprised if you could fit two Fiat 500s in here. The place is intimate and cozy. Come during off peak hours to grab a coveted seat.
Oh and that egg. As a Shiba would say… MUCH WOW. AMAZE. SUCH SOFTNESS, LIKE PILLOWS.
Try the pork bone ramen. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Came here several months ago so I can’t remember the details, but I do remember it was good ramen.
Sweet potatoes fries were delicious!
Uni Mushroom ramen was pretty cool.
If this were my neighborhood ramen place, I’d be satisfied.

Take me back. No seriously, can I just live here and eat the uni ramen for breakfast lunch and dinner? I am so excited I discovered this new neighborhood gem. Chef/​Owner Jun was really polite but engaged in the entire dining experience.
The BBQ pork buns were awesome. Perfectly light buns with delicious juicy sauce and a dab of mayo. It was great you could watch your entire meal being prepared right before your eyes at the bar.
The uni ramen really was a treat. The flavors of the mushrooms and porcini butter were heavenly and truffle oil — how can you go wrong? he dish was not at all what I expected but it was delightful.
I can’t wait to go back and try some of the ramen with soup!

3.5 stars for the spicy pork bone ramen. It is above average as the broth is rich and not too salty. However, it isn’t really spicy and misses on the depth part. The char chu that comes isn’t really charred/​grilled like ippudo, which I prefer. It is just plain white (literally) braised. The noodles also did not stand out. The portion is good for $ 14 but I would probably not come back for it. (I don’t like uni, so their other option doesn’t appeal to me either)
The kimchi fried rice, on the other hand, did stand out as an appetizer for a ramen restaurant. At $ 9, the portion and value is defintely better than the pork/​chicken bun. My friends and I thorough enjoyed this one.

Situated in the western part of Chelsea this ramen shop provides a needed cuisine to this area. Small shop with a couple of tables and bar seating in a modern décor. Their ramen here is pork based and skews towards a bit salty but my favorites here are the pork buns. Tender flavorful pork with a hint of spiceyness. Also a highlight is the uni ramen mazemen. Dry ramen with mushrooms, fried shallots, uni, crisp ham/​bacon in a truffle oil porcini butter. I couldn’t get enough of this bowl and quickly cleaned the bowl of all it’s contents. Could always go for 2 or 3 bowls of this. A definite must order.

Came on a Saturday right when they opened at 11:30am and the place was basically empty. The rush for ramen didn’t come until about 12:30pm. At that point the place was filled.
I tried to Spicy Pork Bone ramen and it was tasty. It had just enough spice so that the broth had a slight kick, but it wasn’t so overwhelming that all you tasted was spice. I also like that the ramen here comes with so many things (without charging you an extra $ 2 for every item). It came with half a soft boiled egg, scallions, pork, mushrooms and a few pieces of bamboo. No complaints here. And I would say the portion was just enough so that you can finish the bowl and feel full at the end.
My friend tried the Uni ramen and liked it, though it was a little creamy for my taste. All in all it’s a nice, clean, trendy looking spot and worth coming to!

Huge ramen snob here. NEVER rated any ⁵⁄₅ stars… but the UNI MUSHROOM. OMG! I typically would wait, try 2 – 3 of the ramen dishes and then decide to review, but this dish is SO good I can’t wait.
Ive only had this one dish and it is SO worth the $ 18, do not let that dissuade you! Ive been to the oh so popular Momofuku in NYC and to far too many ramen bars to count/​name, but this truly was an unexpected surprise! Walked in expecting basic ramen, and left tempted to return the following day!
I will def. return and try the Spicy Miso Ramen (my usual go-​to) but till then, I say take a chance on the broth-​less UNI MUSHROOM. DO IT. JUST STOP READING AND ORDER IT.
You are very welcome.
Tip: Be selfish, come alone or with a +1. This place sits probably 20 ppl max?

There aren’t a lot of good restaurants in this part of the city, save for a few tapas spots in the low 20s, so Jun-​Men Ramen Bar is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. We tried a few starters: chicken bun and chicken wings. The chicken bun was excellent, and the jalapeño mayo complemented the fried chicken really well. The chicken wings were also tasty, but didn’t blow me out of the water. The spicy pork bone ramen did, though. It’s an enormous bowl that’s «just salty enough, just bone beefy enough, and the fixins all work together in sweet harmony.» I read a lot of reviews from The Infatuation, and this description was spot-​on.
I’m really looking forward to coming back for the uni mushroom ramen because it sounds indulgent in all the right ways.
I didn’t give a 5-​star review because the space itself is a bit odd. It’s small with some communal seating and nowhere to hang a jacket, which makes it a bit awkward in the winter. When you walk in you almost assume it’s going to be a fast-​casual type place, but it’s not. That being said, all of our servers were super attentive and very warm, which helped to make the experience really pleasant.

I was pretty excited in checking out Jun-​Men Ramen Bar, a ramen shop in Chelsea. Owned by Chef Jun park, the menu offers a variety of bites (buns, fried sweet potatoes, yellowtail ceviche, etc.), ramen, drink s (beer/​sake/​soda), and sweets (greentea cheesecake and gelato). The hubs and I came here for an early lunch, and we tried the following: Pork Bun (filled with super juicy/​tender/​fatty pork belly, pickled cucumber, and hoisin sauce — these were super juicy and tasty, and really focused on the pork belly themselves — very lightly seasoned and not overdone); the Chicken Wings (4 pieces, double-​fried, and glazed with Jun-​Men sauce; these were finger-​licking good! It was a perfect glaze with a hint of pepper, causing a thin crispy exterior of the juicy wings — these were super tasty!); Jun-​Men Fried Rice (fried rice with Chinese sausage chunks, kimchi, a sunny-​side up egg, tobiko, and micro basil, this was a yummy fried rice dish — not too salty and filled with well-​fermented bits of kimchi; the runny egg was a nice touch, and the Chinese sausage didn’t really freak me out that much: P and, an order of the Uni Mushroom ramen (this is actually a no-​broth ramen, with roasted pancetta, porcini butter, truffle oil, fried shallots, scallion, and Parmesan cheese, all topped with a generous portion of uni — this literally tasted like a Japanese version of pasta, as the ramen noodles were cooked perfectly al dente and coated with a creamy cheesy sauce. I really liked the combination of the salty pancetta and the fried shallots, but the uni could have been more fresh. Service was friendly and efficient, and I suggest in sitting up at the counter so you can see the chefs in action. Definitely a great solid place: D
+juicy/​fatty pork belly
+Chicken Wings
+Jun-​Men Fried Rice
+Uni Mushroom (request for fresh uni!)
+friendly staff: D

I really wanted to love this place, but I couldn’t due to the slow service and the ramen was a disappointment. Upon arriving around 8:00 PM on a Friday, there was about a 20 minute wait, but note it is small so the wait is outside!
FOOD: I got the chicken wings and the spicy pork bone ramen with extra chashu. I liked the wings as I could tell they were fried pretty well. The sauce has rice wine and soy, which is always a win. Next came the ramen, the star, but I guess I was slightly disappointed. The pork was a bit over cooked, so the meat came out a little dry. I’m also a stickler for my egg since I love me a soft boiled egg, but upon eating it, it was more of a hard boiled egg. The noodles were good, but again, a little on the over side so it did not have that right texture I am always looking for. And finally the broth. I read other people’s reviews here about the salt and I would concur. I sadly did not end up finishing the broth due to the salt content.
SERVICE: I’m usually not a stickler for service, but this time I felt it was a big miss. The man next to me ordered at the same time yet my food showed up 15 minutes after him and we ordered pretty much the same thing. Sitting at the bar, I saw my wings sitting there not plated. Unfortunately, when brought to me were not as warm as I’d hope. Also, the ramen came quickly after the wings. So by the time I finished the wings, my ramen was already a little cold and contributed to the overcooked food. Sad.
Overall, I found this place to cater to more of a fusion cuisine, with sweet potato fries to ramen to chicken wings. It’s not bad, but maybe my service experience is what led me to my unfortunate disappointing review.

This is a good alternative to other ramen restaurants in town that have infamous queues. The restaurant is fairly small, so plan ahead if you have a large party. Overall, we were stuffed after finishing almost all of the dishes mentioned below and enjoyed the intimate, hipster vibe of the restaurant.
Pork buns (2 buns per order) — fairly standard, the pork had a mild flavor and oddly had a bit of a gamy taste.
Fried chicken bun (2 buns per order) — crispy chicken, not greasy, and tasted as you would expect.
Pork bone ramen — noodles were thinner than typical ramen noodles (not sure if that was
supposed to happen or it was just the batch of noodles we received), flavorful broth but the pork belly had very limited meat.
Spicy pork bone ramen — mild spiciness with the standard ‘wavy’ noodles — confirmed with the waitress that these noodles are not made in-​house but rather purchased ‘fresh’ not dried from a producer. Similar to the pork bone ramen, the pork belly was fairly fatty and gelatinous, but I think that’s part of the allure of this cut of meat.
Extra noodles — $ 2, healthy portion that two people can easily share
Green tea cheesecake (2 mini slice per order) — hard pass. very chalky and not appetizing.
Cucumber ginger soju — comes in a cute retro glass mini-​milk bottle, very heavy on the cucumber with lots of little bits that sink to the bottom of the glass

I really wanted to love this place but sadly I was pretty disappointed. I got here around 6pm and there were still some empty tables. The restaurant is small but not as small as other popular ramen places.
Here are the things we ordered:
–Sweet potato fries– pretty good. Sweet glaze with a Japanese mayo dip. Was still crunchy
–Yellowtail ceviche– 5 pieces of yellowtail. Pickled mango was pretty good. Sauce was okay. Felt like the dish wasn’t very composed. I ended up eating all the ingredients separately
–Uni mazeman– ugh so sad. This should be renamed mushroom mazeman with one piece of tiny uni. The uni wasn’t fresh and the dish was very greasy. There was a lot of mushroom in the dish. The pancetta was super fried. So disappointed.
–Pork bone ramen with the spicy sauce on the side– the soup was very good. It had a strong pork bone taste but wasn’t as salty as other ramen places. However, the pork wasn’t juicy and was even a little dry.
We left the restaurant pretty full but was disappointed in the quality and taste of the dishes.

THAT UNI RAMEN!!! Mazemen, to be exact. There’s no broth in this one, ladies and gentlemen, but the truffle oil and porcini butter make it so that you don’t even need broth. Topped with roasted pancetta, fried shallots, scallions and UNI!!! I love the chewy wavy thick noodles. The best thing on the menu.
Also liked the pork bone ramen (this comes with thin noodles, which is just ok to me) but Mu Ramen still wins in this case. You DO get 3 pieces of that pork though. MMMMMM delicious fat.
The BBQ pork buns were great, although at $ 9 for 2 it seems a bit overpriced. I did, however, preferred them over the chicken buns which were a bit on the dry side.
Didn’t like the gelato trio, it was just too ordinary.
Will definitely come back again!
Tips:
— Sit at the bar
— Expect a wait (or come by yourself!) because this joint is tiny (but homey)
— There’s one waiting bench outside, no waiting space inside
— Bring your own bag hook cause there isn’t any at the bar

Order the Uni ramen. It doesn’t have the traditional soup broth, which I would argue is usually the best part, but this dish is what makes Jun-​Men stand out from other ramen joints. The truffle oil and uni add a nice creamy and rich texture to the noodles! Make sure you mix well though, otherwise the bottom of the bowl will be disproportionally salty.
I tried the BBQ pork buns, the spicy pork bone ramen, and the green tea cheesecake. While the pork buns and ramen were really tasty and authentic, at the end of the day, I can’t help but think that they just tasted like a less awesome version of Ippudo. The green tea cheesecake was definitely more cheesy than matcha-​y. I love cheesecake, so I didn’t mind too much, but if you order it, just make sure you’re not expecting a Lady M cake.
The service was a bit messy at times. Our server literally forgot that she was our server and blamed another server for forgetting to put down our dessert order…
Tldr: come here for the Uni ramen, you can get better versions of other items on the menu elsewhere.

The food here is incredible. Aside from the lackluster dessert, everything else was perfect, including the service.
As I was seated at one of the three bar seats looked over by the bartender, I made sure not to let him see I was checking in on Unilocal just to make sure I didn’t get any boogers or other unwanted stuff in my ramen (super topical South Park reference!).
Since I was by myself, I kept it pretty tame and just got two starters and one bowl of ramen:
— Chicken Buns ($ 8 for 2)
These were excellent. Served in the familiar bao bread that most ramen joints normally have for pork buns, the thin, crispy pieces of chicken were delicious in the soft bread that was slathered in jalapeño mayo. Definitely start with some buns, also available with Pork or BBQ Pork.
— Jun-​Men Fried Rice ($ 10)
Another incredibly satisfying starter, this large portion of fried rice consisted of Chinese sausage, kimchi, tobiko, and a fried egg on top. It was definitely on the spicier side, perhaps from the kimchi, and was easy to get through the whole bowl before realizing how much I inhaled since it was so good.
— Uni Mushroom Mazemen ($ 18)
This is the bowl everybody is talking about and getting here, and it’s with good reason. As it is a Mazemen, there is no broth, and it instead consists of some super chewy wavy noodles in a porcini butter and truffle oil sauce, topped with roasted pancetta, fried shallots, scallions and a good portion of Uni (if you aren’t a fan of Uni, I overheard the guy happily offering to make the bowl without it). With or without Uni, this bowl is incredible and definitely worth a try for some of the best noodles I’ve had at a ramen joint in awhile.
— Green Tea Cheesecake ($ 8)
This was the only misfire. Served in two little slices topped with what seemed to be red bean paste, which is usually way too mild and lacking in flavor for me, the consistency of the matcha cheesecake was super chalky. It crumbled apart as I dug into it, which is pretty much the opposite consistency you would expect. If you want something sweet, perhaps go with the gelato instead which is likely better.
There is a larger communal table in the center, along with a few two tops along the side of the restaurant, but it’s still a pretty small place, and I can imagine will start getting more crowded very soon once word gets out about how good the ramen is and more and more people post that beautiful Uni Mushroom Mazemen on Instagram (guilty). I definitely need to come back for more buns, some fried sweet potatoes, and a bowl of the actual ramen to try some broth with the excellent noodles.

Jun Men
NY Manhattan Chelsea
2pm Saturday 10^th October 2015
Four Stars
A great addition to the Ramen community, jun men is small noodle shop on 9^th and 25^th. There was 20 – 25 minute wait for two of us. So we headed to Pushcart Coffee next door and waited with a cold brew. We sat in the corner. The Caucasian waitresses were nice and knowledgeable. We split the Pork Bao ($ 9) and Chicken Bao ($ 8). The two pieces of pork belly were fatty with a light blowtorch sear. The rice flour bun was fluffy, doughy, and delicious. The Hoisin sauce was sweet and salty. The cucumber added a much needed freshness. It needed another element like rock sugar, peanuts, or somethings else crunchy. The chicken was unevenly distributed. One bao had a big piece and other had a small one. This Chinese Chic-​Fil-​A taco was delicious. The crunchy, tender chicken combined with a spicy creamy mayo and lettuce was perfect.
The tonkotsu ramen with extra noodles ($ 16 Total) was good. The broth was fatty, unctuous, with a mild level of salt. The noodles were a bit overcooked. The two thick slices of pork were the same as the buns. The bamboo shoots were house cured. They were salty and chewy but in a good way. The woodear mushrooms and scallions were simple yet complementary addition. The soft boiled egg was a homerun. The creamy yolk was exactly the way it should be.
The service was a bit slow since the place was packed. They only have sriracha as hot sauce. They also ran out of soup spoons. I am sure they will get better with time.