KUBOYA

Returned recently and this visit was excellent. So 4 stars (last visit got 3). Probably because it wasn’t as crowded as the last time we visited. Another groupon ;) This time had the chicken wings as an app, they were excellent — crispy and juicy– order was 4 whole wings for 2 people. Had the shoyu ramen and the spicy miso again. The broth was as rich and tasty as their neighbor Minca on this day! My bf and I both agreed this visit was the best we’ve had here… Quick service and very pleasant servers. I wish the food and service was more consistant. If it was they would have people waiting to get in like they do next door.

To me this place has a very average Ramen, nothing to write home about. I made a mistake of having the fried chicken for appetizer, thinking it will be in some special sauce or something, but it was just plain dark meat with a sauce that was mayo and mustard mixed together.
Service was good but could have been more attentive.

Great experience at this place. My review might be biased since the groupon deal I used was so great but I’ll try to maintain some objectivity.
Firstly, I was slightly hesitant to use a groupon, worrying I may feel some subtle derision from the hostess/​waitress but I detected none whatsoever. She was extremely friendly and courteous.
My companion and I split the beer and sake and I was surprised it wasn’t just a shot of sake or something. It was the full bottle and we enjoyed the buzz.
The appetizers included with the groupon deal weren’t so great. We chose the vegetable fried rice. Pretty boring. Was hoping for edamame or something. The fried chicken was probably a better choice.
I got the first option on the menu. I think it was a mixed pork/​beef broth based soup. Very tasty. Very rich broth. Noodles were perfectly chewy. Eggs were fully hardboiled but that doesn’t really bother me. The ramen purists might object. My only other slight complaint was that the pork slices weren’t as nice with melting fat like I’ve had it at other places but it was still succulent and delicious nonetheless.
Live music was a nice addition. I like this place, I think I might choose it over Minca next door for the ambience and roominess but I think Minca has the superior ramen.

Had the Shio Style ramen with pork and chicken-​base. The ramen was on par. The broth was a bit too salty for me and it didn’t taste that rich in pork and chicken flavor. Toppings were a bit skimpy, but whatever they gave you was definitely picked with care. There was only a few pieces of pork, but each slice had the perfect ratio of meat and fat.
Location was a bit too far for me since it was between Avenue A and B.
Customer service was excellent. Waitresses were friendly, kind, and extremely nice. And the atmosphere was very nice and calm for a Friday night out with a girl-​friend to catch up on life.

Came here with a groupon deal.
I really enjoy ramen soup so I was anxious to come for dinner.
My bf and I had different soups. I ordered the pork and chicken ramen. He ordered the miso ramen. My ramen was decent, nothing special but my bf’s ramen was tasty. I still expected more from both soups.
Now, I’m no expert on ramen but this place is just decent. I expected more especially because of the location and restaurant décor. Oh, and I guess they use sriracha sauce for spicy flavor. I love sriracha but never had it in a ramen for spice. Wasn’t too impressed with the level of spiciness because I expected authentic hot spicy flavor.
I will add that the staff is excellent. They are extremely nice.

OK, OK –
I’ll admit, the allure of the Groupon convinced me to give Kuboya a try. For $ 20, the groupon allowed one appetizer, two ramen entrees and two beverages. I thought this was going to be a great deal but I was disappointed.
The service was friendly. The waitress knew we had a Groupon, so she brought the Groupon Menu. There were only about four choices for the appetizer, but there seemed to be a full selection on the Ramen. For drinks, we chose Sapporo.
We ordered the Pork Fried Rice for the shared appetizer. The amount was tiny for two people and the pork was burned all over. I had a feeling that the fried rice was probably made from leftovers but I can’t confirm.
For the ramen, we got the WAFU seafood shio ramen and spicy miso ramen. I can honestly say, the ramen was one of the least exciting ramen that I’ve had in a while. Both ramen were bland, even the spicy one.
Between the small, burnt pork fried rice, OK drinks, and bland ramen, there wasn’t much to be impressed by. Well, actually, I was kind-​of impressed by how they skimped on the ramen toppings. Can you really only give two pieces of bamboo shoots in someone’s ramen?
The small servings made me feel like I didn’t really use a groupon to get anything but free drinks. I understand that restaurants need to make profits from groupons, but couldn’t they be, I don’t know, more subtle about it?
P. S. The half boiled egg in the ramen was the saddest, crappiest egg I’ve seen.

I came to Kuboya to redeem a Groupon and they were prepared with their own mini Groupon menu. This micro menu limits the appetizers and ramen one can choose from. That wasn’t an issue but their inability to adjust the taste on the Groupon menu was. For example, we asked if the spicy chicken wing appetizer could be non-​spicy but the waitress said that can’t be done (how hard can it be unless they premade everything). Other than that, the food was decent.
Tatsuta Fried Chicken ($ 6.00) — Around 6 pieces of fried bite size chicken served with tartar sauce. The chicken was moist and flavorful but at a $ 1 a piece, its not much of a deal. (⁶⁄₁₀)
Shoyu Ramen ($ 10.50) — Cheaper than most ramens around the city but also lacking the richness and fattiness of the higher end broths. There is a decent amount of noodles and you get one sheet of nori, 2 slices of pork, and half an egg. (⁷⁄₁₀)
Kuboya lacks the liveliness and flavors of the better known ramen restaurants. However, it is a more affordable alternative and you don’t have to deal with long lines.

I came here with a Groupon, and was pleasantly surprised. I’m a huge fan of Minca next door and ramen in general, and the reviews I’d read of Kuboya suggested it was pretty inferior. It’s really not that bad at all, and great value!
We were seated without a wait on a friday night, service was fine, friendly enough. They ask everyone who is seated if they have a Groupon, and it seems the vast majority do.
The Groupon deal itself is really good value — one app, two ramen, two drinks, $ 25. We had the Tatsuta Fried Chicken for an app (was ok) and then shoyu ramen. The ramen was nicely prepared, a little al dente (just right). The broth was tasty — it lacks a little of the depth that Minca’s has, and doesn’t have as many nice fixings, but tasty none the less.
So 3 stars overall, but 5 stars for good value!

Came here late at night — this was actually a replacement for my original destination, Minca. But since Minca was packed at 10:00 PM, I decided to move on over next door to Kuboya, which was, unfortunately, empty. Bad sign?
Walk in, and order a spicy miso ramen and an appetizer to start off with, karaage (Japanese fried chicken). The spicy miso lived up to its namesake, for sure it was spicy, and the broth was good, but nothing really stood out about it. The karaage was underwhelming — $ 6.00 for five pieces of tiny little chicken chunks. Ramen for 13.00? The ramen noodles were way too hard, not bouncy like other places which I have tried. I wonder if I came earlier would the ramen have been better? Debatable, but I won’t spend much more time talking about it.
Bottom line, not worth it, I wouldn’t come here again and I don’t recommend it. You can find better tasting ramen at other shops for a lot less. In fact, I would rather have crappy Kenka ramen over Kuboya ramen simply because price for quality ratio is better at Kenka even though Kenka sucks.

I bought a Groupon deal for this place, thinking that it was a good deal for two people, 2 drinks, 1 appetizer and 2 bowls of ramen. Unfortunately their ramen isn’t really good. Their broth is eh, maybe it’s bland and lacking that creamy rich feeling I get when I eat ramen. I used to think that the majority of ramen is good but after coming here I have withdrawn that belief.
When we came in there were two tables with patrons, so we felt a little weird busting into the restaurant. We were lead into the other room, where no one sat but it was dark and romantic like. I guess they thought me and my boyfriend wanted to have a little privacy for our dinner, which was considerate of them. The room had ten or so small tables and at the other end of the room there was a fireplace, not light but I wasn’t expecting it.
The waitress was very sweet but had this usually high pitched voice to almost a shriek.
My sake was served traditional style with the glass overflowing into the carrying box it was presented in. The house sake was ok, I wasn’t really in a drinking mood either, so maybe that’s why I didn’t finish it. Plus drinking from the box freaked me out a little… I mean do they wash it? Do they wash the bottom of the glass really well… I don’t I wasn’t jumping all over the drinking the overflow.
We ordered the Tatsuta Fried Chicken and it came with tartar sauce. At first I was like ew tartar sauce? But it was actually really good. The fried chicken was freshly made and seemed like they just pulled it from the fryer, MMMM.
I got the Signature Shio Ramen, I wasn’t really a fan, maybe because I love Tonkotsu ramen and Shio is bland to me, and sadly they don’t offer tonkotsu. Also they have a boiled egg, which saddens me when I look down, I think the egg gives a richer flavor to the ramen, which this bowl as lacking. So it was just ok, but I didn’t have that satisfying feeling after eating a bottle of ramen. My boyfriend got the spicy miso; it was too spicy for me to take more than two slips. I’ll leave that to other Unilocalers with a spicy palette to comment on.
Overall it was just ok, the service was good and the atmosphere is different from your normal, loud ramen houses, this has a more laid back date night feeling. They also have a nice looking appetizer menu, that could be an option, but if you’re a Tonkotsu ramen fan like me, I think you should pass it up and go elsewhere.

Kuboya is a bit off the beaten track in the E. Vill but worth venturing to. I’ve been there three times with friends for dinner, and all using Kuboya’s various Groupon deals. I’m betting half of the patrons were Groupon-​ing, and the restaurant has a ream of blank Groupon order forms to prove it. But we like deals! My friend Michael M also likes going there because of its vegetarian selection.
During the various visits, we’ve eaten many of their appetizers. Standouts include hot & spicy Edamame, spicy chicken wings, and deep-​fried garlic potatoes. I found the Takoyaki octopus dumplings a tad mushy and bland, probably needing more Tako.
So far, I’ve tried three kinds of ramen: WAFU seafood-​based soup shio ramen, Kuboya shoyu ramen and the one I’m going back for, the Kuboya spicy miso ramen. The broth is flavorful and full of fresh ingredients. And they mean spicy! With appetizers and drinks, the bowl is filling even if you order the ½ bowl.
The waitresses are always smiling and accommodating every time we go. It’s a comforting place off the beaten track, and your belly leaves warm and full.

So — here’s the story of Kuboya.
Our friends were visiting from out of town, looked up a «great ramen spot» and chose Kaboya. When we got here we were seated immediately and enjoyed laughing at the long line outside Minca (the other ramen place right next door.)
We ordered and my boyfriend was particularly excited to try their specialty — chicken-​based broth ramen.
Fast forward about forty-​five minutes and our friend’s girlfriend wanted to join in on dinner. So he ordered a bowl for her.
About ten minutes later, the waitress comes back to let us know that the chicken broth ramen we ordered about an hour ago — is not available anymore!!! WHAT?! If something isn’t available, you should definitely tell the customers when they order… not an HOUR later.
So when our friend asks if they can do the ramen with the pork in the vegetable broth — the waitress argues with him that they can’t. He kept asking for it (because he can’t eat seafood based) and finally the chef came out to tell him that it will «taste weird and they’ve never done it before.» We didn’t understand what is so difficult about putting noodles & pork in a different broth. I’m not a ramen master, so maybe this is my fault. But after you come out and tell your customers that what they ordered an HOUR prior is unavailable, I think you should just give them what they want. That’s just me. Finally they agree on something.
After another fifteen minutes, guess what?! Our friend’s girlfriend’s food came out! That’s right — the one we ordered an hour after we put in our original order. You would think our food came right out with hers… but it didn’t!!! So we all sat there and watched her eat…
After about another THIRTY minutes — we finally started asking the waitress if she knew when our food was coming out. We were literally on the verge of just giving up and going somewhere else. It had been about TWO HOURS since we originally ordered.
FINALLY the food came out (but long enough after so the poor girlfriend then had to sit there and watch us eat.) SERIOUSLY AWFUL SERVICE.
The irony is — the restaurant was PRETTY empty and we did see other people who sat down after us get their ramen in a timely manner. We looked out at the diminished line at Minca and felt like they were now the ones laughing at us.
I put on a second star because ultimately the waitress was really apologetic and gave us a free round of beer.
But honestly, if you are in this area — JUST WAIT FOR MINCA. I’ve been there a couple of times and trust me — — not only is the service one BILLION times better — the ramen tastes a lot better too.
BOTTOM LINE: Do not go here. EVER.

When a deal sounds like it’s too good to be true, that’s because it is.
I came here with a friend on a Friday night around 6:30ish. The place was only about half full. We had a Groupon deal (like everybody else here on this review seemed to have had). This included:
Two drinks — you can choose from sake or Sapporo.
Two small dishes — we went with the cold spicy tofu and marinated bean sprouts. Not much going on there — everything just tasted like it was doused in sesame oil. You would have thought there was an oil spill in the kitchen and they used the tofu to mop it up.
One appetizer — we picked the fried chicken tatsuta, which was actually pretty good — the coating was crispy but not oily.
One half-​size rice dish — don’t get the pork fried rice. It’s mushy and has no flavor. Your only other option is vegetable fried rice. Maybe that one is the lesser of two evils.
Two half-​sized bowls of ramen — I decided on the spicy miso ramen. It wasn’t too spicy (which I liked. I hate when foods are overly spicy and I have to chug a gallon of water between each bite) but the miso did have a funny/​weird taste to it. It comes with half a boiled egg, which was probably the star of the show. Yeah… that’s how bad it was.
It was a good amount of food. I left feeling pretty stuffed but none of the dishes really appealed to my taste buds (except maybe the chicken tatsuda)
So if you too were duped into buying this deal, I would suggest you save yourself the time and trouble and just give it to someone as a gift. You’ll thank me later. I like diamonds.

2.5 stars
We came on a Tuesday night and this place was near empty… while Minca ramen next door had a line… they tells you something right there already
I am not a snob when it comes to ramen. But I do know when a ramen taste good or bad.
And in this case, it was just ok… I think I would rather eat the Shin ramen at home
We came with a groupon, and got an order of the garlic fried chicken, vegetable fried rice, and the miso ramen.
The vegetable fried rice was just all right. nothing special and lacked flavors
garlic fried chicken was not marinated enough. and not crispy enough
The ramen was just blah… not enough flavor and I did not even like the piece of pork they put in there. And just nothing special about it at all
Overall, given the mediocre food and there being so many good ramen places in the same area, I wont be back again

Yay tricky terms in a groupon!
Me and the boy shared bean sprouts, pork fried rice, house salad and fried chicken. The cold bean sprouts had a lot of oil in it. The pork fried rice lacked flavor, but was made well, not too sticky or dry. The fried chicken wasn’t anything special. But we both loved the salad, fresh greens and love the dressing.
He had the shio ramen, which he felt wasn’t ramen. It was more like noodles. I had the spicy mizo ramen, spicy and yummy ramen. But I only got a small slice of pork. Come on now, just because its half size don’t mean you only give one piece.
We each had a sapporo and in fear that it wasn’t filling for us, we order a dish of takoyaki. I think this was my favorite, because it was really well presented and was fried perfectly. The sauce was not over powering and you can still enjoy the think dumpling skin with the little slice of octopus leg.

Over the weekend, I visited Kuboya with a $ 25 Groupon for a dinner for two. Based on the other reviews here, I expected everything to be quite small.
* Cold Spicy Tofu — Teensy tiny. I only had 1 spicy bite. My husband didn’t taste any spiciness at all.
* Marinated Bean Sprouts — Not bad, had some ground sesame in there. Much larger serving than the tofu.
* Garlic Potatoes — Nice and warm. Garlicky and oily. Needed some salt.
* Vegetable Fried Rice — included onions, carrots, and pickled vegetables, which were, unfortunately, pretty tasteless. At least the rice filled us up a bit.
* Vegetable Miso Ramen — Best part of the meal. The half bowls (normally $ 7.50) were quite filling. Noodles were properly cooked — not too al dente or mushy. Very garlicky, but not too salty. Fairly thick mushroom based broth. Miso flavor was subtle, but it was a good broth overall. The Spicy Miso Ramen was too spicy for me, but my husband enjoyed it.
We had to remind them about our beers halfway through our meal. Very empty at 4pm, only two other tables. Seemed like the staff were in chill out mode.
I found a hair stuck to the outside of a bowl. Clearly not my hair or my husband’s hair. It was on the outside of the bowl, away from the food, but that’s still a bit gross.
Compared to most ramen-​ya in NYC, Kuboya’s food is just barely above average. I wouldn’t pay the full $ 59 value for those dishes. The vegetarian ramen on its own deserves 3.5 stars, while the other dishes are more along the lines of 2-​stars. I might come back for the veggie ramen, no appetizers.
Kuboya seriously needs to step up its game, especially as Minca is right next door. Or else, they’ll just be that place that no one can remember the name of, but everyone goes to when Minca is busy.

We went there for the groupon deal, service was very slow, but the ramen was amazing.
I’m not sure if the appetizers were smaller because of groupon deal or whether it was the regular size. EIther way, they are so not worth it.
bean sprouts, spicy tofu– very small portions, probably 4 bites. They were a little bland.
fried chicken tatsuta– 4 pieces, soggy, not crispy, not the best.
spicy miso ramen– It was so delicious. It was creamy, flavorful with just the right spice. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the meat was tender and flavorful. Needless to say, I literally licked the bowl for the last drop. I had gone to Mica (next door) months before and I don’t remember being impressed by it.
I would definitely come back here and just have the full bowl of ramen, which is around $ 9, and it’s a huge bowl!

If you’ve never had cold ramen before, stop by this restaurant to give it a whirl. Temperature-​wise, it’s closer to a «cooler cold» as opposed to an «refrigerated cold». Taste wise, I detected sesame oil. Now that alone elevates any dish from good to great.
If you’d like to stick to the originals, a safe bet would be the Shio or Shoyu Ramen. It’s decent, but I thought the restaurant skimped a little bit on the ingredients, as compared to Minca next door.
I’d recommend coming here with a deal from Groupon ($ 25 for Ramen Meal for Two with Drinks, Appetizers, and Rice Dish). I’ve seen this pop up with more regularity.

Dear Bowl of Ramen,
I am no ramen master, but I have come to the conclusion that I really think it’s me, not you. I can’t figure it out, but I can never get that much excited about you. Either I like the broth but the noodles are just meh (Ippudo), or I love the noodles, but the broth is bland (Momofuku Noodle Bar).
On a quiet Thursday evening in August, ²⁄₃ of the patrons at Kuboya were Japanese. A promising sign, for sure. The ambiance seems odd for a ramen place: exposed bricks, white walls, and dark wood furniture are the dominating tones.
For appetizer, the tuna TarTar with pesto, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar was surprisingly good: the tuna was lightly seared on the outside, and the pesto and balsamic vinegar worked remarkably well with the tuna and soy sauce. If anything, I would have liked to add some wasabi to the pesto.
Regarding the ramen, this is what I tried:
— Kubo-​Chan Salt Ramen ($ 11): kubo-​chans original triple-​blended (pork, chicken, seafood) shio soup topped with chashu (pork), menma (fermented bamboo shoots), ½ boiled egg and scallion. Each ingredient is cooked separately, and you can definitely tell. For example, the menma is crunchy, and its delicate flavor still intact. Overall the broth has a creamy consistency and intense flavor.
— Kubo-​Chan Spicy Miso Ramen ($ 11): a mix of 2 types of miso and hot and spicy past. Topped with chashu, bean sprouts, menma, ½ boiled egg and scallion. This broth definitely
The star of this ramen is undoubtedly the pork: wonderfully tender and really rich in flavor, with the right amount of fat. The curly noodles are nice and chewy, but otherwise unremarkable[1]. The hard boiled egg is, well, really hard; I would have preferred to have one with a soft egg yolk, if not even slightly runny.
For drinks, $ 1.99 Sapporo do the trick.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
[1] Just like about any other ramen noodles I’ve had so far (see opening paragraph).
Useless note: I saw chef Susur Lee outside this restaurant the evening I went there.

I came with my boyfriend and another couple and we have a mixed review about Kuboya although I love what I ordered.
As usual, I got the spicy miso ramen because I cannot refuse spicy food! We all shared also the Japanese style fried chicken with tartar sauce. Who would think fried chicken would be great with tartar sauce right?
So the fried chicken is a true winner. It is crispy but so juicy inside. The batter is unique; I guess it is some special Japanese batter mix. It goes so well with their tartar sauce I wanted to eat the whole plate. My spicy miso ramen is pretty big and it is only $ 12. It is actually probably the most spicy ramen I have had. The broth is thick and they gave you tons of noodles. Pork is tender and well seasoned and the half egg makes the soup complete!
My boyfriend on the other hand, did not like his soy ramen so much. I kind of have to agree with him. The broth on the contrary, was rather plain and if that was what I got, I would probably give it a 3 star too.
I would definitely recommend this place for their spicy ramen but soy ramen not so much :)