There might be two other Midtown branches but purists know that neither beats the tiny 20-seat original. Write your name and party size on the clipboard and wait your turn. Your reward: extraordinary ramen. Get the butter-soft char siu (pork), which sings in dishes like miso ramen (with fermented soybean paste, egg, scallion, bean sprouts, onion and homemade chili paste).
Behind the counter, ramen masters tackle bubbling vats of fragrant broth and char the melt-in-your-mouth pork with a blowtorch. While there's never any guarantee, 3pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays seems to be the 'quietest' time. Avoid the place on weekends as waiting times are particularly excruciating.
