Naruto Ramen: New in Brooklyn

Naruto ramen

Until now, Park Slope and the surrounding area has had only one ramen to chose from--ZuZu ramen, which serves a delicious, though expensive and not particularly traditional, green curry ramen.

Naruto Ramen, a branch of an existing place on the Upper East Side, recently opened with a simple menu of shoyu, miso, and curry ramen, and a few snacks. It's more straight-ahead and affordable than ZuZu, and is BYOB besides.

Is it really great ramen? Nope--it's pretty basic. But it will more than do in a pinch. The Naruto ramen ($9, shown above) is in a shoyu (soy sauce) broth that tastes strongly of pork, and indeed, the bowl includes a heaping portion of meltingly tender chashu, along with fish cake and other toppings. The noodles are of the yellow, kinky sort, slippery and chewy, though obviously not nearly as good as those at places that make their own noodles.

I liked the spicy miso ramen better, which can be ordered mild, medium, or hot. Choose hot--the heat is not overwhelming, and the chile paste adds appetizing oomph to the salty broth. This bowl also comes with generous slices of chashu, along with a hard-cooked egg, corn, fish cake, and bamboo.

Takoyaki, deep fried octopus fritters with bonito flakes, are hot and crisp, but scanty on the actual octopus.

276 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn
718-832-1111