LOWER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN
Ivan Ramen
Ivan Orkin's Lower East Side ramen-ya — a sea-salt Tokyo Shio over house-made rye noodles.
Ivan Orkin is a New Yorker who learned ramen the hard way, by opening a shop in Tokyo and winning over Tokyo. His Clinton Street restaurant is the homecoming: a lively room with a counter, tables and an enclosed patio, and a menu that reads like one cook's notebook rather than a regional rulebook.
The bowl to know is the Tokyo Shio — a clear chicken-and-dashi broth seasoned with sea salt, laid over the house rye noodles, which have more bite and a faint graininess you won't find elsewhere. The spicy miso and the truffled vegan shoyu have their fans, and the tonkotsu tsukemen is there for dippers. Start with the karaage or the pork gyoza; if someone at the table isn't in a noodle mood, the chicken katsu curry rice covers them.
Editor’s tip
Order the Tokyo Shio first — it is the clearest view of what the rye noodles do.
Make an evening of it — beautiful stops nearby
Also in the neighborhood
Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.