May Chan Ramen and Robatayaki Review: May chan ramen in the East Village
The old saying goes, “You can never have too much of a good thing.” Before you think about whether you generally agree with that statement, let’s apply that phrase to ramen restaurants in the East Village. Ippudo remains my favorite, although I like the straight up simplicity of Rai Rai Ken. And if Minca wasn’t all the way by Avenue A, I would visit much more often. With that said, I still believe that you cannot have too much of a good thing, although economic conditions would probably be the main factor determining just how many ramen shops are sustainable in New York. Since I’m open to any new ramen place, when May Chan opened up, I had to go give it a try.
In addition to ramen, May Chan also has grilled skewers, and pajeon on the menu. I didn’t want to try the skewers because there are other places on St. Marks that has them for cheaper, and suits me just fine. I did want to try the seafood pancake though, so Ming and I ordered up one of those. For $8 dollars, it was an appetizer size seafood pancake that feeds two people at most. They do a great job of achieving a good crunch on the outside.
Two different ramens caught my eye. The $14 dollar May Chan Special (spicy seafood) and the $15 dollar Stamina ramen. Obviously the prices of the ramen kind of cause me to raise an eye brow or two but that’s for this kind of money, it should. Stamina ramen was really a bit confusing so when the server came by, I asked him about it. He replied in broken English about ‘Chinese medicine’ followed by something like, ‘and you know…’ He didn’t even have to say it or wink or anything. I get it. Naw son, that’s ok. I’ll just have regular food please.
The May Chan Special ramen is just a spicy seafood ramen. The one cool thing about this bowl of noodles is that they include a piece of a small crab in the broth. They don’t provide anything for you to crack the shell, so I didn’t even bother with the innards of the crab. A bit sad, but you can’t have it all. The broth itself was fiery hot. Not so hot as to prevent you from taking the next sip, but hot enough to burn the side of your lips as your slurping the broth.
The major downfall of the May Chan Ramen is that the ramen is just very unspectacular. It resembled Chinese egg noodles in a way. It didn’t showcase any delicate craftsmanship. The fact that it was cooked past al dente didn’t help matters. The noodles made this bowl an average bowl of ramen at best. May Chan Ramen is on 2nd avenue and 7th street. If you really want to check it out, it might be worth it, but there are many more worthwhile places in that area.
May Chan Ramen and Robatayaki119 2nd Ave.New York, NY 10003212-982-4285
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