Kopi Ramen

I came on a very cold January winter day. Craving something to warm me up, I found Kopi Ramen via Unilocal.Café in the front, ramen in the back! I had the chicken wing gyoza and was blown away by its flavor. It was also awesome that it didn’t have any bones. How’d they do that? The ambiance is super cool. Wall mural was a really nice touch. After the gyoza I ordered the miso ramen, which was perfect! Just the right amount of noodle to topping ratio! And the flavor was fantastic! You’d really have to taste it to believe it!

I’m pretty particular about the ramen I eat. The broth can’t be too salty or rich, the noodles should first be al dente when it arrives in front of you, and the meat has to be tender, and there should be some greens. I ordered the duck shoyu since I rarely see a non-​miso or pork based broth on the menu. The broth wasn’t too salty and was pretty rich. There was definitely enough pork but the rest of the toppings were meager.
For appetizers we tried the stuffed chicken wing gyozas and the pork belly wrapped in seaweed. The gyozas were an interesting concept but didn’t really taste anything similar to a gyoza. The five pieces of pork belly were delicious, but not amazing.
Extra brownie points for the attentiveness of the hostess and quiet speakeasy atmosphere. This place is good for a quick bite around campus or a precursor to a night out in the village.

Great spot! It’s hidden in the back and is really great. We we’re walking around and found this spot. Great vibes.

This one is a hidden treasure after kopi coffee shop. After the door it’s a cozy atmosphere with wooden furniture. Bar seat is always my favorite place for any ramenya or sushiya. The chiken wing gyoza is interesting. The stuff is not normal gyoza stuff, instead, i think it’s chive and rice noodles like an traditional Chinese snack «chive box». The rice noodle decrease the greasy tasty and surprisingly match the wings. However, the skin of the wings is kind of too greasy, if they can have one more step to create a crispy out layer and add some other spices into the stuff. This could be one of the best appt in NYC. I have the shio ramen cause it’s not easy to find a nice one. I’ll say they have well technique to deal with the meat. The crispy skin for this shio ramen is the high light. The noodle has the same problem like many other ramenya in this city. They deemphasized the importance of making noodle dry and loose. That sort of break the flavor of the broth and make it difficult for coating noodles. The broth itself is good, but not as good as Sanshiro. They have a bunch of tapping over thir ramen. It’s will depend on if you like it or not.
Still, this one is a must try ramen in this area. Will to go back to check thie Shyou ramen.

I first heard about this hidden ramen shop through Instagram. It’s located in the back of an Indonesian café called Kopi Kopi. I’m not sure why they are trying to remain a low profile ramen shop. Maybe they’re just testing to see if their shop is viable or not. Who knows. Anyway I’ve been here twice to try their different ramens. It was empty both times I came. I was always greeted by a friendly host who also takes your order. I’ve had the spicy miso ramen and duck shoyu ramen. Here’s how I rate these bowls.
Broth: Both the spicy miso and shoyu ramens I ordered arrived hot but not piping hot as they should be. The miso was very hearty but lacked any unami or spiciness. The duck shoyu broth didn’t really taste like duck and had very little shoyu flavor.
Noodles: Both the miso and shoyu ramens came with thick wavy noodles. They were cooked just right.
Toppings: The spicy miso came with a mound of toppings which was very welcomed. Toppings included three slices of melty chasu pork, corn, menma, naruto, egg, and nori. The shoyu came with two slices of chasu, wood ear mushrooms, egg, and nori.
Portions: Huge bowls of ramen with perfect noodle to broth to topping ratio. Simply awesome.
Price: This ramen here is on the pricey side. Bowls ranged from $ 13-​$ 15 with forced gratuity on top of your bill. So expect tack an extra $ 3 plus taxes onto your meal. Not cool. The price on the menu should include gratuity like a lot of new ramen shops are doing.
Service: Super friendly hosts. They try to strike up a conversation with you. Ramen was prepared within a reasonable time.
Overall: The ramen here is ok. The best part of the bowls here were the toppings. They go far and beyond what most ramen shops in NYC do for toppings, which should be commended. Price wise definitely a splurge if you’re craving ramen in the area but I wouldn’t say it’s a weekly or daily ramen spot you should go out of your way for.
Rating: Solid 3 bowls.

Lost? Yes, go inside the coffee shop. The ramen shop is in the back.
Kopi is a nice find in a sea of «Ohhh, let me Instagram this» ramen shops. I checked it out around 8PM on a weeknight and it was empty, which was nice.
I like how the ramen isn’t as salty or rich as the other pork broth ramen shops across the country. If you eat ramen all the time like this ramen monster, then every now and then you’d want to come across something a bit more novel and Kopi fits the bill.
Not sure how I feel about the noodles as they seemed overcooked (which then cooked more in the broth).
Worth a visit, especially if you’ve been to just about every good ramen shop in LA and NYC.

Speakeasies are all the rage these days, but how often do you find a ramen shop tucked away inside a coffee café? Welcome to Kopi Ramen, a 1-​month old new Japanese noodle restaurant in the heart of West Village. My gf and I first entered through the Kopi Kopi Coffee shop and walked to the back where we were greeted by the host, who slid open the back door to reveal a quaint, cute eatery. The lighting is dim, the space cozy, and the atmosphere sultry. They have an open kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare your dishes.
The menus is short, with about 5 appetizers and 5 noodle dishes, along with some sakes and other alcohol drinks. We pretty much ordered all the appetizers, the spicy miso ramen, and the shoyu ramen. The miso-​braised pork belly came with five pieces, each sitting on seaweed and garnished with scallions/​chives. They were cooked perfectly and was by far the best appetizer choice. The stuffed-​chicken-​wing gyoza came out to be more interesting in concept than execution. While the chicken was delicious, the inside stuffing felt bland and could have used more seasoning. The charred edamame is a spin on the usual raw edamame. My gf did not like the roasted taste. I thought it gave it character that other edamames do not have. I will say that roasting them makes it more difficult to eat, as some parts of the shell are blackened and add a soot-​y taste. The last appetizer was the tofu salad. It was pretty average.
My shoyu ramen was delicious — as a soy-​sauce base ramen, it was very light yet filling. The chashu pieces were cooked perfectly. The slices melted in your mouth. My gf’s spicy miso ramen was more hearty and thick. I preferred that one because I like it when the broth is overflowing with flavor. So depending on your preference, you can go with the lighter shoyu or the heavier miso. Overall, the ramen made a solid impression on us and the attentive service made me a fan!

I came here with 3 other friends on a Sunday night at 7pm. The place was empty. Another group came in around 7:30. There’s a large communal table at the center. There were bar seatings and a couple of two-​seaters as well. Our server was nice and friendly.
I ordered a miso ramen and my friends order the shio ramen and spicy miso. The ramen is thick and it’s a big bowl of noodle. The soup was mediocre — it didn’t have the richness from some of the other ramen joint such as totto and ippudo. The egg was a disappointment — it wasn’t the soft boiled marinated egg as shown in the menu. It was overcooked and little to no marination. The pork belly was OK, but too much fat in my opinion.

Kopi Ramen
NY Manhattan Greenwich Village
Thursday 7^th December 2016
Four Stars
Kopi Kopi is a coffeehouse which has a speakeasy style ramen shop in the back. The lights are dim, the music is down tempo, and animé mural was cool. For seating: there are two large 8 person communal tables, 4 two-​tops, and a 6 person bar counter. They offer: Beer, Sake, and Soda. You get a free draft beer with Unilocal Check In.
I enjoyed the Stuffed Chicken Wing Gyoza ($ 7). They debone two chicken wings and stuff it with glass noodles, tofu chives, and egg. The skin was slightly crispy. The meat was tender. The inside mimicked a Gyoza filling but didn’t really taste like a pork dumpling. (Try the stuffed Chicken Wings at Mu Ramen in Long a island City).
I decided on the Shoyu Ramen ($ 14). The duck broth was very light, clear, with little soup oil. It had nice soy sauce flavor without too much salt. The noodles were thick and wavy with starchy quality to them. The pork belly was tender with a smooth layer of fat. The soft boiled egg had runny center but a very firm white. The bamboo shoots were thick with a bite of texture. There was an unexpected single fish cake. The huge nori sheet added nicely to the dish. Overall it was good bowl of noodles.
They make sure you know that it’s Cash only for the Ramen Shop. They also add an illegal added 15% gratuity to your bill.

As you enter the coffee shop prior to the speakeasy-​style ramen, the aroma of ramen is hidden by the coffee beans. The barista greets you asking if you are here for ramen. As if knowing the coffee shop is no longer significant. As you part the curtains, you meet the wall sized mural donning the width of the restaurant.
The intimate atmosphere was no mirror of the portion size. We enjoyed bowls rich with flavor and toppings. Additional toppings were enough to split amongst two. Don’t underestimate this backdoor ramen experience. The noodles and broth stand up to Totto ramen.

Listen to the other reviews. Skip the ramen here. The shoyu ramen at Kopi was a disappointment after my delicious bowls of ramen at Zundo and Ramen Mew earlier this week. The broth was oily and bland, noodles were limp, and the pork was fatty. Throw in an overzealous serving of green onion and you have a bowl that just isn’t worth eating, especially at $ 14 a bowl. I should have just ordered appetizers. Lesson learned.
If you are hankering for a bowl of noodle goodness, walk 5 minutes to W 4^th to Ramenya or Ramen by Mew and you will have a satisfied belly.

Almost don’t want to write a review so it doesn’t get crowded lol. I went during the third week of opening.
When my friend said let’s go to Kopi Ramen, I said sure! And later realized that I have been here (after visiting Indonesia and wanting some serious kopi [aka coffee]). I remember the café looking different.
The ramen shop is all the way in the back. You wouldn’t even notice it unless you sat near the back, where the restrooms are.
Edamame — grilled with salt, so different from other places that usually boil them
Pork belly — I am not a big fan of pork belly, but they cooked this very well! Not too salty and the seaweed wrap was a pretty cool way to dress up the dish
Spicy miso ramen — omg, yum! The spiciness is not too overpowering, the broth is delicious, and the meat is cooked just right (melty)

3 – 3.5 stars. It saddens me greatly to have to give this place 3 stars in the end! I really enjoyed everything… up until the ramen. You know that’s a problem because I came here especially for dem noodles. Ambiance: check. Situated in the back of Kopi Kopi the coffee shop, this little restaurant is about as hip as you can get. It even comes complete with a long, wooden table, cozy atmosphere and splash of manga/​graffiti-​like art on the wall. Definitely a unique place to grab a bite.
Appetizers: DELICIOUS. We ordered all 3: chicken gyoza, yuzu salt edamame, and pork belly meat wrapped in seaweed. All of them knocked it out of the park. The chicken was some sort of food miracle because it was deboned and stuffed with glass noodles/​egg/​scallions. The meat was juicy, tender and the whole thing was just delectable. The yuzu salt added a refreshing twist to good old edamame. Finally, the pork belly was lean and tasted great wrapped in its seaweed shell.
Now the part that broke my heart: the ramen was AWFUL. The noodles were WAAAAY too thick and flavorless. I added all of the spicy sauce into my «spicy» miso and it made 0 difference. The meat was cold and extremely fatty. Even the egg (which you really can’t mess up) somehow tasted bland and cold. The only reason I managed to eat most of my bowl was because I was just so darn hungry.
I wanted to love this place so badly. From the free beer that came with the Unilocal check-​in to the friendly service to the amazing appetizers, I was enjoying everything so much. But then the ramen really clouded my experience.
This place is still worth coming to just for all of its other positives, but do not expect good ramen here!

This new ramen shop has all the signs of being promising — speakeasy, hip, innovative — but honestly the delivery just didn’t live up to the hype. This is by far my least favorite ramen that I’ve had in the city.
I had the spicy miso ramen. One, it’s really not spicy at all. The spice is given on the side, but by the time I mixed it all in, the spice practically disappeared because the broth was just so thick. Onto my second point, for a broth that’s so thick, it wasn’t very flavorful. During the entire time I was slurping, I just really wanted to sprinkle some salt into my bowl. Finally, the noodles were very thick but didn’t have that nice chewy texture or much flavor. How was it possible that I was eating so much, getting so full, yet my taste buds were desiring more than what this ramen could ever deliver.
We also had the yuzu edamame, chicken wings stuffed gyoza, and pork belly. All these were pretty good (the massive chicken wing did slightly freak me out) and definitely outshone the main course.
The free beer is awesome, the vibe is awesome, the service is friendly, and the appetizers are pretty tasty, so I really wanna love you Kopi! But until the ramen is perfected, I can’t bring myself to give you a better review.
Tldr: DONT ORDER THE RAMEN. Stick to the apps and the beer.

I’ve frequented Kopi Kopi Café in the past before — it’s very conveniently located close to both my office and NYU. When I read on Unilocal that they have opened a ramen restaurant in the back of the café, I knew I had to check them out. We strolled in on a Saturday afternoon and were seated right away. The menu currently consists of a handful of appetizers and four options of ramen. Their beer list is quite extensive!
We decided to order the Pork Belly and the Charred Edamame as our appetizers. The Pork Belly is marinated with miso and served on top of seasoned seaweed with chopped scallions. I loved this presentation because it was very quick and easy to eat. These were bite-​sized and mess free! The Charred Edamame was a nice change to the typical edamame dishes at Japanese restaurants. There was a smoky flavor to each piece, which coupled nicely with the course salt.
We actually fought over who would order which ramen on the menu, since all of them looked quite good. In the end, I ordered the Shoyu Ramen, which is a soy based ramen with duck broth. The ramen was thick and bouncy, but it was the broth that shone. The broth was salty without being overly so — I gladly drank almost all my broth. The seaweed, bamboo shoots, and pork belly were a nice addition.
The Boyfriend ordered the Miso Ramen, which was delightful. The pork broth was milky and just the right amount of salty. Most of the time, miso ramen is too salty for my tastes because of the heavy use of miso, but this one was just right. I think the miso ramen is a heartier than the Shoyu Ramen, so if you’re a bit more hungry, definitely go for the Miso Ramen.
Service was attentive and friendly. Check in on Unilocal for a free beer — draft or canned. Service charge is included in your bill so all you have to do is take your check to the counter and pay there. I highly recommend paying Kopi Ramen a visit before everything hears about it and crowds over!

Can you say hottest Ramen in the tri-​state!!! I am absolutely addicted to Ramen and about 3 days ago I found this dope hidden gem on Instagram so I decided to personally take a trip and give it a shot. What’s absolutely astonishing is the location. At first, I thought I missed it!
Trick is; try finding it!!!
Hint: there’s a gorgeous café in front, and a bookshelf in the back (wink, wink).
Overall, the serving is overwhelming but deliciously good. The music is on point! The ambience is chill, and service is one of a kind. Definitely my new ramen spot!

My friends and i decided to try this new ramen shop. One of my friends got the shoyu. The other got the spicy miso. I got the shio ramen. I thought the ramen here was okay. Just okay. I wish there was a little more flavor to the broth. The broth was a bit bland for my taste. I liked how the egg was done. That’s probably the best part of the ramen. The chicken leg wasn’t bad. It was tasty but I had difficulty eating it off the bone. My friend thought the noodles were too soft for her. My other friend liked the spicy miso. If I come back, I might try the miso ramen. Overall, the ramen isn’t bad but I had better from other ramen shops.

Great spot! Love ramen… this is my second time eating here and here are some of my favorites: spicy miso ramen, pork belly and edamame appetizers.
Everything tastes great…
Great service.
Cash only.
The ramen place is behind the coffee shop. LOOOOOOVE THE PLACE because there are two favorite things of mine in one spot: ramen and coffee …

It’s inside Kopi Kopi (the café)! Just walk all the way to the back. It’s a pretty unknown ramen spot, so try it now.
NYU students get 25%, Unilocal check-​ins get a free draft beer, so go in now while they still have promotions! CASH ONLY. Also, tip is included and you pay with the host, so no need to tip on top.
Tried the spicy miso ramen, and the broth is pretty thick and savory. The noodles were too soft for my taste and I couldn’t finish half of the bowl. For $ 16 after tax and tip, it’s decently priced and decently flavored. They include all the toppings (soft boiled egg, seaweed, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts). It’s not a bad option when you’re in West Village, but I prefer Ramen Ya.

Walk into Kopi Kopi and head alllllllllllllllllllllll the way to the back, walk through a door (they close it later on, making it more difficult to find ;]), that is where you will meet your server and be guided to a table to enjoy your meal.
It is a decent sized area but not really made for huge groups. Would be best to go with 2 – 4 people.
They offer a few options, which is good because it means they really try to perfect what they are making.
My friend and I ordered the pork belly appetizer and spicy miso ramen each.
The pork belly appetizer was fun to eat. You roll up your piece of pork belly in seaweed and eat it all at once. Needless to say, it was delicious.
The spicy miso ramen was spicy but not too spicy to the point where you will start sweating and having a runny nose. If you do want that extra kick, there is a bottle of chili flakes you can add into your ramen. The bowl was full but not necessarily with ramen. Although the meal was filling, I do wish there was more ramen inside opposed to the other stuff.
P. S. Tip is already included in your bill. You pay before you walk out the door to the café. Cash only!
Overall, a wonderful experience thanks to the good food and amazing service.