This gem in Harlem (with multiple locations) provides an astonishing range of ramen. One dry bowl with broth on the side sets your mouth aflame with kimchi, but a favorite fiery bowl is the spicy tonkotsu, a pork-bone broth packed with chile oil and black garlic.

The focus of the menu at this very serious ramen joint on Astoria’s main drag is a creamy 17-hour Hakata-style tonkotsu broth. Have it with the traditional additions, or better yet, order it “New York style”: two kinds of fish cake including one with the face of a monkey and its signature “fireball,” a loose meatball of peppery ground pork that subsides into the soup.

Founded in 2010 in Hell’s Kitchen (that branch is now closed), this intimate noodle parlor on the East Side takes ramen back to its Chinese roots, with a chicken-pork broth, wavy blond noodles, a hot-as-hell condiment called extreme rayu to be used sparingly, and a potential side of avocado. No reservations, so If there’s a line when you arrive, put your name down on the list by the front door.

The menu of this restaurant on the edge of Koreatown focuses on Tokyo comfort food, including a collection of ramen based on what it calls a Tokyo-style tonkotsu broth, and many of the bowls set off on strange but lovable jags. A case in point is the smoked dashi ramen, which begins with the broth and then adds fish oil and clams, for a spectacular combination of flavors. Noodles made on the premises are another plus at this outlier among ramen joints.

Helmed by Iron Chef star Masaharu Morimoto, Momosan brings some celebrity luster to the genre. Six types of ramen are available at this ramen shop with branches in Seattle, Boston, Miami, California, and Waikiki, including a dry version of dan dan noodles, but the best is tan tan. It offers a spicy sesame-laced broth further inflected with scallions and cilantro. The bowl is recommended for folks who like a little spiciness. The noodles are the firm and spaghetti-like Sun noodles.

As with the other Japanese chains that have opened here, E.A.K. brought a unique perspective to the city’s ramen scene when it opened in Greenwich Village in 2016. The broth in the signature bowl is a combination of pork and chicken, the noodles are firm and thick, and spinach has been substituted for the usual scallions. A nifty printed piece of nori branded with the restaurant’s name doesn’t let you forget where you’re eating.

Ramen Misoya — down a flight of steps in a West Village basement — encourages you to supplement noodles with added proteins, including lovely miniature pork cutlets and tempura shrimp. They contribute immeasurably to the pleasure of the meal. There’s another branch in the East Village.

When ramen hit New York City like a ton of bricks in 2004, Rockmeisha was there. Owner Toshiaki Kondo once operated a ramen stall in ramen’s hometown of Hakata, and his pork-knuckle tonkotsu is the city’s most perfect, beige and dense. There are no optional add-ins to his bowl and the price is modest, but this may be the one bowl of ramen in the city you shouldn’t miss.

This long-running East Village ramen parlor established itself way before Ippudo, and it takes its ramen every bit as seriously — with a jazz soundtrack. It also hasn't hesitated to innovate, as demonstrated by its ramen that’s deconstructed in the Tokyo style, with thick noodles, a spicy miso broth, and a whole slew of extra ingredients to add to the bowl at your pleasure.

One of the city’s meatiest bowls of ramen is found at small Greenpoint ramen parlor Wanpaku, which conceals the “secret” cocktail lounge Hidden Pearl in its depths. The beef rib ramen, which is sometimes on the menu, is served with a massive, bone-in rib as its centerpiece, almost too much meat to eat in one sitting. Other worthy ramen soups here include the spicy pulled pork and miso beef versions.

This ramen parlor is luxurious and modernistic, also serving dumplings, ceviche, Japanese fried chicken, and a full roster of alcoholic drinks, so it doubles as a bar. The vegetarian hazelnuts tantan features thick noodles, shiitake mushrooms, greenery, and a dense miso broth with hazelnuts and constitutes one of the most interesting vegetarian bowls of ramen in the city.

One of the city’s first izakayas, founded over 20 years ago, has long served a menu of sushi and Japanese comfort classics, along with a growing list of very good ramen in tall narrow bowls. The noodles themselves are more substantial than most and of average circumference, and many of the combinations are remarkable — including one bowl that resembles wonton soup, tastily bridging the gap between Japanese ramen and its Chinese antecedents.

When Nakamura opened in 2016, the Lower East Side had never seen anything quite like it. The noodle shop is run by Tokyo ramen master Shigetoshi Nakamura, who makes his own noodles in the basement of the restaurant and experiments with the genre. Case in point: The X.O. miso ramen, a vegan soup that’s served with an unusual fish-free X.O. sauce.

This Japanese import landed with a thud in Bushwick in 2016, setting down in a dusty industrial area and immediately generating long lines. The place boasts two dining rooms, one allowing you to eat by yourself in a narrow carrel as if in a university library. The noodles, though, are exceedingly solid. They’re available in varying levels of thickness and doneness, and deposited in a tonkotsu broth a little lighter and silkier than most. There are now three additional locations in Manhattan.

Ramen noodles can be ordered at several levels of firmness, and broths at several levels of density, at this Park Slope parlor. Of particular note is a vegan bowl made with a rich broth laced with sesame oil, in which sesame seeds and scallions float in profusion, with deep-fried and sliced tofu added. There’s another branch in the West Village. This pair produces some of the best ramen in the city, with a tonkotsu broth adhering to the Fukuoka style.

When East Village veteran ramen parlor Ramen Setagaya, now closed, debuted its new branch in Industry City’s Japan Village food court in 2018, it brought some enthralling bowls to Sunset Park. One was the so-called Mt. Fuji ramen, which features a mountain peak of Parmesan cheese in a pink broth the menu describes as “tomato espuma.” It’s damn good, reminding me more of tomato soup than a traditional ramen broth.