The Ramen Project: NYC
By Celia Mei Rubin
I love eating, I love writing, I love ramen, and I love finding great food spots by going onto Instagram and looking up restaurants and photos of the food. One summer, I found a ramen map at The Strand location by Central Park. It had 33 ramen spots in NYC with reviews, so I decided that I would make hitting every single spot on that map my summer project. Two summers later, and I am nowhere near hitting all 33 spots—some of which I am sure have disappeared in this transient city. Even so, I still scope out ramen places and review them on Instagram. I have no qualifications to do so other than that I grew up in a Chinese household eating noodle soup and I have been to Japan and eaten ramen there.
When Hapa Mag reached out, asking to publish a few of my reviews, I chose to feature the spots where I’d eaten the most memorable bowls. In addition to eating ramen, I also use the opportunity of scoping out a ramen spot to explore the area. Whether you are a native New Yorker or tourist, I hope that you’ll check out at least one of these spots and have fun exploring the area. New York City is the coolest; discovering it by way of checking out ramen spots is even cooler. Give me a follow on Instagram to get reviews —@theramenproject — Happy slurping!
Celia Mei Rubin is an actor, singer, dancer, Chinese Jew, twin, Libra, lover of ramen, obsessor of tea, who has performed on Broadway, the West End, on a ship, and many other places in between. Her love of noodle soup expands beyond Japanese ramen to Vietnamese pho, Cantonese noodle soup, spicy Szechuan hand pulled noodle soup, and anything else which incorporates broth and noodles. Celia endeavors to eat well and recognizes things like noodles and sugar an extreme treat. When not in a dance studio or onstage or eating a bowl of ramen or steeping loose leaf tea, Celia can usually be found at the gym lifting dumbbells or on the couch watching documentaries about cults.
By Alex Chester
Cliff is helping bridge the gap between cultures with the work he does at Eater. It’s pretty impressive, and it just goes to show a good meal can bring unlikely people together.