This gem in Harlem (there’s another on the Upper West Side and a new branch in Hamilton Heights) provides an astonishing range of ramen, both dry and wet, with two noodle styles: thin, straight, and white; and thick, curly, and yellow. One dry bowl with broth on the side sets your mouth aflame with kimchi, but our favorite fiery bowl is the spicy tonkotsu, a pork-bone broth packed with chile oil and black garlic.

An Upper West Sider since 2016 conveniently located near the express 72nd Street stop, Zurutto deploys a chicken broth sometimes modified with sesame oil and seeds. The signature miso ramen incorporates both ground pork and sliced pork, along with miso, corn, bean sprouts, black garlic, and cabbage. Also available are a curry ramen and a vegetarian soy milk-miso ramen, and some interesting sides that run from octopus balls to tuna tacos.

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 (one with a monkey face) and its signature “fireball,” a loose meatball of peppery ground pork that subsides into the soup as the flavor explodes.

Flushing’s Kyuramen (there are other branches in Park Slope and Union Square) turned heads during the pandemic for having one of the best designed outdoor dining setups in the city, with individual rooms for each table. The ramen menu features straight or wavy noodles, and the dozen choices include some fringe bowls. Our favorite, the mega, features both sliced pork and shrimp in a pork broth.

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 slightly bitter flavors. Noodles made on the premises are another plus at this outlier among ramen joints.

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 2017. The broth in the signature bowl is a combo of pork and chicken, the noodles are firmer and thicker, 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.

An attractively designed space near Washington Square Park accented with neon lighting, Karakatta focuses on spicy renditions of ramen. Not that you can’t get some un-spicy bowls here — there are three types of cold ramen available — but the flagship is the spicy ginger stamina, pungent with fresh ginger and laced with chile oil. It comes in five levels of hotness; “two flames” is often hot enough, even for lovers of spicy food.

Ever feel like a bowl of ramen doesn’t quite add up to a full meal? Specializing in a choice of three miso broths (brown, white, and red) that it makes extravagant health claims for, the East Village’s Ramen Misoya encourages you to supplement your noodles with added proteins, including lovely miniature pork cutlets and tempura shrimp. They contribute immeasurably to the pleasure of the meal.

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 handsome but compact ramen-ya founded by two friends from Japan is known for its sprawling menu with lots of optional add-ins. Every bowl is an adventure, including the spicy miso ramen, which features a miso broth made from chicken and bonito, with ground pork and sliced pork belly thrown in.

One of the city’s first izakayas, founded 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.

If you’re obsessed with chile, you can’t help but be impressed by the increasing availability of ramen spiked with hot peppers. This place features not the usual chile-laced miso, but a milky chicken paitan boiled for eight hours with “chili skin” called Kuu chili. Also find therein spicy ground chicken, pork belly, and greens that cook in the broth. The menu at this tiny Financial District ramen-ya (there’s also an Upper East Side branch) also lists beef ramen in a miso broth with garlic chips and butter.

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 two Manhattan branches on the West Side.

Kogane offers nine bowls of ramen, some featuring luxurious ingredients like snow crab and lobster, along with noodles made in-house. The menu is quirkier than most of the city’s noodle shops; its parco ramen is served with a whole pork chop in an unspeakably rich curry-laced broth. The number of sides and apps is unusually large, including ramen burgers, sweet potato fries, and calamari salad.

With three locations — one in Brooklyn and two in Manhattan — Mokbar offers eights bowls of ramen from a Korean perspective, which means heartier, more jam-packed bowls. A perfect example is army budae, said to have descended from surplus foods from U.S. soldiers. To a kimchi-laden broth it adds multiple forms of meat, akin to what you might find on a meat-lover’s pizza: Spam, pork belly, bacon, and little sausages, finished off with grated cheddar cheese.

Ramen noodles can be ordered at several levels of firmness, and broths at several levels of density, at this Park Slope parlor that originated in Vancouver. 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. Deep-fried and sliced tofu add to this unique bowl.