I’m always looking for great ramen places, so even though ROKC is located far, far away, (between 140th & 141st street in Harlem), I immediately got curious, when Ana mentioned the place. Could we go? Yes! Ana couldn’t wait to go back.
A few days later, Ana and I therefore went to Harlem, where we met with L for Ramen and Cocktails, the R and C in ROKC (Ramen Oysters Kitchen Cocktails).
I usually prefer pork-based broths, but L suggested that I tried the chicken miso ramen. It was a delicious creamy broth with a very prominent chicken flavor, on par with what you’ll find at the nicer ramen shops in Tokyo.
In Japan, most bowls usually come with an egg, but in NYC most places charge extra for that, and this was also the case at ROKC. Now ramen isn’t really ramen without the egg, so there was no way around it. Instead, the chili oil was free of charge and available from small jars on each table, so you could have your ramen as spicy as you wanted.
I normally have beer with my ramen, but at ROKC they’re known for extravagant cocktails and skilled mixologists, so I deviated from my beer intentions and had an excellent bourbon cocktail called Smoke. Someone at the table next to ours had a cocktail served in a lightbulb and a little further investigation revealed that it was Flower, one of ROKC’s most popular creations. Will try that next time.
ROKC, 3452 Broadway (between 140th & 141st Street), Harlem, New York
