Noodle Bar Near Me in the East Village: Momofuku Noodle Bar

Momofuku Noodle Bar sits at 171 First Avenue, between 10th and 11th Streets, and it is the restaurant David Chang opened first, back in 2004. If you typed noodle bar near me anywhere around the East Village, this is the room most New Yorkers mean: a bowl of Garlic Chicken Ramen is $22 on the current menu, reservations open on OpenTable 30 days ahead, and a limited number of walk-in seats are held at the bar and kitchen counters.

Chang opened Noodle Bar in 2004 at 163 First Avenue, a narrow space a few doors down the block, and later moved it a few storefronts north to 171, according to the neighborhood blog EV Grieve. The company says the name comes from the Japanese word for lucky peach, which is why a small peach still shows up across the brand. Bon Appetit once called Momofuku the most important restaurant in America, and the Michelin Guide still lists Noodle Bar as a Bib Gourmand.

The current room is the result of a long refit. Noodle Bar closed after service on February 13, 2022 for what was billed as a one-month renovation; the kitchen work stretched to five months and the restaurant reopened in July 2022. Michelin describes the result as a honey-toned temple of updated comfort food with wood counters and a sparkling open kitchen, and that is a fair summary of what you see from the sidewalk.

Start with the noodles, because that is still the point. The Garlic Chicken Ramen comes with baby spinach and a poached egg for $22. The Smoked Pork Ramen adds pork belly, bamboo and a poached egg for $23. If you want something without broth, the Ginger Scallion Noodles are vegetarian, dressed with pickled shiitake, cucumber and wakame, also $22. The Chilled Spicy Noodle, with pork sausage, Thai basil and cashews, is $24 and carries the most heat on the list.

The Mushroom Flat Noodles are the outlier at $31, wide noodles tossed with a mushroom medley, shaved mimolette and sherry vinegar. They appear twice on the menu, under noodles and under dinner mains, which tells you the kitchen treats them as a full plate rather than a side. Order them if you are splitting several dishes. If you are eating alone and want one bowl, the ramen is the better value and the more classic Noodle Bar experience.

The steamed buns are the dish that made Momofuku famous, and they still cost less than any noodle bowl: $17 for two, filled with pork belly, shiitake mushroom or a shrimp patty. One order is enough for two people as a starter. The Smoked Chicken Wings with garlic, Thai chili and scallion are $21, and the Habanero Rice Cakes with grana padano, heritage bacon and Thai basil are $18, chewy and sticky enough to need a fork.

Dessert is short and casual. Milk Chocolate Pie with pecan and dulce de leche is $14, and Banana Soft Serve with whipped cream and candied nuts is $10. Honestly, you can skip the pie if you already had buns and rice cakes; the soft serve is lighter and closer to the playful spirit of the place. On Mondays the kitchen runs Fried Chicken Mondays, a half chicken with scallion biscuits, fingerling potatoes and white barbecue sauce, $44 and sized for one or two.

Noodle Bar books through OpenTable, not Resy, and the official FAQ says tables open 30 days in advance. The room holds 68 seated guests. Walk-ins are limited to the bar and the kitchen counter, which is where solo diners tend to end up anyway; Time Out notes regulars sitting by the kitchen and a flip board that shows the day's specials. If you are one or two people, arriving right at 5pm on a weeknight gives you the best shot at a counter stool.

Groups need to plan differently. There is no private dining room, only full buyouts, and the big-ticket Fried Chicken Meal, two whole chickens done Southern style and Korean style with sides, feeds four to eight people for $225 and has to be ordered in advance through OpenTable. Corkage is $25 per 750ml bottle for the first two and $35 for each one after, with a limit of four per table, and outside cakes are not allowed.

The kitchen is open every day, but the schedule shifts. Monday through Thursday it serves dinner only, 5pm to 10pm. Friday adds lunch from 12pm to 4pm before dinner from 5pm to 11pm. Saturday runs brunch from 11am to 4pm and dinner from 5pm to 11pm, and Sunday has the same brunch with dinner ending at 10pm. Weekend daytime is the easiest time to walk in, since many people only think of Noodle Bar as a dinner spot.

If the counter is full and the host quotes a long wait, you have a real plan B a few blocks south. Momofuku also runs Kabawa at 8 Extra Place, off East First Street, so you can stay in the family. For takeout, Noodle Bar packs orders in person and delivers through DoorDash, and the restaurant is wheelchair accessible. There is also a second location, Noodle Bar Uptown, inside 10 Columbus Circle, useful if you are near Central Park instead.

Noodle Bar fits neatly into an East Village evening. Veniero's Pastry has been at 342 East 11th Street, between First and Second Avenues, since 1894, and stays open until 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 11pm on Friday and Saturday, so it works for cannoli after a bowl of ramen. One block south, the Russian and Turkish Baths at 268 East 10th Street take walk-ins, which makes a sauna and a bowl of noodles a very New York way to spend a cold afternoon.

Getting there is easy: the L stops at First Avenue, the 6 at Astor Place, and the N, R and W at 8th Street and NYU, each a short walk away. A bowl of ramen and a shared order of buns comes to $39 before tax, tip and drinks, which is the simplest way to budget a solo or two-person visit. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for other noodle counters open late nearby.