Ramen Shop in Carroll Gardens: Karazishi Botan

Looking up ramen shop near me around Carroll Gardens leads to a small diner at 255 Smith Street called Karazishi Botan, run by Fumihiro Kanegae, known as Foo, who spent years as the ramen master at Ippudo. Here he is cooking his own way. Every ramen on the menu carries a recipe number, such as No. 422 or No. 493, a nod to the hundreds of recipes he has developed. Expect Tokyo nostalgia next to oxtail broth, Sichuan heat and truffle-oil dumplings.

What sets the place apart is the chef's range. According to his biography on the restaurant's site, Kanegae is a Fukuoka native who honed his skills in Fukuoka, Shanghai, Paris and New York, and he studied bread-making in France, which he credits with sharpening his understanding of flour and noodles. At Ippudo he developed more than 600 ramen varieties. At Botan, the menu blends Japanese tradition with influences drawn from New York, and it changes with the seasons.

For a first visit, the Showa Classic, recipe No. 422, costs $19.95 and is the most traditional bowl on the list. Its shoyu broth combines four ingredients, pork, chicken, anchovy and bonito, and it is topped with chashu, menma and scallion. The menu describes it as the taste of Tokyo in 1955, and the clean, savory soy flavor makes it a useful baseline before moving on to the house's more experimental bowls. Add a seasoned egg for $3.50 if you want it richer.

The current chef's special is Iron Men VI, recipe No. 427, at $23. It is built on what the menu calls a trinity soup of dry-aged Iberian pork bone, chicken and oxtail with a shellfish-based sauce, finished with chashu, a poached egg and herb oil, with green peppercorns served on the side. Point Blank, No. 493, costs $20.50 and pairs a pork-based shoyu broth with horseradish, topped with chashu, menma, scallions and fish roe.

Dipping-noodle fans should order the Tsuke-Men, No. 490, at $22.50 or $29.50 for a double portion. The noodles come separately from a hot shoyu-tonkotsu dipping broth, topped with pork chashu, menma, scallions, naruto, a seasoned egg and nori, and you choose hot or cold noodles. The menu calls it the taste of Ikebukuro, Tokyo, in 1961. Pan-Head, No. 489, at $19.95, is the tonkotsu and miso bowl, finished with a dab of ginger paste.

The small plates are where Kanegae's playfulness shows. Magic Dumplings cost $11.50 and come dressed with a poached egg, parmesan cheese and truffle oil over boiled lemongrass chicken dumplings. Botan Zangi Karaage, at $18, is the Hokkaido-style big fried chicken marinated in a garlic and ginger soy sauce. Pirates Oxtail Nikomi at $20 is oxtail braised for hours in a sweet, savory soy sauce, and Botan Wings run $14 for five pieces.

Extras let you build a heavier bowl. A kaedama, an extra serving of noodles, is $4, which is useful with the rich Iron Men broth. A seasoned soft-boiled egg costs $3.50, three more slices of pork chashu cost $4, and a spoonful of spicy tan tan nikumiso is $5. Vegans can add organic tofu chashu for $4. The menu also asks diners to tell their server about food allergies, and it lists no substitutions.

Timing matters because dinner is the only service most of the week. Karazishi Botan opens at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closes at 9:30, stays open until 10 on Friday, and serves from noon on weekends, until 10 on Saturday and 9 on Sunday. That means weekday lunch is not an option, but a Saturday or Sunday noon arrival is the calmest way to get a seat, especially in the backyard garden on a mild fall afternoon.

The room is small, so plan accordingly. When it opened, the neighborhood site Hoodline described the diner as a cozy 18-seater, and the restaurant also lists outdoor seating in a backyard garden, which adds space in good weather. Groups of four or more should arrive early on weekend evenings. If the dining room is full, the restaurant offers takeout and delivery through DoorDash and Grubhub, and the full menu is posted online.

The name comes from Japanese temple lore. Karazishi are the guardian lions placed at temple gates, and the lion also appears in the restaurant's logo. According to the legend retold on its website, the lion fears only a tiny bug that burrows into its fur, and its only protection is to rest beneath botan, the peony, whose falling dew destroys the pest. The team says it wants its unassuming diner to be that kind of peaceful shelter.

Karazishi Botan opened on February 27, 2020, as Kanegae's first solo project, just weeks before New York's pandemic shutdown. It survived the lockdown months and remains a fixture on Smith Street, appearing in Brooklyn Magazine's 2026 summer guide to the borough's ramen. The drinks list matches the kitchen's personality, with a Botan Highball of aged Iichiko shochu for $12, a Yuzu Sour at $15, and Brooklyn Kura junmai ginjo nama sake by the glass for $10.

After dinner, a short walk shows off the neighborhood. Carroll Park, on Court Street between Carroll and President Streets, is one of Brooklyn's oldest public parks and a quiet place for a stroll under the trees. Smith Street itself is lined with cocktail bars, wine bars and dessert shops, and a few blocks south the brownstone side streets of Carroll Gardens are known for their unusually deep front gardens.

Cocktails run $10 to $15 and draft Asahi Super Dry is $8. Dessert is simple: Bomboloni custard cream donuts for $8 or a limited-run homemade coffee jelly served with oat milk, also $8. The vegan menu is available on request, and several starters, including the Matcha French Fries at $9, are vegan.

This is the right ramen shop for diners who want a chef's personality in every bowl rather than a chain formula, for couples looking for a relaxed Smith Street dinner, and for anyone curious about what a former Ippudo ramen master cooks when nobody is setting the rules. Start with the Showa Classic, share Magic Dumplings, then try Iron Men VI on the next visit. For more Brooklyn noodle ideas, just ask in the Karpo APP.