📍Kame, New York City

When I visited Japan in 2023, I met and became friends with other Americans who were visiting at the same time. So when one of them decided to visit New York, we had to get Japanese food. He's a pescatarian so Sushi might have been the obvious choice. Instead, I picked Kame. They have ramen that meets various dietary needs which worked for us. More importantly, the day we met, it was freezing and Ramen is comforting on such a day.

It was my first time here. It's a narrow restaurant with tables hugging both long walls. The back area had a small bar. This mid-week freezing day did not keep people away as we waited a few minutes for our table beyond our reservation time. It was no bother since we could wait inside.

We started with the takoyaki. These are fried balls of dough that contain squid in the center. The best ones are light and airy with a hot chewy piece of squid, just like these. It came covered in kewpie mayo, tonkatsu sauce, and nori flakes. This brought a lot of richness and savoriness to each bite.