Boston Places to Eat

Isshindo Ramen

1 Brighton Ave, Boston, MA 02134 isshindoramen.com

Isshindo’s ramen flavors include tonkotsu, spicy tonkotsu, miso, shio, etc. They even have a tomato-veggie broth for the vegetarians out there.

Their signature ramen is the Isshindo ramen. It has a tonkotsu broth with scallions, wood-ear mushrooms, bean sprouts, soy egg, seaweed, and three slices of chashu pork. The rich pork broth is silky and creamy. The chashu is tender and melt-in-your-mouth fatty.

I also love their chicken karaage starter! It’s a plate of juicy, deep-fried boneless chicken. The chicken is marinated in a mix of soy sauce, ginger, and sake for an intense flavor. They deep-fry the chicken with the skin on for an extra crunch.

Tsurumen

420 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02144 tsurumendavis.com

Tsurumen is an independent Davis Square shop that specializes in Osaka-style ramen. They started in 2005 with the hope of perfecting a ramen recipe in 1000 days. Compared to the other ramen shops around Boston, Tsurumen is possibly the most authentic. The very small menu includes five ramen flavors reminiscent of what you’ll find in Japan.

Their signature ramen is the Pork Shoyu Special Ramen ($18). It has a light pork broth with pork fat and shoyu tare. The broth is very simple compared to other ramen shops. There’s virtually no salt taste — just the taste of soy sauce. On top are tender sliced pork shoulder cha shu, bamboo shoots, Narutomaki fishcake, and scallions.

For ramen with a kick, get the Spicy Tan Tan ramen. The homemade noodles are thinner than the other ramen. It has a spicy tare chicken broth and the noodles are topped with seasoned ground pork, onsen egg, bok choy, and chili oil.

Kaju Tofu House

56 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA 02134

This is the #1 place to get soondubu, or Korean tofu stew. It comes with silken tofu and your choice of meat (I always get bulgogi). You can also choose your spice level– I recommend medium if you can’t handle spice well.

The soup is served bubbling in a stone pot with a side of rice. I always dip a spoonful of rice into the soup to get a bit of everything in one bite! I also recommend adding a Korean BBQ dish like bulgogi to make it a combo.

Koreana

158 Prospect St, Cambridge, MA 02139

I can’t have a best Korean restaurants Boston list without mentioning Korean BBQ. Unfortunately, Boston doesn’t have many options. Koreana in Central Square is the best in terms of quality. For first-timers, get the bulgogi and kalbi. The servers will cook the meat in front of you. You’ll also get complimentary ban chan (side dishes).

This is also the only Korean BBQ spot around that gives you lettuce to wrap the meat in. It’s on the pricier side at $30-50 per meat, but I think it’s worth it for the premium taste and quality.

Great Taste Bakery

63 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

First on the best Chinatown restaurants in Boston list is Great Taste Bakery. If you love Dim Sum, this Hong Kong-style restaurant is a staple. Instead of ordering the dim sum off of carts, you tick off what you want on a sheet of paper. I recommend the cheung fun (rice noodle rolls) with Chinese fried dough.

Other popular Dim Sum items include char siu bao (BBQ pork buns), har gao (shrimp dumplings), and siu mai (pork meatball dumplings). An alternative Dim Sum restaurant is Winsor Dim Sum.