Youta Ramen opens in Mineola

Youta Ramen in Mineola. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus

Once a niche noodle, ramen has hit the big time on Long Island. It seems like every week brings a new spot serving a familiar lineup of tonkotsu, miso, shoyu and spicy broths; slurp and repeat.

Now there’s Youta Ramen, a 2-month-old Mineola eatery that is the brainchild of Thanontuch Tyler Laiamnuay, the chef, and Pat Boon, a seasoned restaurateur who worked at Sripraphai in Williston Park. Thai by birth and ramen by choice, the old friends have created a shrine to their shared love of the savory Japanese kitchen in general and tonkotsu ramen in particular.

No matter that there are at least five ramen shops within 2 miles of Youta. “We never thought about the competition,” Boon said. “If you have money, you can open a restaurant. But when you have passion, your customers can taste the difference. We do this with our hearts.”

In fact, the men are measuring themselves against their two favorite NYC ramen purveyors, Ramen Ishida and Ichiran.

Chef Thanontuch Tyler Laiamnuay, left, and Pat Boon are the owners of Youta Ramen in Mineola. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus

Laiamnuay cooks his tonkotsu (pork) broth for 16 hours, stirring every 10 minutes so it doesn’t scorch. Because he’s not prepared to stay at the restaurant the entire time, he divides the simmer into two eight-hour shifts. The last hour or so, the pot is stirred every three minutes. The end result is a creamy, rich broth markedly less salty than the norm.

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The noodles, made in New Jersey by Sun, are both delicate and sturdy, and they share the bowl with “ajitama,” eggs soft boiled into custardy submission; scallions sliced so thin they look like translucent threads; “menma,” fermented bamboo shoots, here served whole rather than in strips; and slices of “chashu” pork that are rosily tender. Have your ramen the classic way, or enlivened with spicy chili paste or black garlic. For vegetarians there’s a soy-truffle broth as well.

Youta’s menu also includes filled steamed buns and five “donburi,” rice bowls topped with fried chicken, sliced pork, shrimp and vegetable tempura, or freshwater eel. This last bowl, “una don”, is a real triumph, the tender, barbecued eel arranged in a checkerboard with gossamer-light shreds of cooked egg and cucumber.

Laiamnuay cut his teeth as a sushi chef at Manhattan’s vaunted Masa, and he hasn’t completely left raw fish behind. Among Youta’s starters is a salad of barely seared amberjack on a bed of mizuna (Japanese greens) with lotus-root chips and watermelon radish.

This little corner storefront housed a succession of short-lived Peruvian restaurants whose rather slapdash décors have been expunged by Youta’s bright design, a blend of stone, wood and Japanese banners, and masks. One wall is devoted to an anime-inspired ode to ramen.

58 Old Country Rd., Mineola, 516-447-6995, youtaramen.com. Open every day 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

Erica Marcus, a passionate but skeptical omnivore, has been reporting and opining on the Long Island food scene since 1998.