Affordable Eats: Get a rice bowl with meat for $10 at this N.J. Ramen House

You read that headline correctly! A rice bowl with meat for ($10). What a deal!

But wait. It gets better. This ramen house has five New Jersey locations in Cranford, Montclair, Jersey City, Maplewood and Summit. Any idea what this place is called? If you don’t know, you should.

Welcome to Ani Ramen House, where the food is beyond affordable, and it’s quite tasty, too.

I’ve had a lot of ramen in the past, but here at Ani Ramen, I found the combinations and seasonings on point. And for those prices, you can’t go wrong.

The bao buns (Bao is a sandwich in Chinese) range in price from ($9 - $11), and they include pork belly, panko shrimp, Japanese chicken, and fried tofu. All sandwiches come with pickled cucumbers, sliced cabbage, spicy miso mayo, sake soy glaze and scallions.

Two signature bowls caught my attention: The ultimate vegan miso ($16.50) with vegan broth, miso, Brussels sprouts, corn, carrots, shitake mushrooms, tofu, scallions, and thick noodles. And the chef special, with chicken broth, pork belly, shallot, pickled ginger, black garlic, roasted chili oil and noodles.

I tried the vegan bowl since I am a vegetarian, and I found it savory with umami richness and pleasant saltiness from the miso and soy sauce. The mushrooms had a meaty texture, and the tofu was also thick and satisfying.

I then tried a rice bowl with tofu ($10), which included white rice, kale salad, miso dressing and tofu. As simple as that sounds, the flavor was complex and rich with contrast in texture from the side of firm Brussels sprouts. Meat options for the rice bowls include pulled pork, panko shrimp, fried chicken and soy-glazed chicken.

Lastly, I tried the edamame ($4), and it was seasoned perfectly with a tender texture, but not too tender!

If you’re feeling fancy or on a date night and want to impress, go for the Wagyu Gyoza for ($17). The Japanese dumplings are filled with Japanese Wagyu short ribs, scallions, flaky golden crust and a vinaigrette.

Give Ani Ramen House a whirl, and please email me your thoughts.

For Ramen in North Jersey, hit the Ramen Factory in Tappan. You can indulge in a pork bao for ($4), pork fried dumplings with a tangy dipping sauce for ($10), and a specialty ramen bowl for ($15). One of the popular bowls is the karaage don ($15), with chicken thighs over white rice, scallions and the house sauce.

In South Jersey, Rai Rai Ramen received five stars on Yelp. It has two pork sandwiches for ($7) and Japanese fried rice with charsiu (Cantonese-style barbecued pork), fish cake, eggs and scallions for ($13.95). The curry ramen ($13.95) comes with charsiu, fish cake, spinach, bamboo and scallions.

That’s a lot of ramen choices, but I’m feeling like another rice bowl myself!

Karim Shamsi-Basha may be reached at kshamsi-basha@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter & Instagram.

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