Long Island City (or LIC for short) is an up-and-coming neighborhood in Queens with great restaurants and bars. Just take Mu Ramen, for instance. Mu was opened in 2014 by a chef who used to work at Per Se, a renowned three Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan. Since then, Mu Ramen has quickly become quite the popular ramen joint, despite the fact it’s across the East River from Manhattan. In fact, it has become so successful that they recently renovated their space to increase the amount of seating inside, as well as introduced an online reservation system (That was very necessary, as typical wait times usually averaged around 30-40 minutes.)
They are also slowly expanding their menu options to serve more of a variety of food than just ramen, adding items like a dry aged short rib burger and gyoza. I am a huge fan of uni (sea urchin), and love their “U & I” appetizer which contains uni, spicy maguro, ikura, rice, and sesame roasted nori.
As for their ramen, you really can’t go wrong here. I want to try every single option they have. Their “Mu Ramen” special is their most well-known dish, but sells out extremely quickly. Definitely come early if you want to try it!
