Thumbs Up Ramen - Japanese restaurant in Fort Lee - 2024 Center Ave, USA

Thumbs Up Ramen offered an interesting experience for me. Unfortunately, I had to settle for a bowl I wasn't familiar with due to my initial choice being out of stock. While the food was alright and didn't particularly match my taste, my girlfriend thoroughly enjoyed her bowl. On the positive side, the staff was great, and their assistance was appreciated. The environment was clean and inviting, creating a comfortable atmosphere to dine in. Moreover, the ease of parking was certainly a convenience. While my personal experience was mixed, it seems like Thumbs Up Ramen has potential for those who find a dish that aligns better with their preferences.

This is the ramen I've been wishing for in the fort lee/pal park area! I've been working nearby for like 10+ and without any slander; this is now the best spot. They pass the karaage test with flying colors, so get that for sure. Just a guess but they might be using a bit of tapioca starch which gives it a unique texture. The star of the show is the Hakata ramen; which is why we sat in lunch rush hour traffic just to get here. The thick and rich pork based broth is excellent and something you can't get at other neighboring ramen spots. Noods are similar to Ichiran! The spicy satay like paste/oil they offer is fantastic. Maybe offer it on the side so people can adjust their own bowls instead of throwing it all in there. I'm hoping next time I stop by they can reduce the richness a tiny bit or maybe adopt a system like Ichiran where I can adjust some preferences on a tiny sheet of paper. Don't let the negative reviews prevent you from trying this spot!

This was a random dinner choice that we’re glad to have found because of their Tsukemen. I don’t typically look for ramen spots nowadays but reviews seemed good here. We tried a few items: the Tsukemen because that seemed to be their specialty, the gyoza, and the chicken karaage. I found the gyoza to be okay and the chicken karaage satisfying and juicy though I’m not a fan in general of spicy mayo. The sauce for the Tsukemen seemed tasty though I’m no good judge of quality. It was savory but not too salty and importantly not too heavy either which is my concern for ramen nowadays. I enjoyed the noodles more than expected, they were nicely chewy. Note that their noodle sizes refer to quantity of noodles and not noodle size/width. Interior decor was nice, the wait staff we met were friendly, and overall we had a good experience.

New ramen place on the block, and looks neat and different but ultimately the ramen was very subpar. Although the staff was nice and really friendly, we ordered the Tori Paitan Miso Ramen and the Tori Paitan Tsukemen Dipping Noodle and wow was it far from excellent. The Miso Ramen I ordered was a large size but I was left hungry after eating it since it was in a pretty smallish bowl in my view. Also it hardly had any soup in it and was extremely salty so I had to ask the nice waiter for a cup of hot water and dump it in to be able to eat it. Both ramen and dipping noodle we ordered has 2 of the thinnest piece of char siu I’ve ever seen and one small piece of chicken meat in it. Am I crazy of is this the biggest example of shrinkflation I’m seeing? I mean I live here in Fort Lee so I know how it is with some places around here, but wow it’s incredible. For $14-15 dollars usually we can get at least somewhat full on a dish somewhere else but oh boy I hope this place makes some changes.

I was so excited when this place opened up some weeks ago because my husband and I LOVE tsukemen and have been searching for a good local place. We ordered the regular chicken paitan tsukemen and the paitan miso tsukemen. If you prefer a more rich, pork flavored broth, then I highly recommend sticking with the regular version. While the chicken-pork broth has a little less flavor than normal pork broths, it's not as dense/heavy. Both regular and miso broths are incredible, and combined with the ambiance, reminded me of the small ramen shops in Japan. We haven't tried anything else yet on the menu but will definitely be coming back for more!

Been coming here with my family weekly for a few months now. In addition to consistently good ramen, service is also very good—waitress is always kind and thoughtful. My favorite is the spicy tori paitan miso ramen as pictured. Don’t skimp on that $2 spicy sauce! It transforms the entire miso ramen experience—well worth it! Additionally, the restaurant space is also overall very open and spacious. My only note would be for meat lovers: meat that comes with the ramen may be on the lighter side. It doesn’t bother me as I always order their karaage chicken (yum!) and I just care for amazing noodles and soup in the ramen—in that order. Highly recommended!

We had a great first experience here! The food is delicious and authentic (I used to live in Japan so I'm picky about authenticity). The takoyaki was to die for, and the creamy ramen broth was so comforting and satisfying. We'll definitely be back!

The chicken ramen was surprisingly more moist than we expected it to be. The broth is quite thick, so we recommend adding lemon vinegar to it. The tsukemen was also good. Other places occasionally make the dipping sauce a bit too salty, but we thought this was the perfect level. The karaage was our favorite.