My friend and I stopped by for lunch. We decided it was too hot outside for ramen so we wanted to get bao buns instead. I had the pork belly bao buns and she got the shrimps ones. We were both very happy with our choices! I really loved the pork belly bao buns, they were very tasty and hit the spot! I also really enjoyed the edamame, the chili oil on them was very good. I would definitely return! read more

Ani Ramen House - Edamame - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

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First time trying out ani ramen house in Cranford and we absolutely loved it! The vibe inside is nice and relaxing and we loved the music they were playing. We didn't make a reservation and we're sat right away around 7 on a Saturday night. We were unaware that this location didn't have a liquor license but we stopped by the tomasello wine tasting room right next door and got 10% off since we were dining at ani! They have a great Pinot grigio btw - but after this we ordered the shrimp bao buns which were incredible!!! We also got the last order of the double fried wings ( I would suggest coming here before 7 on the weekends since they said they run out of them) but they were also absolute delicious. I had the chefs special ramen and my boyfriend had the spicy miso ramen and we loved both of them! Can't wait to come back! read more

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If you're looking for authentic ramen, you've come to the right spot! Food is delicious - the buns and wings are some of our favorites to order. Service is always amazing! Definitely recommend this restaurant read more

Ani Ramen is my favorite ramen spot! I've been to 4 different locations and I'm never disappointed. Cranford location is BYOB which is always great. Vegan options as well. I got the Shoyu Ramen and my boyfriend got the Vegan Ramen and he requested to make it spicy. We usually get the edamame but we tried the shishito peppers this time. I think we prefer the edamame but the peppers were still great too! I will always recommend this place :) read more

Ani Ramen House - Shoyu Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

Thanks to management for reaching out to me to make things right for my last review. I was told by one of the managers that a spicy ramen and chicken bun would be ready for me at 1pm but it wasn't. The male manager said no worries and got right on it. It took about 10 minutes to make and the nice server gave me my food. When I got home I dug in. I really liked the chicken bun but the ramen was just ok. The broth wasn't bad at all but I just wasn't feeling the ramen and vegetables too much. I appreciate the effort in making things better. read more

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Nothing special here..I came here with a couple of friends on a Thursday night. We were seated right away. Our server was friendly but spent a lot of time going over the menu with us when we just wanted to review it ourselves..seemed like he wanted to win us over from the get go. Despite that, he was accommodating when we switched our orders to the Vegan Ramen. Before our ramen came out, they brought cucumbers to our table that they claimed was 'on the house' which were tasty, but then we got hit with a $2.50 convenience fee that we suspect might be from that. Our ramen came out quickly but it was missing that 'wow' factor. I was hoping for a hot soup on a cold night but it just came out lukewarm. The tofu was very fried and crispy, I think they used extra firm instead of the silken tofu you normally find in ramen because they were very small pieces. $53 was the total bill for two ramens (with eggs) and bao buns. Decent ambiance. I don't plan on coming back here again though. I feel like I would get my moneys worth somewhere else. Also a lot of people came to our table throughout the meal to check on us which was nice at first, but then we just wanted our privacy . It was very strange because I didn't think the place was all that new read more

Ani Ramen House - Vegan Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

Ani Ramen was the perfect end to a beautiful day enjoying the last of the warm weather in November! We came in around 6:00PM on a Saturday and were seated right away. It's BYOB so brought some Malbec to enjoy with the meal! We started out with Panko Shrimp Bao Buns. These bao buns have crispy shrimp + cabbage + pickles + spicy miso mayo (yes, lots of flavors)! The other appetizer we got was the Crispy Miso Sake Wings. If you look at my pic, you can see the crispiness of the wings and the shininess of the sauce. These wings are double fried and drenched in a miso sake soy glaze that you will definitely be craving the next day! The sauce absorbs so perfectly into the wings and there's a crunch with every bite. And last, but certainly not least, the pièce de résistance, RAMEN! Most likely this is what you come here for and you will not be disappointed. I got one of the two specials of the night, Tempura Shrimp Kimchi Ramen (not on the regular menu). I love anything with kimchi and ramen is certainly no exception. The kimchi adds the perfect amount of spice to the broth without being too overpowering! Our waitress was such a sweetheart and treated us with so much attention and kindness the entire time. It really added so much to the already pleasant experience. read more

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Very good service and great music! We tried the kimchi Bao buns and ramen. We were both very happy with our choices. read more

Ani Ramen House - Kimchi Buns - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

We ordered takeout from Ani Ramen House at 3:30pm for takeout at 5:45pm, as you can choose through the online ordering system. It does seem like you need a reservation to eat here right now, especially on the weekends. They always look crowded. As for the food, I ordered the Bao Buns with Panko Shrimp. The filling was super yummy, though the bun itself was very sweet and almost dessert-like, overwhelming the savory filling. I also had the Ani Salad. While the contents of the salad were very fresh and I particularly enjoyed the Japanese cucumber, I felt that the pickled onions fell short (remarkably little flavor) and the tofu and dressing were not very palatable. The dressing tasted like it could've been out of a bottle, and the crunchy component of the tofu didn't add anything to it for me. They also got our order wrong in two ways -- they completely forgot our Kimchi Bao Buns (we called and got a refund) and they mis-marked two of the noodles we ordered, so the spicy didn't read spicy and the non-spicy did. Accidentally cleared out my brother's sinuses lol. I also take issue with how loud they play music from this place. Cranford has a very quiet downtown area and you can hear Ani Ramen's music from way down the street. Can't imagine how the residents in the apartments above them feel about it. This would not be a good place for a quiet dinner. Overall, ordering from them was an okay experience but not at all great. read more

Ani Ramen House - Bao Buns with Panko Shrimp -- filling is super yummy, the bun itself is definitely very sweet almost like a dessert - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

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Finally, Ani Ramen's Cranford (and sixth) location is open. I came here for a sneak peek as a Ramen Lover and I am definitely a fan. Their bao buns are always out of this world amazing. Highly recommend the pork belly - and the kimchi pork belly. Their spicy miso ramen is so good. Always get extra noodles and eggs. Plus the flavor bomb really adds to it. This location has plenty of nearby parking, a bit away from the main stretch so that's nice. This will definitely be my go to location out of their other spots moving forward. Already put in yet another reservation for next week. Congratulations to the owners and welcome to Cranford! read more

Wasn't bad but felt like the options were kinda limited for non-pork eaters. Not sure I'd go again if I was in the area.

I have really only had ramen one other time so I can't speak to the quality too much but I did enjoy my food (good flavor!) and the server was great, she brought us out cucumbers to have on the house. Each bowl is $15 but is a very large size. They took covid seriously, making everyone get their temperatures taken on the way in. read more

Ani Ramen House - Chefs special ramen (chicken) - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

Mackenzie was fantastic in helping us first off. The recommendation of the Kimchi bun was definitely the highlight of our lunch. The ramen was soso I was disappointed in the pork I ordered more and when we got our ramen and pork it just looked dry. The taste was slightly there but dryer that what I've known ani for. The broth of my fathers spicy miso was good. It didn't make up for the dry meat in our soups. There was a fly that pestered us and that was frustrating so we didn't love that. I do think ani is a great local spot maybe even having a off day. read more

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Ani is always great!! Been a fan since going to the Montclair location years ago and so happy to see the business expanding. Used to go to the J.C location a lot and so happy this location opened up as Cranford is much closer to me. The ambience is great! Service is great + COVID precautions being taken properly. The pork buns are hands down my favorite I can get in NJ. Love love loved the ramen as usual. Overall very consistent to what I've had before at the prior locations!! It was me and my s/o's last in person date night of this year as we're a little long distance and it was a great meal and time for us so thanks Ani Ramen!!! read more

Ani Ramen House - Pork Bao Buns - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

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Some of my take out order via Uber eats was forgotten. Just disappointing because it was the 2 items my family was looking forward to trying. read more

An outstanding meal! Everything was delicious. We had the chef's special ramen with pork belly, umami bomb and an egg. Perhaps because this location is new or because of COVID they limit the number of takeout orders that they will accept. The benefit of their takeout policy is that our food was ready on time. We will return. read more

Great atmosphere, great food, service was great as well. Wish they had a kids menu, though. read more

Ani Ramen House - Shoyu Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

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Full disclosure, I am a big fan of Ani Ramen for years now and have frequented all their other locations - depending on where I am meeting up with friends. That said, this new location in Cranford, I feel is the nicest (design wise) of all their locations so far. Great layout, especially given the current indoor dining limitations. Their staff was super and took all safety precautions. Most importantly, the food was delicious as always. Some of our favorites are the crispy gyoza, the miso/sake glazed wings, the bao buns (we love the shrimp and the kimchi). The signature ramen dishes were terrific - and the nail it with consistency! Be sure to get the marinated egg on yours. Even the charred edamame with chili oil is tops! Looking forward to more visits. And so glad they have to go options now as well. read more

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The food is top tier Ani Salad Amazing the food is super delicious and great service 10/10 recommended read more

Ani Ramen House - Miso Ramen Kit (2 servings) - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

Decided to go on opening night. Ordered the chefs special and spicy miso Ramen. Added eggs and side dish of pickled and the pork belly Bao. I think overall the food is above average but not worth the price. In real ramen places before this became a trend. You get marinated eggs included. It should not be a $2 add on. Unless I'm getting pasture raised chicken organic eggs. It was the cheap $1 carton medium eggs. The yolk is light color and not orange. So for the ramen, spicy miso was good. The ramen is the thinner type than thick. Wish I could pick the thickness. There's hardly much stuff, should give you wider pork belly or char siu style. The soup base stock is ok, I can taste bone stock but not much bonito. The chefs special ramen I think I tasted shrimp stock not sure but it had more seafood flavor so if you are allergic to seafood you should be careful. So I think for $15 + 2 it should be bigger or richer in content. The bao was ok, the sauce is more sweet and not the hoisin sweet and tart flavor or bean paste. I prefer the fermented bean paste type. Not worth it for $9 small pieces. I can get it for $6 all day elsewhere for a big portion. I'm not against the establishment but I think it's not good enough to price ramen of this quality like some real Japanese authentic places. You know in Japan this type of ramen and quality should be only $7 read more

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One of my favorite Ramen restaurants in New Jersey. I mean the owner in 2014 and she is very down to earth, transparent, and authentic. High quality birth. For sure! and a really fun experience. read more

Amazing ramen and other appetizers in a super cool location. Trendy and exciting space with terrific service. Great for date night

Have eaten at the Summit & Maplewood locations. Food was excellent. I wish we could tell you about the food at the Cranford location. We were seated. Around the corner. The restaurant was mostly empty. No one came to ask for a drink or food order. We sat for over 15 minutes. They seated others. Then a few minutes later we left. At the door they thanked us for coming. We quickly mentioned no one took our order. The person then ignored us and turned their head. Thankfully we walked to a nearby restaurant that was excellent and attentive. Zero stars. read more

I've been to this location many times and everyone is so friendly! Bianca made my mom and I's lunch a great time with her friendly personality. The food is amazing every time we come in, and the vibe is always great. Can't wait to come back :) read more

Ani Ramen House - Shoyu Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

Ordered spicy miso with a side of egg (takeout). The miso was very light and thin. No milky miso flavor or strong additional flavor (pork broth, etc.). Very disappointingly bland. It was barley spicy too. The pork was very lean. No sear and it was cut extra thick so each bit was particularly tough and dry. Noodles were very thick and looked/tasted like Chinese egg noodles for lo mien! Toppings were very odd with Taiwanese lettuce. No mushrooms, or any typical toppings. Overall, ramen was very bland and they are charging toward the mid-to-high end price range. Not authentic at all. Given the quality and price there is much better options. read more

Worst service ever. I chose to eat outside and they damn near forgot about me. Usually service is ok. This was a deep dive.

I guess I'm old school. We had eaten at the Montclair location when it was new and so popular we had to wait 45 minutes to get in, which I normally wouldn't do. Was interested to try the Cranford location as it is more local for us and seemed like a nice spot to get a bite. We ordered the Bao Buns, (2 for $9) as an appetizer as well as 3 different ramen bowls, two with an added egg @$2 per egg. I liked the bun and my soup was fine, but when I got the check and realized I was spending $80 for 3 bowls of soup and a couple of buns without any alcohol drinks, I did get a bit of sticker shock. Yes, I enjoyed the food, (though my wife and daughter were less enthused about it,) but $18 for a bowl of noodle soup with an egg in it just doesn't sit right with me. The place is popular and they seem to be up to 6 locations, so what do I know? read more

I thought the ramen noodles were a little harder than other places I have been to. I got the chef special with pork belly. The broth was amazing! I didnt think it was too salty or anything. The pork belly was tender and easy to chew. Not pictures: i tried the grilled edaname & i must say the salt + grilled makes it taste alot much better than the normal steamed ones! Theres street parking right in front of the restuarant and around the corner. Cranford is a cute town so theres parking all around. Theres a pay per hour meter in a parking lot between the buildings a few buildings down from the restuarant. Parking is free after 6pm on weekends. There is indoor and outdoor seating. A mask is given upon arrival. Theres dim lighting in the restuarant so it makes it feel cozy. read more

Ani Ramen House - Menu - Ramen Near Me - Cranford, New Jersey

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I really wanted to like this place. I have been wanting to try this for several months. Got a chance to on a Monday afternoon. Covid precautions - good job. Ate indoors, temp check on arrival, hand sanitizer at the table. Food wise - I got the Chef Special Ramen- $15. 2 pieces of pork. Handful of noodles - portion was ok..... I was still hungry. The major disappointment was in the broth. There was no depth of flavor and I can't believe I'm saying this but the broth tasted like it could have come from an instant noodle ramen packet (the decent kind from the Asian market, not the 10 for $1 at shoprite). I could have made this at home and why do I pay so much for ramen outside.... for that broth that tasted it took 12-24 h to make! Husband got the spicy miso and added the egg for $2. His broth was decent. Better than mine! However I cannot handle the spice. Because his was better Ani gets 3 stars. The service was wonderful. Everyone was so kind and attentive. I just really wish the broth was better .... I also cannot believe I'm saying this but the ramen broth from Inspiration Roll is better. read more

We love coming here, especially on a rainy day. The Ramen always has delicious flavor and the wings are absolutely delicious, crunchy and flavorful. The service is good, if it's not fully packed. And the vide is very chill. read more

Last night a group of friends celebrated a birthday here. It was 5 adults, a 16 year old and 2 toddlers. We sat about 7pm and from that moment on we're treated to great food and absolutely great service for the next two hours. Between the group we had their amazing wings (maybe 4-5 orders) and a wide variety of ramen bowls. The spicy ramen is stuff too tell your friends about. The restaurant has been such a great addition to Cranford dining and when to combine the great food with the atmosphere and the way the staff works together it makes for a great experience. read more

Delicious Food - Get the wings, buns and of course the ramen. In addition, my daughter has a sesame allergy (challenging for this restaurant, but I didn't know before we arrived) and they went VERY FAR out of their way to accommodate us, coming back and checking on her every few minutes. Great food, great service, this is a can't miss restaurant. read more

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My wife and I absolutely loved Ani Ramen! The decor is fun, they have a Ramen robot AND the food is outstanding. The Ramen was awesome. The bao buns were tasty and it's the type of menu that I can't wait to come back and try new things. 100 percent give this place a shot. It's the perfect food on a cold or damp day. read more

This place is absolutely AMAZING! I've been here twice and both times, the service and food were top notch. The first time I visited, we were helped by Kathryn. She, along with the rest of the staff was really sweet and made our experience a really awesome one. The second time I visited, we were helped by Julianna, who was also such a sweetheart. My friends and were genuinely impressed with how kind and helpful the staff was. So far, I've tried the edamame, rock shrimp, chicken bao buns, and chef's special w/ chicken & tofu. Literally everything I tried was absolutely delicious. I 10/10 recommend and will 1000% be back! read more

Great service, great food! The Miso Sake Wings are eat in only and the best wings I've ever had. Must be eaten right away do not take home, they won't be super crispy. Shrimp bao buns are almost as great as the wings. Both appetizers are 5 STAR in my opinion. The ramen is really good. I know it's a ramen house but I come for the wings then fill up with a good bowl. read more

First time here and the food was delicious. Try the edamame and the pork belly ramen bowl . YUM

Food was really good and customer service was great. Portions we're bigger than expected which was cool. read more

My daughter brought me to Ani for my birthday as a surprise. She said she had take out from here and it was delicious. There was a total of five of us. We had a reservation and we were sat immediately. The server came over right away, she was very nice, we ordered appetizers and drinks. The appetizers came out right away and they were delicious (tofu bun, pork bun, edamame). Sounds good so far right? Why the 3 star rating... we'll let me tell you. It took the server about 20 minutes to come back over and take our dinner order. We had finished our apps and were waiting for a while. I thought it was a little odd but it was fine. We order 4 bowls of ramen and a salad. Now the wait begins ... 15 mins, 20 mins, 30 mins ... finally the sever comes over and says sorry for the wait but the kitchen is backed up. I'm watching the whole time as door dash orders are flying out the door. The table next us were waiting just as long and getting fidgety just like us. At minute 35 the manager comes over and apologizes for the wait and offers a 25% discount. Ok that was nice. 40 minutes, 45 minutes .... Finally the food arrives. And it was ok. Not worth the 45 minute wait for sure. So the bottom line is the food was good/ok, the wait time was ridiculous, the staff was trying but not hard enough. I probably won't be back. There are too many good ramen places to bother going back. read more

Wifey and I have been planning on going to Ani since it opened. Always looked like a fun place for some different food. Ramen isn't exactly "different", but it's different enough for Cranford. The overall experience was ok. For every thing I was super happy with, there was another that just irritated me. The vibe is super trendy - loud music, neon lights, hipster chandeliers, etc. Pretty cool. Service was good, but nothing extraordinary. For the food, starting with the pork (belly) buns. You get two for $9. These were absolutely delicious. Whatever crack-sauce they put on these should be on every item on the menu. Expensive, but worth it. Next, the ramen bowls. Wifey got the spicy miso with chicken, I got the standard shoyu with pork. We each got an egg added. Total came to $17 (!!) each. The broth for both was by far the best part. The spicy miso was spicy enough to have a kick, but not so much that it wasn't enjoyable to taste. The shoyu was great on its own. The chicken in the spicy miso was tender and tasty. Unfortunately the pork belly wasn't as good - it was bland and tough. I honestly don't know how you can make pork belly bland, I'd be impressed if I wasn't so sad. So for $50 we got 2 pork buns and two bowls of mediocre ramen. Pretty darn expensive for what we got. And for the part that really pissed me off. They dropped the check off with a 3% credit card fee/surcharge. Not only is that a really douchey thing to do in the first place, I hadn't even paid yet. What if I wanted to pay in cash? I would've had to wait for the waiter to "correct" the bill? I'm guessing they simply expected people to just pay for the CC fee in cash too. Extra douchey. I would rather they just increase the prices of all the already expensive food by 3% and be done with it. So, I won't be eating here everyday or even every week. It's far too expensive and meh for that. But, I would probably come here again at some point...and pay in cash. read more

I've been to a couple different locations and the quality is great every time. Definitely recommend adding the flavor bomb and an egg!