Ganso

Downtown Brooklyn can be somewhat of a culinary wasteland, so locals are grateful for Ganso, a sleek, serene Japanese restaurant with piping-hot bowls of ramen and other comfort foods. It's first-come, first-served, but the wait usually isn't long. The co-owners are Harris Salat, a Brooklyn native who has written about Japanese food for topflight publications and cookbooks, and Chef Ryuji (Rio) Irie of Japan, who has cooked at New York's La Caravelle and Matsuri. With tempting appetizers like crispy pork and garlic chive pot stickers, braised pork-belly buns and Rio's special wings, the tendency is to over-order. Restraint is hard, but the big, filling bowls of ramen are enough to satisfy.