If Tokyo can support a few thousand ramen houses, surely Manhattan can play host to a dozen without creating the perfect conditions for a Starbucksian surfeit of choice. Already, there are a few whose presence we would miss if they disappeared: Setagaya and Ippudo, chief among them. We have even been known to duck–quite happily–into Rai Rai Ken or Minca when the weather is oppressively cold and there are no taxis on the streets. So when we heard that Minca’s owner, Shigeto Kamada, had his sights set on opening another ramen joint in the East Village, we figured that there was enough market share left to support another decent noodle house.

But perhaps we made one too many assumptions. Foremost, that Kambi would be as good as its sister, Minca. This is not to say that Minca is more than just decent, but it is is consistently satisfactory, and a few dishes, like the intensely porcine tsukemen dipping noodles, are often wonderful. At Kambi, these same dishes–many nearly identical to their Minca counterparts–falter. Not to pick on the poor tsukemen (pictured left, $11.50), but it is as disappointing as ramen gets, with a bland, almost fishy broth that, when mixed with the springy noodles and their toppings, tastes more of preserved ingredients than of slow-cooked pork.

The chicken broth wahoo ramen (pictured on Flickr, $9.50)–served mixed as a soup and not available as a dipping platter–suffers just as much from a stale, flat flavor profile that makes eating it a bit of a chore. Nothing is as damning as eating an indulgent meal like ramen and feeling after a few bites and slurps as if you would rather be eating a salad. Unfortunately, even the special kimchi miso ramen (pictured right, $14.50) is inferior to a big plate of undressed mesclun. Just like Kambi’s other ramen dishes, the kimchi miso offers no real punch of flavor, too little seasoning, and most surprising, no spicy zip whatsoever. The most flavorful item in the bowl is the corn.

Of all the dishes we have eaten at Kambi, just one stands out as truly excellent: the radish salad appetizer (pictured below left, $4.00). Served in a gigantic, softball-sized mound, the salad is deceptively simple–just freshly julienned daikon radish with a generous ladling of sesame-soy dressing. All the elements of the dish, from the subtle pepper notes of the daikon to the heady, nutty dressing, balance beautifully. Better still, eating this dish right now, in the middle of peak daikon season, no doubt improves its flavors a few hundred percent.

Kambi is no starter-savant, though. We found the shrimp gyoza (pictured on Flickr, $5.75 for four) to be tough, overcharred and dry, not to mention seared in a manner that flayed most of the dough from their exteriors, leaving behind chewy prawn and burned black ash. We have eaten better gyoza cooked on a camp stove. Sadly, that sentiment is the rule, not the exception at Kambi. This city really should be big enough for another ramen house, but we do have standards.

Kambi, 351 East 14th Street (at First Avenue), 212-228-1366.