Few things are more comforting than a favorite sweater and a steaming bowl of hot noodles on a chilly day, which are the kind of days we'll be experiencing for the next six or so months. To that end, next week the city is hosting two slurping opportunities for stuffing our bellies with ramen.

On Sunday and Monday, the Japan Fes events series offers two outlets for ramenthusiasts, beginning with a Fall Fes & Ramen Competition on Sunday on the Upper West Side. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., stop by to sample ramen from New York, NJ, PA and Japan, concluding in a vote by festival attendees for the best bowl of the day. Particularly of note are the two entries from Japan; 175 Deno from the Hokkaido Prefecture offering their signature tantanmen and Menya Jiro from Kagoshima Prefecture with a tonkotsu ramen.

On Monday, it's an all-day affair at the Japan Fes Midtown Bazaar, where all the competitors from Sunday's event will be selling bowls of their ramen for just $5 each. Stop by 4 West 43rd Street anytime between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. for the ramen, sake, beer, dessert and cultural performances and presentations from Japan.



Ichicoroya Ramen (Yelp)

On Thursday, it's the return of the LUCKYRICE Ramen Slurpfest, which is kind of a ramen-eating contest of sorts, where guests have 13 minutes to finish each of the four bowls on offer, each paired with a Bombay Sapphire cocktail. This year's participants include Tampa's Ichicoroya Ramen, making Latin-inspired ramen; Shoki Ramen House from Sacramento, California; Menya Mushashi, with locations in Japan and Hawaii; and Ramen Tatus-Ya, doing Texas-style ramen that employs brisket.

There are still tickets available ($100) but you'll need to use an American Express card to do the purchasing.