Recommended bowl: Best new shop of 2013

Master Shibata-san served his apprenticeship at Raku-Raku in Kichijoji, before opening his own shop in 2013. From the get go he started receiving accolades, being chosen as the top overall rookie shop to open in Tokyo for the year. The main offering is a chūka soba, consisting of a light soup made from simmering premium jidori chickens and ducks for long hours. As the birds simmer the oil is rendered and collected. It is then added to the bowls of ramen when served. The shoyu tare sauce contains seven varieties of soy sauce at the time of this writing, but Shibata-san himself admits he is constantly tinkering with his recipe trying to make it better. There is also a niboshi soba on the menu, for those craving ramen with a bit of fishiness. Shibata-san has a noodle machine and would like to eventually make his own house-made noodles, but for now he is ordering them via Mikawaya Seimen, using a special recipe. A top ranked shop worth the trip.