Recommended bowl: Famous tsukemen

Unlike most ramen masters, the creator of Fuunji, Miyake-san, never served an apprenticeship in another famous shop. After spending years systematically sampling many of Tokyo's best ramen shops, he simply decided that he had what it takes to launch a place of his own. His creation has been regarded as one of the top tsukemen destinations in Shinjuku for years.

Ramen is also on the menu here, but if you look around you'll see 90 percent of the customers slurping down Fuunji's signature tsukemen. Miyake-san runs his shop methodically — there are four to five busy staff members working in a space about the size of a typical two-man ramen kitchen. Each apprentice has one or two jobs to do and that is all they do. Mikaye-san himself mans the noodle station. He sifts out his specially ordered noodles, watches them boil, and serves them into the bowls by hand.

The noodles are wonderful, but the star here is the soup – rich and creamy, without any overbearing heaviness. Each bowl gets a dollop of fish powder that makes the soup even silkier once you mix it in. Although pork chashu comes as a topping, the soup is made only with chicken carcasses, katsuo, and konbu.