Recommended bowl: Underground noodles

Tsumugi is located down a staircase beneath an office building, and the small sign at street level is tricky to spot. The recommended 'tsumugi ramen' comes with a chicken-based shoyu soup, topped w/ fried negi (Japanese leeks) and chili oil. The rich soup has just the slightest tingle of spiciness. All-natural ingredients; no MSG. The noodles are house-made, in a style that's similar to sanuki udon, a popular style of noodle from Kagawa Prefecture. The master uses a specialized variety of Japanese flour from Kagawa, which seems to enhance the consistency and homemade feel.

The shop's interior design is thoroughly unremarkable. It's a plain little room nestled among a bunch of other outwardly uninteresting businesses beneath a typical Tokyo office building. You come here for the ramen and the ramen alone – and it's well worth the visit. The shop has just two staff, the master in the kitchen and his mother who waits on the customers. Also popular is the 'waraji katsu don' — fried chicken served with sauce over rice.