Restaurants
- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Menya Shokudou (麺や食堂) at Chuka Soba Menya Shokudo Hon Ten (中華そば 麺や食堂)
Recommended bowl: A vintage ramen shop
Menya Shokudou is a blast from the past. The shop was established in 1951 by the grandfather of current shop master Takashi Mochidzuki. Vintage toys, festival masks and Japanese trinkets cover the rustic wooden counters and walls, creating the cheery impression of a family ramen restaurant from a more innocent... More
Recommended bowl: A vintage ramen shop
Menya Shokudou is a blast from the past. The shop was established in 1951 by the grandfather of current shop master Takashi Mochidzuki. Vintage toys, festival masks and Japanese trinkets cover the rustic wooden counters and walls, creating the cheery impression of a family ramen restaurant from a more innocent era. Although Menya Shokudou serves one of the best bowls of classic shoyu ramen in Kanagawa prefecture, the shop's nostalgic appeal attracts all types of customers — families, salarymen, old folks and university kids — not just ramen geeks.
The presentation here is impeccable. A beautiful fan of thin, house-made noodles is draped into a golden shoyu soup. Shoyu ramen fans should place this shop high on their list — the soulful soup and the noodles alone are enough to warrant the one-hour trek down the Odakyu line from central Tokyo. Menya Shokudou's chashu and menma are simple and satisfying, but their egg is one of the best we've had. Good luck finding a neon orange, molten lava yolk like this anywhere outside Japan. It's a marvel. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Men-Eiji Higarishi Base (メンエイジ) at MEN-EIJI Hiragishi Base (MEN-EIJI)
Recommended bowl: Sapporo veteran
This well-known shop founded by master Furukawa-san serves up a variety of sophisticated and unique bowls. While the menu is somewhat extensive, the most popular dish is the tonkotsu-gyokai ramen, made with a soup that is smooth, rich, bursting with umami. It's a perfect match for the medium width straight housemade... More
Recommended bowl: Sapporo veteran
This well-known shop founded by master Furukawa-san serves up a variety of sophisticated and unique bowls. While the menu is somewhat extensive, the most popular dish is the tonkotsu-gyokai ramen, made with a soup that is smooth, rich, bursting with umami. It's a perfect match for the medium width straight housemade noodles. Each bowl comes with a wafu jelly topping, made from a typical Japanese dashi broth. Well balanced and delicious; MSG and preservative free. Now with a second location but Higarishi Base remains the flagship. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Men LABO Hiro (麺LABOひろ) at Men LABO Hiro (麺LABOひろ)
Recommended bowl: Yakitori roots
Master Hiro-san previously worked at Masakichi, a well-known yakitori shop in Musashi-Koyama which also happens to serve ramen. He opened his own place in December 2016, and it was soon honored as one of the best new Tokyo ramen shops of 2017 by a leading local ramen magazine. The specialty here is a chicken-based soup... More
Recommended bowl: Yakitori roots
Master Hiro-san previously worked at Masakichi, a well-known yakitori shop in Musashi-Koyama which also happens to serve ramen. He opened his own place in December 2016, and it was soon honored as one of the best new Tokyo ramen shops of 2017 by a leading local ramen magazine. The specialty here is a chicken-based soup with various sea ingredients, mitsuba, yuzu, and fresh Japanese Sansho peppercorns. The noodles are from Teigaku in Kyoto. Each bowl comes with three types of chashu — pork, chicken and duck. All are cooked via different low-temperature methods, assuring a rare and perfectly tender piece of meat. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Masutani (ますたにラーメン 日本橋本店) at Masutani (ますたにラーメン 日本橋本店)
Recommended bowl: Authentic Kyoto style
This shop is a legend in Kyoto. The shop's original location — a shack, basically — opened it doors over 60 years ago. Decades later the master decided to pack up and establish a new flagship outpost in Tokyo, which opened in 1994. This is one of the premier spots to get authentic Kyoto-style ramen in Japan's... More
Recommended bowl: Authentic Kyoto style
This shop is a legend in Kyoto. The shop's original location — a shack, basically — opened it doors over 60 years ago. Decades later the master decided to pack up and establish a new flagship outpost in Tokyo, which opened in 1994. This is one of the premier spots to get authentic Kyoto-style ramen in Japan's capital city. The bowls come with a savory chicken-based shoyu soup with se-abura (pork back fat). Topped with green negi and generous slices of pork chashu. Spicy options and rice on the side available. Today, the Tokyo flagship is even better than the OG shack back in Kyoto, which is still going strong. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Masanoya (らーめん雅ノ屋) at Masanoya (らーめん雅ノ屋)
Recommended bowl: Balance & simplicity
Master Masayuki Nobe was a salary man in the restaurant industry for many years. In 2010, he left his former career and jumped into the ramen game full time with the establishment of Masanoya.
The master and his wife run the small shop as a team, a common arrangement in the ramen world. Mrs. Nobe handles the... More
Recommended bowl: Balance & simplicity
Master Masayuki Nobe was a salary man in the restaurant industry for many years. In 2010, he left his former career and jumped into the ramen game full time with the establishment of Masanoya.
The master and his wife run the small shop as a team, a common arrangement in the ramen world. Mrs. Nobe handles the customers, while master Nobe-san runs the kitchen and prepares the bowls behind a wooden, U-shaped counter.
Masanoya serves both shio and shoyu ramen. We've tried the shio, which seemed to be the more popular order on the day of our last visit. This bowl is all about balance; none of the ingredients or toppings overwhelms the others. Made with chicken and niboshi, the soup is clear and delicate, while the thin, straight-cut noodles are served slightly katame. The wontons contain very little filling and are essentially large, leafy noodles.
Shoyu, vinegar and chili oil condiments are provided on the counter. We recommend you make use of them with your wontons. Place a wonton on your spoon, splash on a few drops of shoyu, chili oil and vinegar, and slurp it all down in one glorious bite. This is our favorite way to eat wontons and it's straight-up heartbreaking when wontonmen shops don't have these condiments available.
We'll be back to try the shoyu ramen very soon. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Masamichi (麺屋 正路) at Masamichi (麺屋 正路)
Recommended bowl: Glamorous raw chicken
A difficult-to-find shop, marked by a small sign and hidden up a flight of stairs. The soup is 100% chicken-based, using 'soushuu kohaku tori' chickens from Ibaraki prefecture. You have a choice of shoyu or shio tare. The noodles are called 'vacuumed egg noodles' and supplied by Kanno Seimen. The bowls are served... More
Recommended bowl: Glamorous raw chicken
A difficult-to-find shop, marked by a small sign and hidden up a flight of stairs. The soup is 100% chicken-based, using 'soushuu kohaku tori' chickens from Ibaraki prefecture. You have a choice of shoyu or shio tare. The noodles are called 'vacuumed egg noodles' and supplied by Kanno Seimen. The bowls are served with tataki-style chicken, served rare. The eggs are pickled with sherry. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Dinner at Ramen Gaijin at Ramen Gaijin
スパイシー タンタンメン / Spicy Tantanmen / Ramen Gaijin — Sebastopol, California
Chicken and pork soup is combined with a spicy miso based tare. Sapporo inspired noodles are house-made on a Yamato machine. Chili oil, pork belly chashu, spicy ground pork, six minute egg, charred cabbage, wood ear mushrooms, scallions, mustard greens.... More
スパイシー タンタンメン / Spicy Tantanmen / Ramen Gaijin — Sebastopol, California
Chicken and pork soup is combined with a spicy miso based tare. Sapporo inspired noodles are house-made on a Yamato machine. Chili oil, pork belly chashu, spicy ground pork, six minute egg, charred cabbage, wood ear mushrooms, scallions, mustard greens. Tsukemono (pickles & ferments) on the side.
Founded by chefs Matthew Williams and Moishe Hahn-Schuman, who first met when they were cooks at Sebastopol's Woodfour Brewing Company. After teaching themselves how to make ramen at home, they started a monthly pop-up called 'Ramen Gaijin.' It became so popular they soon found a permanent location. Committed to honoring the finest local ingredients from Sonoma County. 120 seats. Since July, 2014. @ramengaijin Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Maruyoshi Shouten (麺処 まるよし商店 ) at Mendokoro Maruyoshi Shoten (麺処 まるよし商店)
Recommended bowl: Monster tamen
Maruyoshi Shouten is one of the best tanmen specialty shops in Tokyo. A funky, vintage-feeling shop with vines and plants outside, and old school Japanese music playing in the background inside. Cool and casual. The main dish here is tanmen, a humble, classic ramen style made from a pork-based shio soup, usually topped... More
Recommended bowl: Monster tamen
Maruyoshi Shouten is one of the best tanmen specialty shops in Tokyo. A funky, vintage-feeling shop with vines and plants outside, and old school Japanese music playing in the background inside. Cool and casual. The main dish here is tanmen, a humble, classic ramen style made from a pork-based shio soup, usually topped with simple vegetables like cabbage and bean sprouts. The soup at Maruyoshi Shouten contains pork as well as chicken, vegetables, shrimp and shaketoba (skin-on salmon fillets). After you order you'll see the master frying up most of the toppings in a big wok. He will then casually throw in some cabbage, pork and even some dried shrimp. Your options to customize include: Thick or thin noodles, in small, medium or large portions; pork back fat and extra veggies. You also can get the 'aka-tama' version, with the bowl topped with a scoop of chili paste that slowly mixes into the soup as you eat away. The standard bowls don't come with chashu but you can order it extra — the pork slices are grilled over an open flame to a nice char before being topped onto the bowl. Kunsei or smoked eggs are another add-on option, and they are highly recommended. A nice smoky richness. Less
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- Abram Plaut added a new meal Ramen at Maruwamae Ramen (丸和前ラーメン) at Maruwamae Ramen (丸和前ラーメン)
Recommended bowl: Kyushu yatai tonkotsu
Originally this shop was a yatai serving ramen and oden out on the street. Now they have a brick and mortar base as well. Oden remains one of the main draws here, with various items constantly being stewed on skewers, ready to be served up piping hot to customers. The ramen, which runs just 650 yen, is pure... More
Recommended bowl: Kyushu yatai tonkotsu
Originally this shop was a yatai serving ramen and oden out on the street. Now they have a brick and mortar base as well. Oden remains one of the main draws here, with various items constantly being stewed on skewers, ready to be served up piping hot to customers. The ramen, which runs just 650 yen, is pure Kyushu tonkotsu — oily, fatty, stinky and delicious. No kaedama. The shop has been open for over 50 years. Less
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Recommended bowl: Kid friendly
This shop has a relaxed atmosphere, with various drawings done by children on the walls and counters. The master here trained at Itsuki in Ome. They have many kinds of ramen and also some infamous limited-edition bowls. The soup is a gyokai base with niboshi for ramen, and pork and gyokai soup for tsukemen. Sometimes... More
Recommended bowl: Kid friendly
This shop has a relaxed atmosphere, with various drawings done by children on the walls and counters. The master here trained at Itsuki in Ome. They have many kinds of ramen and also some infamous limited-edition bowls. The soup is a gyokai base with niboshi for ramen, and pork and gyokai soup for tsukemen. Sometimes they have special gentei bowls called 3D ramen, where they use same ingredients for both the toppings and in the soup. A second branch opened in Haijima in 2016. Less