Recommended bowl: Legendary tsukemen

Rokurinsha is a fairly legendary name within the ramen scene. A few years into the new millennium, a huge tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen boom hit Tokyo. Heavy pork and seafood-based double soup, with thick, ropey tsukemen dipping noodles — this new style suddenly became a sensation. Among the many shops that sprung up during this period, a few monsters emerged — Rokurinsha in Ōsaki was right in the thick of it. The thick soup comes topped with a spoonful of gyofun (fish powder), naruto (fish cake), voluptuous, buttery chashu slices, nori and some diced negi. A generous portion of firm, alkaline dipping noodles. At one time this shop was perhaps the most famous ramen shop in Tokyo, if not all of Japan. The lines would wrap around the block and the shop had to hire extra staff for crowd control — we're talking two to three hour lines every day. Eventually the shop was forced to shut down because it disrupted the residential neighborhood.

After the original shop's demise, several spinoffs popped up, and eventually Rokurinsha joined a larger company, the Matsufuji Shokuhin ramen group. They now have a permanent location on Tokyo Ramen Street, located underneath Tokyo station. There are now Rokurinsha-branded shops in Haneda Airport and Tokyo Skytree, as well as over 30 sister shops operating under different names. For novices looking to get a quick taste of tonkotsu-gyokai tsukemen, this is probably one of the easiest places to start. Less