Recommended bowl: Best of the best

Iida Shouten lies in the quiet seaside town of Yugawara, on the edge of Kanagawa prefecture. Ramen heads flock here from far and wide, however, as master Iida-san is known to serve up some of the finest bowls in all of Japan. The go-to for first timers might be the shio — a clear soup topped with golden chicken oil, multiple types of chashu and mitsuba leaves. The tsukemen comes with several varieties of dipping noodles, which are served in a clear soup of kombu dashi. All of the noodles here are handmade. It's recommended to first try a few noodles separately with a bit of salt, almost like noodle sashimi.

The lines here used to be infamous, with the first customers of the day lining up shortly after midnight. As of 2020, the only way to dine here now is by securing a reserving via the website Omakase (https://omakase.in/en). Only around 200 bowls are served per day. Check master Iida-san's Twitter for updates: @iidashouta Less