Recommended bowl: Family run since '47

One of the oldest ramen shops in Asahikawa, Aoba has been run by three generations of the same family since 1947. The soup is fish and vegetable-based with shoyu, topped with your usual fixins' of chashu, menma and nori — the seaweed is even stamped with the shop's name on it. What makes this shop special is the staff, aka the founding family, who are extremely hospitable and welcoming to all customers, whether they speak Japanese or not. One of those shops where the old school homey atmosphere makes the bowl taste that much better.