Recommended bowl: Old school Tokyo shoyu

Bizentei is a Tokyo-style ramen shop with a wonderful old-school Japanese atmosphere. The master is a friendly guy from Okayama Prefecture. He has been running Bizentei for over 35 years and still wears a jimbei while he cooks. This is about as close as you'll get to eating at a ramen shop from an Ozu movie.

Bizentei serves a light, sweet, simply perfect Tokyo shoyu ramen. Nothing flashy here, just a classic bowl that you could easily eat every day. Each bowl comes with two umeboshi (pickled plums) — one to eat before the meal to stimulate your appetite, the second to refresh your pallet after. The yaki-gyoza and sui-gyoza are also solid.

Last time we visited Bizentei, the master made a bowl for himself after he served us and came around the counter to chow down among his customers. So great. He said he's not going to keep the shop open forever but he plans to stay running until at least the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. If we lived nearby we would eat at this place on the weekly.