Recommended bowl: Strong following

Not a famous shop citywide, but one that ramen heads know about. Only open for lunch, a few minutes from Mitaka station, and almost always a line of regular customers patiently waiting at the door. Master Aoyagi-san arrives at the shop every day at 6am to begin making the noodles and preparing ingredients. The master serves a double soup of tonkotsu and gyokai, which matches perfectly with the chewy, housemade noodles. The ramen is probably the most popular order (available with tokusei extra toppings), but the tsukemen and aburasoba are also very much worth trying. The tsukemen comes with a light, tangy soup, while the aburasoba — a soupless bowl of noodles, oil, tare sauce and toppings — is equally delicious. Open since 2005.