Ramen Mistress

Late night munchies can pose a real problem when you’re far from the nearest convenience store in a gorgeous but quiet part of Japan. Enter the secret weapon of the traveler’s world: midnight ramen at the hotel bar.

Many hotels that have a socializing space for after dinner serve what is called “shime” in Japanese, which means the closing meal. In English, I consider it a midnight snack, but it’s slightly more filling. Meant to soak up any hedonistic behavior you may have been indulging in.

This is the Hatoya Hotel in Atami, which is famous for its retro charm. The ramen is simple, and rightfully so, because it’s meant to be a snack while you focus your attention on the exquisite vibes around you before tucking yourself into your futon at the end of the night.

Next time you’re up past your bedtime, check if there’s a ramen option on your hotel menu. You’d be surprised. Less

This is Men Mitsui, one of the best ramen shops near Ueno station. The caliber of hteir ramen is unmatched, and is worth the 17 minute walk along the scenic Higashi Ueno main street. Along the way you’ll pass shops selling shrine materials, old fashioned sweet shops, and kitchen ware suppliers. Tucked down a tiny side street is Men Mitsui, which has been open since 2023.

I still can’t believe the ramen costs just over 1,000 yen. The atmosphere, the noodles massaged and beautifully presented, the additive-free soup, it all screams luxury in the best unpretentious way. If that doesn’t get you off the main tourist drag of Ueno, I don’t know what will. Less

When many people think of Chinatown, they picture a sesame tantanmen brimming with bright red oils and crowned with spices. But many don’t know that the hidden best meal to be had is the sword-cut noodle stewed beef bowl. The slow-roasted chunks of meat that just fall apart they’re so tender and the tang of the pickled mustard greens, all in a gentle salt-based soup, is unlike anything you can find outside of the Chinatown district.

The portion of the bowl is massive, so it’s also quite nice to have the lighter soup base where you can feast on the noodles and drain the bowl.

This is called Toki and is down a narrow alley covered in flags and lanterns. I always get a side of the steamed gyoza, which comes with their housemade chili crisp. The sword-cut noodles are shaved fresh to order, and the variation in texture and density is incredibly more-ish. Add this to your next Chinatown itinerary on your trip to Japan. You won’t regret it. I never do. Less

When your girl wants tantanmen, don’t stand in her way.

As temperatures get colder, many people crave heartier spicier ramen. Me? I crave it all year round; which is great because it maximizes the number of times I can find new spots to recommend to you guys 🙌

This is Everybody’s Table @everybodystable.jp in Yokohama, just 2 minutes from Kannai station. They do a full fusion menu of Chinese and western dishes, and a KILLER creamy sesame tantanmen. They have a full line up of Japanese and New Zealand craft beer, too. I enjoyed this bowl with a pint of Vertere’s chai stout, and if that doesn’t scream autumn, I don’t know what does.

The ramen? Stellar. Extra smooth sesame base with a ton of pickled mustard greens on top. The soup was almost a pottage in thickness, and definitely not too spicy while simultaneously being full of chili flavor. You won’t get bored eating this one! And something cool about tantanmen is that it always comes with minced pork on top, which is savory and sweet, blended with garlic, miso, and a host of other flavors.

Noodles here are thicker than standard tantanmen, which pleases a lot of people. I enjoyed them, but that soup paired with a toasty beer is like roasting a s’more over the campfire 🔥 Less

Most people imagine “omakase” as a series of sushi bites painstakingly prepared by a master chef while diners perch like birds on a wire at a long wooden counter. Ramen can also rise to this caliber, but to find such decadence among noodles is spotting a unicorn in the meadows of ramen humility.

Enter collaboration events. Anytime you see a ramen shop hosting a collab, drop everything and go. These chefs create ramen unique to that day, a fusion of combined expertise. It’s like walking into a Smithsonian special exhibit, but for ramen. You’re getting the best of the best, and for one day only.

Ramen FeeL from Tokyo teamed up with Pickerel Ramen from Rhode Island for this experience. The menu was hypnotizing: from Pickerel’s classic Carpenter Street ramen made with chicken and dashi, to Portuguese pork wontons graced with niboshi oil. The penultimate dish was a spiced lamb ramen with local Mitake mushrooms and mint, a taste I’ll be chasing the high of forever.

Drink pairings ranged from a mulled Manhattan to a celery collins. Many featured locally sourced Japanese fruits and herbs alongside specialty liquors Pickerel brought from the States. I’ll never forget the spellbinding moment of flame-searing the orange rinds, and how each sip accented the dessert: a squash custard with coffee milk anglaise and sesame brittle.

Skip the sushi and treat yourself to a ramen omakase. You’ll never see noodles the same way again.

@ramen_feel @pickerel_ri @ramenbae11 Less

On my road trip through Iwate Prefecture, I was on the hunt for homemade noodles and a simple, well-balanced salt broth. Why? Because when a shop takes the time to make its own noodles from scratch and craft a broth seasoned with salt that enhances the other ingredients, you can really feel the region’s authenticity and simplicity.

I arrived at 10:45, and there were already six people in line. It’s about a 25-minute walk from the nearest train station, but luckily, we drove. The interior feels more like a sushi restaurant than a ramen joint; wooden panels, calm lighting, and a hidden kitchen tucked behind a doorway that chefs slip in and out of.

The menu is simple, and the cheapest bowl will only set you back ¥650. I went for the shio (salt) ramen with homemade noodles. They were crinkly, firm, and full of character. The soup is mainly chicken and fish-based, light yet deep. They also serve a tantanmen that looked divine, but this time, I was after something simple. Less

If you can’t decide between the comfort of the classic Japanese katsudon (breaded pork cutlet with scrambled eggs and onions over rice) and a bowl of ramen - because these are real problems people have and I’m not one to judge - you need to pack your bags and head to the small town of Kosaka in eastern Akita prefecture. Back in the seventies, a pack of hungry citizens working day and night to get ready for the annual tanabata festival hankered for exactly this combination, and the birth of “katsu-ra” was born.

The soup is a classic shoyu made with pork, chicken and fish, and noodles equally nostalgic. Add an entire breaded cutlet that has been sautéed in a velvety egg-onion-mirin-dashi mixture, and dig in.

The town is so famous for this invention there’s a little guide to where you can get it at multiple ramen shops. I went to Naraokaya and was not disappointed - I even ordered a proper katsudon to go - the sweetness and creaminess pairs so well with the tang of a shoyu ramen.

Little towns with big history are what I love about Japan! Less

I’ve sold all my belongings and moved to Morioka. I need this bowl of ramen in my life forever & ever amen thank you. Just look at those supple noodles curving into infinity, with a halo of the most sublime konbusui kelp water bath. A soup so rich and robust, with chicken and shoyu marrying together in caramely bliss. In the top left you’ve got the toppings, perfectly sliced pork, marinated bamboo, and my favorite part of a great bowl of tsukemen, the salt-sansho-wasabi trifecta to DIY your noodles as you eat.

That’s lemon juice in the center; a respectable move considering the normal choice of vinegar. That puckery acidity works perfectly here.

Okay so this is Ramen Sando, up in Morioka. Waited a long time for this bowl; it’s popular and turnover is slow. (Number one in Iwate prefecture on RamenDB 🤓)

But honest to goodness, it’s one of my favorites. Less

Is this the best ramen in Shinjuku? I think it comes pretty close.

Ramenya Shima is the picture-perfect chicken shoyu, and only accepts reservations. I had my eye on it for months, but never could line up the time to go with when the bookings opened up for availability.

What makes this ramen so famous both its lineage as well as the luscious layers of chicken and aged soy sauce. A quick bit of ramen history: Shina Soba-ya was one of the major influential shops of the modern shoyu ramen we know and love. Sano Minoru, the founder of Shina Soba-ya, still appears in framed photographs in ramen shops around the country, a testament to his legacy and vivid personality. The owner of Ramenya Shima trained there for years, and that classic DNA can be seen in this perfect bowl.

Layers of refined chicken flavor dance with smoky, robust shoyu. Noodles are long and straight, neither too firm nor too soft. It is one of those rare bowls where time stops and you’re suspended in perfection. Less