Kawa no Saki no Ue (川の先の上) Yokohama

This ramen ticks all the boxes and will go down in my diary as a must-hit spot.

The shop is called “Above The River” (川の先の上) and quite literally sits on a little bluff uphill from Yokohama’s Ookagawa river. Get off at Kamiooka Station, walk through the quaint shopping street, and marvel at the cherry blossoms if they’re in bloom. If you arrive around lunch time, the queue will spill down the stairs from their second story location; you’ll likely see hungry families lined up thanks to the shops free cotton candy machine.

The shio (salt ramen) is a combination of chicken and seafood, leaning heavily into shellfish. The punch of the salt is definitely there, and is a robust dashi despite its clear appearance. The noodles were moderately firm with a nice crispiness and wheat flavor. And this pork - WOW - I love when the smokiness and slow preparation renders the strips of fat into a coconutty decadence. This is a bowl that creates a symphony of its flavors and is a must for shio lovers. I could eat this daily for breakfast, but probably would’t drink all the soup because it’s quite salty.

Above The River made it into the Kanagawa Top 100 famous shops in 2025, and has a reputation for being top tier ramen in the area. They also have a shoyu, tsukemen, and limited edition items on offer, so it’s worth going more than once. I know I’ll be back!

#ramen #japanesefood #noodles #japan Less