Best Ramen | Tokyo | Osaka | Kyoto
All About Ramen
Ramen is a way of life. For those that don’t know, Ramen isn’t just that little $0.55 bag of noodles. It’s much, much more. And I don’t want to discredit those cheap noodles either. Throwing in some frozen greens, an egg, and some hoisin/chill paste makes a great, quick bowl of noodles for you at home.
But the Ramen I’m talking about, takes at least 24 hrs to make. This is because the broth that makes Ramen so good needs that amount of time to develop it’s rich flavor. Typically, noodles are either added in the soup or on the side.
3 main types of Ramen
Tonkotsu (Pork)
Shoyu (Soy sauce)
Miso (Miso Paste)
Tonkotsu will deliver a rich, almost creamy flavor, full of pork flavor. As Shoyu will be a little more salty based I find and holds more of a darker color. This is the most common type of ramen found in Japan. The miso I found has the widest range of flavor possibilities. This is due to the fact that it can be added with either pork or vegetable broth delivering either a creamy flavor to the former and a tangy flavor towards the latter.
You can also add a plethora of, we’ll call them, flavor boosters.
Flavor Boosters
Pork-belly
Nori (seaweed)
Chili/Garlic oil
Tomago (soft-boiled egg)
Umami
Umami is defined as bringing all of the flavors together to create a dynamic taste (sweet, sour, salt, bitter). A basic umami that I like to think of, is a stock of roasting bones, a fish/shrimp/oyster base, soy sauce, a sweet sauce like hoison/plum sauce, and lime.
When a bowl of ramen is served to you, typically, umami will be achieved. There’s nothing left to do but enjoy!
Oh, you also order from vending machines with no English to tell you what to do. It’s totally part of the experience and it seriously makes it that much better. Sometimes, you don’t always know exactly what you’re going to get, and that's OK! Have fun with it. Every bowl will be delicious no matter what. I promise.
Tokyo | Tokyo Station - Ramen Street
Few experiences delight me more than meandering through a main transit hub beneath a city to find a brilliant, active eating experience that has everything to do with ramen h, it’s also listed as having 8 of the best ramen places in the city, all in one location. Tokyo Station is AMAZING!
Rokurinsha
When you arrive, there are lines galore. Remember, this is a good thing! People wait in lines for good food. It’s just the way it is. And it’s completely worth it. So now that you’re standing in line, you can gawk at the people inside, watching as their eyes light up as these ramen bowls as placed in front of their faces.
Our favorite place, in all of Tokyo, was Rokurinsha. This tsukemen dish is everything you could dream of if you’re into flavor. Tsukemen is a type of ramen in which the noodles are dipped into an even more concentrated broth that regular ramen. Fireworks begin to explode in your mouth as each bite is satisfyingly taken down.
Oreshiki Jun
A close second would be Oreshiki Jun just across the way. This place delivers the best tonkotsu I’ve ever had. The rich, creaminess of the broth delivers a comforting soup, but the addition of black garlic oil takes this ramen to a whole other level.
If Rokurinsha wouldn’t be such a flavor bomb, this place would have been #1. Hey, I can have two favorites. It’s a big city!
Tonkotsu w/black garlic oil
Kinryu Ramen | Osaka Dontonbori Eat Street
Osaka is a massive city of 18M people and is considered the gateway of Japan.
Osaka certainly doesn’t disappoint with attractions, restaurants and nightlife. This includes the famous eat street of Dontonbori. Numerous options to choose from, it’s difficult to choose just one. Dotonbori is vibrant sight and sounds as everything is trying to gain your attention.
For me, Kinryu Ramen was perfect. One of the only places that has outside seating, this laid back establishment pumps out the ramen to the masses and still delivers an insanely good bowl.
麺匠たか松 ３１２ Ichirenshacho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture
First off, I have no idea the translation for the name of this restaurant. It actually makes me more happy to find a place that isn’t so commercial to have their website, Google search in English. This is exactly what I was looking for when walking the back streets of Kyoto.
Full disclosure, there were a couple restaurants I tried going in and they turned me away. They did so politely and I quickly made my escape. It’s somewhat common for this to occur in Kyoto, as they prefer any tourists have a Japanese friend with them when they enter. Anyway…
Kyoto by itself is a dreamland. The city offers stunning temples that are accessible via transit and by foot. After spending all day being enchanted by these beautiful temples, you’re ready for a beer and a bowl of ramen, and 麺匠たか松 delivers on all accounts.
So remember, wherever you end up in Japan, there will always be a delicious bowl of ramen around just about every corner. Just dive in and enjoy.