Chuka Soba Nishino - Bunkyo-Ku, Hongo, Tokyo 🇯🇵 中華蕎麦 西乃 - 東京都文京区本郷

Tokyo Ramen

Another extremely hot and humid day in Tokyo. Hot evenings calls for hot ramen and I have found my absolute favorite. I visited the popular Chuka Soba Nishino in Hongo, Tokyo. Nishino just opened in early 2018 and is the second brand of the popular Ramen Koike in Kamikitazawa. Ramen Koike is listed it the Michelin Tokyo Bib Gourmand and looks like Nishino will be listed as well for the 2018 Bib Gourmand!

I ordered the Chuka Soba. Tare is niboshi and clam based. Simple but the balance is pretty much perfect! This is the BEST ramen I have had, possibly ever. 

This is the Sansai Soba which my friend had. Excellent sansai flavor. 

Wonton topping which is served separately. So meaty and juicy! 

 Menu - They serve 2 types of ramen, kaedama, and takikomi rice.

I forgot to take a picture of the kaedama, but this was soooo good as well. It is like a mazesoba with great flavor. This pic is suggested way of eating the kaedama.  1. Mix well 2. Eat some without putting into the soup 3. Add some vinegar and if you like spicy some red pepper 4. Eat like tsukemen and dip into soup 5. Once you enjoyed all of above, put it in the soup and enjoy!

Owner is a big J-Idol fan and name comes from one of them. Personally I like Maiyan and Ashu lol.

Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta - Sugamo, Tokyo 🇯🇵 Japanese Soba Noodles 蔦 - 東京都豊島区巣鴨

Tokyo Ramen

I visited the famous Tsuta which received the first ever Michelin star for a ramen restaurant. As they are extremely popular they have a ticket system where you pick up a ticket to reserve a time frame. They start distributing tickets at 7am. My friend and I went around 7:30am and we were lucky enough to get the first slot which is at 11am. We killed some time at a cafe and returned at around 10:30am. There was already a line of the other 11am ticket customers.  At 11am we were able to get in with the first group of customers.

I ordered the Chashu Wonton Shoyu Soba 

The home made noodles were excellent with full of wheat flavor 

The back of the reservation ticket 

One of the most famous ramen shops in the world. It's worth a visit if you are in Japan!

Tanmen Senmonten Hyakusai - Kawasaki, Kanagawa 🇯🇵 タンメン専門店 百葉 - 神奈川県川崎市

Kanagawa Ramen

Hyakusai is a famous shop who specializes in Tanmen, a shio based ramen with lots of vegetables. This is one of my favorite types of ramen! It's so good to have with some gyoza which is called Tan-Gyo (tanmen and gyoza)!

Lots of veggies! Somewhat healthy?  

Gyoza was delicious too! It's now popular to eat gyoza with vinegar and black peppers instead of soy sauce. 

Only 180 yen additional for gyoza if you get the tanmen!

They are located inside the Atre Kawasaki mall which is right by Kawasaki Station.

Mendokoro Maruha BEYOND - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 麺処 まるは BEYOND - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

On my walk back from Sumire I stopped by Maruha BEYOND which is a fairly new ramen shop that is starting to get attention.

I tried the Shoyu Ramen. Good broth with niboshi flavor.

Medium thin noodles were good match with the shoyu soup

I arrived right before closing so the lights were turned off when I left

Sumire - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 すみれ - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

Sumire is one of the most well known Sapporo Ramen shops in Japan. For ramen fans and tourists they are one of the must go shops in Sapporo.

 This was one of my favorite miso ramen that I've had here in Sapporo. Simple, yet full of miso umami flavor.

This is a new building, pretty big with plenty of parking.

Bon No Kaze - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 凡の風 - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

Bon No Kaze, I have seen them online and this was a must visit for me. The owner chef makes all the ramens and is so dedicated to what he does. They server shoyu, shio and miso and are all equally popular. 

Shoyu Ramen - This was one of my favorite ramen that I had during my trip so far! Broth is chicken only. The shoyu umami is so deep, chashu and memma was one of the best, everything about it was so good.

 Good noodles!

 Menu

Definitely one shop that I would come back to when I am in Sapporo!!!

Ajino Sanpei - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 味の三平 - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

Ajino Sanpei is said to be the ramen shop that originated the "Miso Ramen" in 1950. They are also (not sure if true) said to be the first ramen shop to offer ramen and rice set (white rice). As Sapporo is known for the Sapporo Miso Ramen and this is the shop that started it all I had to give them a visit!

I sat at the counter and ordered their miso ramen. The owner was very kind and when he brought out the ramen gave me free rice and kimchee! He just said to me, "Eat this together, it's very good".

Noodles are made by Nishiyama Seimen, famous for making Sapporo miso ramen noodles for many ramen shops 

Shop is located within a department store

Asahikawa Ramen Murayama - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 旭川らーめん むら山 - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

I was not able to visit Asahikawa, Hokkaido either on this trip so I visited Asahikawa Ramen Murayama in Sapporo, who obviously specializes in Asahikawa style shoyu ramen!

 Asahikawa Ramen is typically with pork/chicken/vegetable broth with shoyu tare. Simple in appearance but full of flavor. 

Medium wavy noodles  Ummmm good shoyu flavor 

Front of store  Small shop but very popular amongst locals

Hakodate Menchubou Ajisai - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 函館麺厨房あじさい 札幌店 - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

I was not able to visit Hakodate on this trip so I visited the famous Hakodate Menchubou Ajisai Sapporo shop located by the Sapporo station. They are famous for their clear shio ramen.

Shio soup is light but full of umami. Can easily finish the whole bowl! Chashu was juicy and tasty as well!! 

Medium thin noodles matches perfectly with the light shio soup 

They are located inside the Sapporo Ramen Republic which includes 8 different ramen shops from Hokkaido

Japanese Ramen Noodle Lab Q - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 ジャパニーズヌードルラボ Q - 北海道札幌市

Hokkaido Ramen

Finally visited Japanese Ramen Noodle Lab Q in Sapporo! They previously did a collaboration with MEWMEN (now closed) in New York City and their Shoyu Chintan Ramen was my absolute favorite in NYC. (see my posts on MEWMEN). I have been looking forward to coming here!!

Unfortunately when the owner is not there they do not serve the Shoyu Chintan Ramen.. So I decided to try their Shio Chintan with extra chashu!! Excellent overall, each one of the chashu (4 kinds) were so tasty.

The home made whole what noodles were soooo good, just can't get this kind of Japanese wheat taste in the US. Texture, thickness, everything was so perfect match with the shio soup. 

 I couldn't try the shoyu chintan today, but was fully satisfied with the shio chintan. Just need to come back to Sapporo again to get the Shoyu!!   This is one of my favorite shops now!

Ramen Shodai - Otaru, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 ラーメン初代 - 北海道小樽市

Hokkaido Ramen

Today I took a day trip to Otaru so I visited the popular Ramen Shodai! They are popular for their shoyu ramen. They have been in business since 1994.

Shoyu Ramen - huge chashu! and shoyu soup full of umami!  They cure the shoyu tare for a month to get the smooth rich taste.

Noodles are also cured for 9-10 days to get the smooth yet chewy texture. 

Simple menu

Front of store

 Otaru Canal. Such a beautiful city! 

Yakushi Jinja no Saka (some movie was filmed here lol)

Menya Saimi - Sapporo, Hokkaido 🇯🇵 麺屋彩末 - 北海道札幌市

Sapporo Ramen

Menya Saimi is arguably the most popular Sapporo miso ramen shop currently in Sapporo. There is a long line pretty much any time you go. For me it was well worth waiting 45 minutes outside in the rain! Another "must go" if you are in Sapporo!

Miso Ramen - super hot soup with rich miso flavor. They also top it with a little bit of ginger which you mix in after eating about half of the noodles to change the flavor a little bit. 

Lots of oil on top to keep the soup very hot. This is typical of Sapporo miso ramen as it gets extremely cold in Hokkaido. The ginger also helps keep your body warm.

Wavy noodles which is the standard for Sapporo Miso Ramen 

Their Chashu is really popular so the Chashu-men is often sold out early in the day. (the yellow tag says "sold out", which is the chashu-men) 

Front of the store