The Best Of Tokyo - Ramen

I love a bowl of steaming hot ramen noodles. Apart from the springy ramen noodles, crisp fried garlic slices and sliced roast pork served in creamy white miso soup, I love the Japanese hard-boiled egg, with its bright orange yolk. Here are 2 places which I found for good ramen in Tokyo. The first ramen shop which came recommended by the Lonely Planet is called Komen. It has a chain of 12 ramen shops in Tokyo. For non-Japanese speakers, look out for the 2 Japanese words encased in a large circle above the shop. I went to the Komen in Shinjuku (3-32-2, Shinjuku-ku, corner of Meiji-Dori and Koshu Kaido). This two storey ramen shop is big by ramen shop standards. They also have a branch in Harajuku.


Komen Ramen at Shinjuku


Big pots of stock for the ramen soup


Ramen with roast pork and white miso soup set - 990 yen

I stumbled onto the second ramen shop quite by accident. We were window shopping on the busy streets of Harajuku when this sign caught our attention. Walk down the stairs to a cosy little basement shop. Unfortunately, I don't know what the English name is but this shop is further down the street from the Lotteria at Takeshita Dori. The ramen is served in a stone bowl, which keeps it piping hot. In summer, the cold ramen is also quite popular. Personally, I found the ramen at this shop better than Komen.





Sigh...I wish I was back in Japan!

"We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins."
Mr. Ping, Kung Fu Panda (2008)