@Elvin Yung <@shikaku.ramen>
I was fortunate enough to try around 60+ (give or take) bowls of ramen from a lot of great shops around Japan this year, and a lot of folks have asked me for a list since.
This is just the raw list with minimal description, with no rankings, no ratings, no comments, no takeaways, no recommendations, partially because I’m currently too lazy to copy everything from the IG stories (which you can still view in the highlights), and partially because some of these styles are acquired tastes. Feel free to shoot me a DM if you’re interested in any particular category of ramen.
(RamenDB) Ikebukuro
I nerded out about this shop a couple years ago. Classic tsukemen (or morisoba) in a pork and seafood soup seasoned with a sweet, slightly vinegary tare.
(RamenDB) Shinjuku
Niboshi ramen in highly-trafficked area of Shinjuku, within Golden Gai. Open 24/7.
Note: this shop is nothing like the Ramen Nagi shops in California (which are more properly part of the “Buta-ou” brand).
(RamenDB) Matsudo
Often considered to be the top tsukemen shop in Japan, pioneer of modern-style noukou tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen. Currently reservation-only via omakase.in.
(RamenDB) Ōtsuka
Michelin-starred shop known for refined tantanmen.
(RamenDB) Ogikubo
Quintessential old-school Tokyo-style shoyu shop.