I travel to Tokyo fairly regularly (~2X/year) – last visit was this February right before global shutdowns. I normally stay right by Shinagawa station, which was great because of the convenience of Shinatatsu ramen street – fantastic for a late-night supper after dinner and drinking. I heard recently that the area has undergone quite a change due to construction (renovations?) – the ramen street and the food basement of the Wings department store closed down.
So… curious to hear what some other collections of ramen shops exist, besides the one in Tokyo station.
(Edit: Appreciate the responses about other cities, but I was thinking within Tokyo)
14 comments
wait, closed, like, forever?
Not ramen, but you should try Donburiya Koudon aka Happy Donburi on the Konan side of the station. I still dream of the pork bowl there.
Kyoto station has one, one of the department stores in downtown sapporo as well, there is also the ramen museum in Yokohama, I’m sure there are others in tokyo as well
Honestly I don’t think you really need to go to designated “ramen streets”. Great ramen is located everywhere and unless you were going to eat at multiple shops in a short timeframe then there’s really no real need to go to them specifically unless you’re after a specific store that just happens to be there.
Not far from Shinagawa is Shimbashi which has a TON of restaurants clustered together around Shimbashi station. Literally an endless selection of food.
The ramen museum in Yokohama (not to be confused with the cup museum) has a “ramen street” as you would call it but they actually have half bowls available so you can sample ramen from many different shops while you’re there without buying a full bowl which would be the main draw to visiting a “cluster” of ramen places specifically- to try everything one stop.
If you’re only visiting one shop then a “ramen street” isn’t really necessary. I would instead seek out specific ramen shops you want to visit based on their menu. You’re really limiting yourself if you only seek out “ramen streets”. Good ramen is found everywhere.
Ramen Stadium in Fukuoka. It’s really just a floor in a mall, no idea why it’s called stadium.
I just use tabelog to find good restaurants.
Tokyo station has a ramen street too.
I also think really good ramens in Tokyo are spread out over the city. Though I recently discovered Ginza is turning out to be a great ramen neighbourhood with Kazami, Kagari, Hachigo, etc.
There was a shop I ate at near the Edo Tokyo Museum and Sumo stadium. It’s a hole in the wall place that is under the train tracks. Was my first bowl of real authentic ramen. If I can find the name or picture of the place I’ll edit this comment.
Im really sad to hear about this. I went to Tetsu ramen in Shinagawa there in October 2019 and had the best dipping noodles ever. Once I read this post I right away checked Google and it says “Permanently Closed”. I was hoping to go back there in the future.
Ramenya Fujin is right across the street from the west side of the station. Take a left after crossing the street. Maybe 50 m from the McDonalds. It’s small, open late, and most bowls are probably still about 880 Yen. A favorite lunch spot for me when visiting. But also open past midnight.
In Harajuku, on the main drag up from the station, there is a small place in a basement. Its entrance is on the east side of the street. It’s maybe 5 blocks walk from Harajuku Sta.
Shinatetsu *Haneda* is still open at Haneda airport.
Check reviews at both [ramenbeast.com](https://ramenbeast.com) and [ramenguidejapan.com](https://ramenguidejapan.com).
The best ramen I had in Tokyo I found there, and all were spread around the city. For Tomita you have to plan the day well in advance.
Aqua City, one of the malls in Odaiba has a ramen area… [https://www.aquacity.jp.e.yp.hp.transer.com/tokyo_ramen_kokugikan/](https://www.aquacity.jp.e.yp.hp.transer.com/tokyo_ramen_kokugikan/)
The Supleks ramen database is the best ramen search engine used by hardcore Japanese ramen aficionados, and you can use it to build a list of places to check out. Below is the Google translated link showing the point-ranked list of restaurants around the main Shinagawa station. Auto translations of the ramen restaurant names will often be wrong, but if you click through to a detail page it will have the accurate hiragana transliteration in smaller print under the main restaurant name. Look at photos and locations, and build your list!
The places with over 90 points probably tend to have longer lines. Anything in the 80’s range will still be very good, and maybe easier for a quicker stop.
[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsupleks.jp%2Fsearch%3Fstation-id%3D1130103](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsupleks.jp%2Fsearch%3Fstation-id%3D1130103)