What are some clues you get when going into a ramen shop you haven’t been to before that tell you it’s going to be good? What tells you it’s going to be mediocre or bad?
If a ramen shop looks really dirty, it’s probably better than one that’s clean.
One thing that I find can tell you a ramen shop isn’t so good: They have a lot of toppings on offer on the table.
This tells me they aren’t confident in the flavor of their ramen.
If it’s been around for more than 6 months. In Tokyo I’ve never been to a really bad ramen shop, they go out of business too quickly. Ramen is hyper competitive, unless it’s a chain ramen place in front of a station, a bad single shop ramen place will disappear pretty fast. Not saying all are good, but if it’s survived for a more than 6 months they tend to be above average at the least
外人禁止
Tbh I find ramen to be really a personal preference. There are two main chain shops near my house, and I far prefer one over the other, while my friend is the reverse.
The smell. Good ramen broth stinks
There was a small place I went to once years ago in a medium-sized town in Nara, but close on the Osaka border. Friend of mine was studying at a robotics (I think it was something like that) university there and he said he found a gem. When we arrived, it had like ten people lining up, but it went pretty quick. It was just one counter seating about 6 people, no pictures allowed, pretty dark. Now I’ve never been a huge ramen fan, but that place completely blew me away. Best broth I ever had, no fancy shit, just the purest of taste bud orgasms you can get.
I’d go and check it out again, but I grew apart with the guy because since he turned out be a major piece of shit.
So for me it would have to be ramen recommended to me by a pure-bred Japanese dude with good taste and especially if they’re a misogynistic bigoted sleazeball.
If there are a lot of truckers and a large parking lot, that is usually a good sign and a common thing at most of my favorite places. At least that’s how it is where I live.
Random holidays and opening times, closes early if out of soup.
I live in one of the strongest ramen neighborhoods in Japan, where pretty much every shop has a huge line outside in weekends, but the best shop is owned and operated by just one guy that doesn’t seem to follow any schedule and opens whenever the fuck he wants.
No English menus and it looks very dingy and dated inside
If it looks old and shitty the ramen is probably good in my experience. Nice clean shiny ramen places are painfully average. My guess as to why is that if a place has been around for a long time and it’s never been renovated or whatever, it probably means they’ve been putting the money into the food instead.
Lines out the door. I see two of them when I’m walking back from the gym every week. Some day.
One guy running the whole shop. He has the one particular ramen that he’s known for. Usually tiny inside, but always ways has at least some customers.
​
edit: extra word.
The smell and how loud the いらっしゃいませ is
If it’s in Hokkaido. Hokkaido ramen is the best, period.
Just because there’s a line means nothing if there’s only 5 seats inside…
If it is called 一風堂
It’s good if it’s dusty as hell inside and smells like dirty mop water
According to a friend, the lack of gyoza and no-fuss menu (two, or even only one, broth option and simple ajitama and char siew toppings).
Based on personal experience, can vouch for number two. As for ramen shops, I have only one personal favorite, [this one](https://maps.app.goo.gl/N3z9cLjFwemkTMxy9).
It’s a one-man show, and the man in question is extremely ancient. May he live long and his health never fail him.
If it’s being ran by an old couple or an old jiji
Walk round the back of the shop. The way it looks and smells there, is how the food is going to be, when you stick it into your body.
1. The stench…:a good tonkotsu broth can be smelled from at least 3 blocks away.
2. Skanky interior that wouldn’t pass H&S inspections back home…..greasy/slippy floor a must.
3. Char-shu that melts when you bite into it…fat turns to milk and the meat has proper flavour, not just boiled pork taste.
The more dickish the chef/owners are to their customers, the better the food seems to be.
Case in point: Jiro ramen.
Oh I actually have a rule for this, and it’s work every single time.
**REAL TISSUES**
As in, tissues you’d get from a normal box of tissues. Not that half plastic fake tissue shit that just spreads oil around without absorbing anything. If a ramen place has real tissues, it’ll be good. My favorite chain is zundouya and you bet your ass they have it.
When the floor is only concrete.
3.7 rating on Tabelog.
The Tabelog people are absolutely savage. Excellent places still only get a rating of like 3.2.
An old guy cooking the ramen and his wife taking and serving the order.
If it’s down some weird ass alley.
I went to some random ramen shop near Tokyo university down an alley and it was good af
if namajapan has made a video on it. Or…if it has an above 85 rating on ラーメンDB.
Old mom-and-pop shops look more romantic, but usually they’re bad. Brand-new shops with good design and furniture are more detail oriented and are usually better. As for Ramen chains, some are bad and pricey, I struggle a lot to understand how Kamakura noodle shops are always packed with people in Kansai. Their Ramen is really bad. On the other hand, ippudo is fucking amazing
It’s a ramen shop
A line.
When it looks run down
Sticky floor, sour smell
They ask me three questions.
Best ramen place I know is only open 3 hrs a day & closed every holiday
Probably can smell the broth from a block away and a big ass line
How hungry I am
Well high-quality noodles and broth being cooked is way more fragrant than regular kinds, so it’s mostly the odor. Also with pretty bad restaurants you can smell that they use cheap cleaning products.
My rule is the shittier the place looks – the better it will be.
Don’t get me wrong many chain ramen places are amazing… but one of the great things about Japan is the hidden grandma and grandma restaurants that just look like places you shouldn’t go. Usually great food and the price is amazing.
We used to visit a teishokku place run by two 70 year old grandmas in a house next to a closed tunnel. 500 yen and the sweetest souls on the planet. The place has already gone with the winds of time.
If it’s shining like a Christmas tree just run.
High rating on RamenDB
I wait an hour to get in. By them I’m so hungry I don’t care if it’s mediocre or not.
when the ramen shop only opens when the owner/chef wants to (there’s a ramen shop in Akita that is like that and it’s the best ramen we ever tasted)
Ugly and dirty kitchen A good ramen ain’t clean
At least two loud booming IRRASHAAAAI
It tells me they’re passionate about what they do
In my experience, if the place has good reviews and looks like it’s gonna give you food poisoning. It’s prolly the best ramen you’ll ever have!
Tokyo centric, but if it appears in the TRYラーメン大賞 magazine, it’ll be good. Most of the places will have a line, but not a huuuuge line.
Thick slices of cha-shu, not those weak, bitch-ass deli slices places try to pass off as if they’re the same.
I can tell you that in my experience, if the store is old, it’s pretty good. And if it looks trendy, it’s not good. If they spend more money on the aesthetics, then they’re masking something. And if they’ve been around long enough to look old, then they have customers who like their food.
50 comments
A line outside.
If a ramen shop looks really dirty, it’s probably better than one that’s clean.
One thing that I find can tell you a ramen shop isn’t so good: They have a lot of toppings on offer on the table.
This tells me they aren’t confident in the flavor of their ramen.
If it’s been around for more than 6 months. In Tokyo I’ve never been to a really bad ramen shop, they go out of business too quickly. Ramen is hyper competitive, unless it’s a chain ramen place in front of a station, a bad single shop ramen place will disappear pretty fast. Not saying all are good, but if it’s survived for a more than 6 months they tend to be above average at the least
外人禁止
Tbh I find ramen to be really a personal preference. There are two main chain shops near my house, and I far prefer one over the other, while my friend is the reverse.
The smell. Good ramen broth stinks
There was a small place I went to once years ago in a medium-sized town in Nara, but close on the Osaka border. Friend of mine was studying at a robotics (I think it was something like that) university there and he said he found a gem. When we arrived, it had like ten people lining up, but it went pretty quick. It was just one counter seating about 6 people, no pictures allowed, pretty dark. Now I’ve never been a huge ramen fan, but that place completely blew me away. Best broth I ever had, no fancy shit, just the purest of taste bud orgasms you can get.
I’d go and check it out again, but I grew apart with the guy because since he turned out be a major piece of shit.
So for me it would have to be ramen recommended to me by a pure-bred Japanese dude with good taste and especially if they’re a misogynistic bigoted sleazeball.
EDIT: Not 100% sure, but I think I actually found it. [Tabelog](https://tabelog.com/nara/A2901/A290102/29000547/)
If there are a lot of truckers and a large parking lot, that is usually a good sign and a common thing at most of my favorite places. At least that’s how it is where I live.
Random holidays and opening times, closes early if out of soup.
I live in one of the strongest ramen neighborhoods in Japan, where pretty much every shop has a huge line outside in weekends, but the best shop is owned and operated by just one guy that doesn’t seem to follow any schedule and opens whenever the fuck he wants.
No English menus and it looks very dingy and dated inside
If it looks old and shitty the ramen is probably good in my experience. Nice clean shiny ramen places are painfully average. My guess as to why is that if a place has been around for a long time and it’s never been renovated or whatever, it probably means they’ve been putting the money into the food instead.
Lines out the door. I see two of them when I’m walking back from the gym every week. Some day.
One guy running the whole shop. He has the one particular ramen that he’s known for. Usually tiny inside, but always ways has at least some customers.
​
edit: extra word.
The smell and how loud the いらっしゃいませ is
If it’s in Hokkaido. Hokkaido ramen is the best, period.
Just because there’s a line means nothing if there’s only 5 seats inside…
If it is called 一風堂
It’s good if it’s dusty as hell inside and smells like dirty mop water
According to a friend, the lack of gyoza and no-fuss menu (two, or even only one, broth option and simple ajitama and char siew toppings).
Based on personal experience, can vouch for number two. As for ramen shops, I have only one personal favorite, [this one](https://maps.app.goo.gl/N3z9cLjFwemkTMxy9).
It’s a one-man show, and the man in question is extremely ancient. May he live long and his health never fail him.
If it’s being ran by an old couple or an old jiji
Walk round the back of the shop. The way it looks and smells there, is how the food is going to be, when you stick it into your body.
1. The stench…:a good tonkotsu broth can be smelled from at least 3 blocks away.
2. Skanky interior that wouldn’t pass H&S inspections back home…..greasy/slippy floor a must.
3. Char-shu that melts when you bite into it…fat turns to milk and the meat has proper flavour, not just boiled pork taste.
The more dickish the chef/owners are to their customers, the better the food seems to be.
Case in point: Jiro ramen.
Oh I actually have a rule for this, and it’s work every single time.
**REAL TISSUES**
As in, tissues you’d get from a normal box of tissues. Not that half plastic fake tissue shit that just spreads oil around without absorbing anything. If a ramen place has real tissues, it’ll be good. My favorite chain is zundouya and you bet your ass they have it.
When the floor is only concrete.
3.7 rating on Tabelog.
The Tabelog people are absolutely savage. Excellent places still only get a rating of like 3.2.
An old guy cooking the ramen and his wife taking and serving the order.
If it’s down some weird ass alley.
I went to some random ramen shop near Tokyo university down an alley and it was good af
if namajapan has made a video on it. Or…if it has an above 85 rating on ラーメンDB.
Old mom-and-pop shops look more romantic, but usually they’re bad. Brand-new shops with good design and furniture are more detail oriented and are usually better. As for Ramen chains, some are bad and pricey, I struggle a lot to understand how Kamakura noodle shops are always packed with people in Kansai. Their Ramen is really bad. On the other hand, ippudo is fucking amazing
It’s a ramen shop
A line.
When it looks run down
Sticky floor, sour smell
They ask me three questions.
Best ramen place I know is only open 3 hrs a day & closed every holiday
Probably can smell the broth from a block away and a big ass line
How hungry I am
Well high-quality noodles and broth being cooked is way more fragrant than regular kinds, so it’s mostly the odor. Also with pretty bad restaurants you can smell that they use cheap cleaning products.
My rule is the shittier the place looks – the better it will be.
Don’t get me wrong many chain ramen places are amazing… but one of the great things about Japan is the hidden grandma and grandma restaurants that just look like places you shouldn’t go. Usually great food and the price is amazing.
We used to visit a teishokku place run by two 70 year old grandmas in a house next to a closed tunnel. 500 yen and the sweetest souls on the planet. The place has already gone with the winds of time.
If it’s shining like a Christmas tree just run.
High rating on RamenDB
I wait an hour to get in. By them I’m so hungry I don’t care if it’s mediocre or not.
when the ramen shop only opens when the owner/chef wants to
(there’s a ramen shop in Akita that is like that and it’s the best ramen we ever tasted)
Ugly and dirty kitchen
A good ramen ain’t clean
At least two loud booming IRRASHAAAAI
It tells me they’re passionate about what they do
In my experience, if the place has good reviews and looks like it’s gonna give you food poisoning. It’s prolly the best ramen you’ll ever have!
Tokyo centric, but if it appears in the TRYラーメン大賞 magazine, it’ll be good. Most of the places will have a line, but not a huuuuge line.
Thick slices of cha-shu, not those weak, bitch-ass deli slices places try to pass off as if they’re the same.
I can tell you that in my experience, if the store is old, it’s pretty good. And if it looks trendy, it’s not good. If they spend more money on the aesthetics, then they’re masking something. And if they’ve been around long enough to look old, then they have customers who like their food.