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Do you know any good non-pork ramen places in Tokyo?

So I’m planning on visiting tokyo in the next year (if the pandemic will stop) and I’ve been looking for some places I want to visit and eat in. The problem is, I’ve been to tokyo once and noticed that pork is served a LOT. Since I’m Jewish it was a little problematic for me to find good places to eat in that you can choose a different type of meat so this time I wanted to plan in advance and see if there are any places you guys can recommend me. I don’t have a problem with non kosher restaurants, my problem is specifically with pork since it’s very common and is kinda problematic for Jewish tourists. I do eat chicken and beef, but cannot eat any pork/ pork broth.

So if you know any kosher meat ramen place/ other Japanese foods restaurant/ any advice on the subject I’d be happy to hear it😊

Edit: thank you so much to everyone who answered!! I go through every single comment so thank you for the help, I really appreciate it!

42 comments

  1. If you haven’t been yet, I highly recommend Kagari Ramen in Ginza. They’re a Michelin Star restaurant that specializes in chicken ramen. It’s only $10 a bowl for some of the best ramen I’ve ever tasted in my life (I’m not kidding… this place ruined me. Now that I’m back in the US any ramen I have here just isn’t the same). In the several times I went, they never had an absurd line like some of the other Michelin Star ramen restaurants in Tokyo. I highly highly recommend you try it!

  2. While I can’t speak to / about kosher, Kyushu Jangara has some awesome vegetarian/vegan options that would do the job. They have a handful of locations in Tokyo. T’s Tan Tan is a vegan place in Ueno and Tokyo Stations, and their ramen is good, too. That said, I’ve never had ramen with a meat-based broth, so my perspective on that likely isn’t totally in line with traditional ramen enthusiasts.

  3. I admit, that one sounds a bit tough. In Tokyo I’m sure you can find more modern places, with vegan ramen and such. But a lot of ramen, even if you get it without the pork will have a pork-based broth. If I were you, I’d probably go to Tokyo Station’s ramen street and find an info desk – I found they were usually pretty helpful, and ask them there which of the restaurants would be best for you.

    I’d also in general recommend tempura – it’s usually shrimp or veggies, and very tasty. It’s the only dish aside from sushi or waygu that is coming to mind that isn’t strictly pork based, though I’m sure there are lots of others.

  4. Gyukatsu Motomura has deep fried wagyu beef. You can probably find chicken katsu curry in some places. There are non-pork street foods like yakitori (chicken skewers) and takoyaki (octopus balls). I also recommend unagi (eel) bowls and soba (made with soy based broth)!

  5. I can’t give you a specific recommendation, but I did notice Chicken Broth ramen at places that are also Halal certified in and around Ueno and Asakusa.

  7. There is no real market for kosher food in Japan (as the communities that exist in Tokyo and Kobe are listed in hundreds): while there are some kosher restaurants and bakeries – those mostly serve traditional Jewish foods and bakes.

    Best case scenario outside either going either vegan or sticking to yakuniku and other self-prepared food due to prevalence of seafood and pork broths is sticking with halal restaurants as they are much more likely to be found in major cities due to sheer number visitors from Indonesia and Malaysia.

  8. There is one ichiran that serve non-pork ramen in Tokyo. It’s a bit special as usually their broth is tonkotsu, that is pork bone broth. However, even if there is no pork, it is not halal and for sure not kosher.

    You would have more chance to find broth without pork in place that serve shoyu, shio and chicken ramen, that can be made without pork (but it can also be made with pork), and absolutely avoid tonkotsu, however, most restaurant will likely have pork as topping, so even if you order a bowl without pork topping, there can be cross contamination that can be an issue for some people. For sure you can search for vegetarian/vegan or halal ramen place, that should not be too hard to find online.

    I think it really depend on how strict you are on eating kosher (I have met both really strict and really relax people on that regard). For sure you can find meal that do not contain pork or that do not mix dairy and meat, as cheese is not really used in traditional Japanese cuisine. However, you will have to check for shellfish and what kind of fish they serve as some are technically not kosher (it can be difficult as many fish do not exist in America/Europe). And of course, finding kosher meat or kosher certified restaurant will be really complicated (with a quick google search, it seems there is one in Tokyo, but it serve Jewish dish, so not exactly a Japanese cuisine experience).

  12. You can try out torikizoku. They served skewer meat and their dish are pretty cheap for most people.

    Do note their skewers food comes in pair.
    1 order =2 skewer of X

  14. Go to Hayashida in Shinjuku. They have a chicken & duck based ramen which is amazing and a limited fish based bowl if you get there early enough. Both amazing. There are quite a few good places that don’t use pork or shellfish, DM me if you need more.

    EDIT: obviously ask for no chashu. The soup has no pork in it. Now that I think about it Motenashi Kuroki in Akihabara might be better. Their ramen is all chicken and duck, including the chashu. No pork anywhere. Excellent shop.

  15. Ts Tantan is vegan. They have a really good soup and their noodles are fantastic.

  16. Try the HappyCow app when you’re there. It’s a website (and $1 app) for finding local places with vegan options. I used it to find a great vegan place in Osaka.

  17. You’ll just want to steer clear of tonkotsu Ramen, many ramen places will serve it as an option but not the only option

  18. Go try out Afuri Ramen! They offer vegetarian ramen. It comes with vegetable soup base with various toppings such as squash, cauliflower, purple turnips and various greens. There are multiple locations in Tokyo. Give it a try ;D

  21. Mǎzilù Lanzhou Beef Noodles. It’s not really Ramen but a Chinese handmade noodle shop. I loved this shop and went all the time even though I lived on the other side of town. I heard they opened a second shop near or in Tokyo station after I left. It’s halal, inexpensive and dang tasty

  22. Kinda surprised no one mentioned this yet, but the [Ramen Beast](http://www.ramenbeast.com/ramen-guides) website and iOS app are amazing! I ate ramen daily when I visited Tokyo in February and the GPS feature of the app never let me down. Some of the places I went to, had it not been for the app, would have never even know they existed as I walked passed them.

  23. Mugi to Olive (aka Ginza Noodle) is a favorite of mine and has a chicken option.

  24. Thank you OP for this post and thank you for the commenters’ recommendations. Saved.

  25. As a Muslim, I had the same concerns about avoiding Pork in Tokyo, particularly with ramen. I was able to find a halal ramen shop that was *really* good and the people were quite friendly. Not sure if you specifically need kosher meat. For Muslims, we’re fine with either kosher or halal since they’re basically the same to us.

    The place is Halal Ramen Ouka. Really small place, so there may be a wait, but its absolutely worth it. I believe they also have vegetarian options. And you certainly won’t have to worry about any pork products. [They also accept reservation](https://ramenouka.com/)s, but you have to pay in advance and they seem very strict.

  27. There’s a chain of ramen restaurants called Tenkaippin that has ramen broth made from chicken. You can probably get it without chashu. I looooove their chicken ramen, after having tonkotsu ramen all the time.

  28. There’s a great vegan ramen place not far from Harajuku station. Excellent ramen. Definitely no fear of pork contamination.

  29. We are pescatarian and had the most luck searching for Halal restaurants in order to find pork-free ramen.

  31. highly recommend Tsukemen Gonokami Seisakusho. It’s in shinjuku and is my favorite ramen in Japan period. It’s tsukemen so its dip ramen, but they have a really good tomato/shrimp base that is to die for

  33. Afuri has the most exciting vegan ramen, I was shocked at how flavorful and wonderful it was. Also their cold yuzu shio ramen is wonderful, but I’m not sure if that’s a pork base

  36. Perfect timing! I came across a halal Ramen shop in Otsuka, close to the station. It’s called Menya Honoru and they have gyoza, chicken, all items on the menu are halal. They have another shop on Ebisu which I heard attracted some celebs. I had the special miso ramen and that was good but spicy. Small cozy place.

    http://www.halalramen-honolu.net/halal/

  38. I’m not sure how different kosher and halal is but i was recommended some of these (didn’t go to all):
    1. Naritaya ramen (asakusa)
    2. Sekai cafe (asakusa)
    3. Yakiniku panga (wagyu beef) (taito city)
    4. Ramen ouka (shinjuku)
    5. Menya kaijin (shinjuku)
    6. Honolu ebisu (shibuya)
    7. Ayam ya (taito-ku)
    8. Curry house ichibanya (Akihabara)
    9. T’s tan tan(vegetarian)

    Basically the kebab stalls by Turkish/Pakistan vendors.
    I find around asakusa it’s easier for halal food.

    Sorry for the formatting as I’m on mobile. It’s probably atrocious

  39. I’m pretty sure theres a Non-pork Ichiran establishment that uses a Chicken broth instead of Tonkotsu. ..

    ​

    Having just looked it up again, it’s in Shinjuku, the address is **Nishi Shinjuku 7-10-18, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0023**

    ​

    It’s basically the same as the Ichiran store in Shibuya with the glaring exception of No Pork (its even on the sign outside). I’ve only eaten at the Shibuya store so I’m not sure how good it is, but it IS a pork free option.

    ​

    Here’s some links related to it:

    ​

    [https://www.tokyofooddiary.com/blog/ichiran-ramen-no-pork](https://www.tokyofooddiary.com/blog/ichiran-ramen-no-pork)

    [https://favy-jp.com/topics/2808](https://favy-jp.com/topics/2808)

  40. I suggest kyushu jangara ramen. I went to the akihabara location and they had a vegan broth and vegetarian options. Their menu was really simple which made it easy to order your ramen with or without specific items and the staff was very helpful.

  41. I’m Muslim so I don’t eat pork neither. Most of ramen use pork broth. Last time I went to Osaka, I just searched halal ramen on google and got list of them so I’m pretty sure if you search that in Tokyo, you should be able to find different non pork ramen places.

  42. If you like tomato based things there’s a chain called Taiyo No Tomato that you can find around Tokyo and in other cities too.

    Edit: Ah sorry I checked their menu and the soup stock seems to contain chicken and pork, sorry!

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