(1-22-3 Makishi, Naha 900-0013, Okinawa) There happen to be 2 branches of Koryu (Kouryu) Ramen in NAha. The first time we headed to the branch that was closest to our hotel, the second time we headed to this one.
What can be said about the ramen here. Its out of this world. You can customise it, you can get thicker noodles, more oil, spice, garlic chips, more greens, wood ear mushrooms, pork belly... and the service is done with a smile. This is by far the greatest bowl of ramen I have ever had, and probably ever will have. I just don't see how it can be beaten, all things considered. 10/10 (Photo by Heidi Sand-Hart)
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(Río Ebro 89, Mexico City, Cuauhtémoc, 06500 Mexico City) The Mexicans are untouchable in their gastronomic delights. Some of the best food on planet earth can be found in this country, and especially in the small streets and backalleys of Mexico City.
Ramen is not one of them. Well, not last time I checked. Rokai Ramen-ya was one of the highest rated spots in DF and literally a 5 minute walk from my airbnb apartment. It was too good to be true. The place was rammed to the brim, no space to sit, so I waited a good quarter of an hour before being led to a table in the back. I ordered their speciality and waited sipping on a micro-brew beer. The ramen was an utter disaster. Avoiding the obvious big lump of butter (which they love doing in Hokkaido) I struggled through 2-3 mouthfuls. Nothing was redeeming. I felt so sad since the crew of Mexicans and Japanese chefs were eagerly watching my every move since I sat right next to the kitchen entrance. I feigned pleasure, scarfed 40% of it down, paid my bill and felt generally uneasy for the rest of the day. 3/10 (Robinson Place Manila, Pedro Gil St. Cor. Adriatico St Ermita9 I must confess the photo could have been better. The reason its a trainwreck is because Ramen Nagi is one of the best Ramens on earth, and after a month in the Philippines eating disgusting under-seasoned, over-cooked, fatty, depressing crap I literally dug in before taking out my iPhone. Classic mistake.
Needless to say, Nagi do it right. I have eaten Ramen Nagi in Manila and Taipei and both were on point. Rich, well balanced Tonkotsu Broth, a delicious egg (which was on a side plate) and melt-in-your-mouth Chashu pork. Their spicy broth is actually hot too which adds a different dimension to an already fabulous meal. 9/10 (4490 Spring Mountain Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89102) Las Vegas is a place I never really wanted to go, but 2 friends were in LA at the same time and we thought it would be morbidly fun to do a "boys trip" to the fake city and see where we ended up. As usual on the way there I furiously read blogs and reviews about the best ramens in town and Ramen Sora seemed to tick all the boxes. Jan and I took an Uber out there, in what seemed to be the dodgy part of town. Thankfully the Uber stopped right outside and we could hustle in before anything untoward happened.
I ordered the house special and it was thankfully top notch. Excellent deep, rich broth. Great noodles that still retained a bite to them, juicy pork and menma and a slightly over-cooked egg.. but we'll forgive them that one. Definitely worth taking a walk to the wild side in Vegas to this spot. 7/10 (Level 3, Century City Mall,, Makati) As I was waiting for my Macbook to get fixed I ended up staying in Makati a lot longer than I hoped to. The only positive was that I managed to find an exceptional Indian restaurant, a very decent burger and a competitor to Ramen Nagi as the Philippines best Ramen.
This is most definitely not the faint hearted. Its Fukuoka style. Heavy, Christmas-dinner rich, broth. fatty pork and a delicious egg rounded off a superb bowl of noodles. The place was quite hip looking, up on the 3rd floor of the mall and there were a lot of Japanese people groaning and grunting as they tackled the hot beast. Most definitely worth a detour if you are craving a bowl of godliness in a country of utterly sub-par food. 8/10 (8 Cheong Shun Rd, Chek Lap Kok) Admit it.
You can tell from the photo right? Come on.... This was pretty gruesome. Bland broth, ok egg, stringy tough meat, boring noodles and bloody cabbage and carrots... oh dear. An experiment gone horribly wrong. My only hope is that people do not think they've had real ramen after eating this and pursue greatness in any place they can find it and stick to their guns until the end up glowing over the best bowl of damn noodle soup they ever ate. Then the circle of life is complete. 3/10 (32 Bát Đàn, Hàng Bồ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam) Street stalls are always the best place to get Pho in Hanoi. This place is no exception to the rule. Perfectly cooked noodles, great broth, decent condiments, good meat, large portions and all for the measly sum of a couple dollars.
If you are in Hanoi it's definitely worth trekking down to this spot, pulling up a tiny plastic chair, and getting your feed on. 7.5/10 (32/1 Sukhumvit Soi 39, Bangkok 10110) After waxing lyrical about Bankara Ramen for years now to every Tom, Dick and Harry I met with a passing interest in Japanese noodle soup, I decided to forgo the natural tendency of opting for the Tonkotsu and decided instead to test the waters with a new bowl. The Banzai Tonkotsu Soy Sauce ramen.
It looked divine when it arrived at the table, and I stared over at my cousin who ordered the regular Tonkotsu with a .wry smile. However, on tasting it... it wasn't up to scratch. There was some severe lack of flavour, of depth. It just didn't hold a candle to the original. Lesson learnt. Don't change a winning formula. 5/10 (900-0013 Okinawa Prefecture, Naha, Makishi, 2−16−10) On a rare night alone, I wandered the streets of Okinawa and stumbled upon Danbo. I had read some articles about it but wasn't expecting the huge line outside (predominantly Chinese tourists) but it moved pretty fast. I sat at the far corner of the bar and ordered a Tonkotsu Ramen, Chashu, Tamago.
The broth was excellent, not quite on the level of Kouryu but pretty damn close. The egg wasn't amazing, but the pork was great and the nice hit of spice just set it up perfectly. 8.5/10 (2 Chome-12-1 Kume, Naha, Okinawa Prefecture) In the hallyways of Hell, stands a chef serving up this inane mess to every sinner and every saint.
You don't have to be a genius to know that I abhor sweetcorn in Ramen. Yes its traditional in some Ramen in Japan. Yes some people like it, but to me its like pineapple on pizza or cream in your Carbonara. NO GO. IT WILL ALWAYS BE BETTER WITHOUT IT. This was petrifyingly awful. Tasteless yet fatty broth, fairly alright eggs but not marinated, the pork was a throw-away and the sight of a sea of little yellow corn bastards floating around the surface like survivors from a capsized ship was a constant downer. Drown the bastards. 2/10 (900-0031 2-10-20 Matsuo, Naha city, Okinawa) Situated inside the alleyways of the Makishi Market in Naha, Okinawa is this amazing Soba restaurant.
It's been around for over 30 years and still costs less than 400 yen for a bowl of steaming, perfectly cooked noodles. The old lady serving has a great personality and lots of locals cram in here at dinner and lunch time to enjoy this traditional spot. Definitely worth tracking down. 7/10 (1-14-16 Matsuyama | Summit Bldg. 1F, Naha 900-0032, Okinawa) A late night spot in the dodgy area of Naha, where its normal to see punters asleep next to their half eaten bowl of Ramen. This is a definitely middle of the road place. However, if its 4 am and you are hungry to soak up some food to assuage the hangover, then pop on by and have a bowl.
The broth is nothing to write home about, the eggs are middle-of-the-road, the pork is unimaginative and the noodles are barely able to hold themselves together. Oh well, at 4am who's complaining.... 4/10 (906-1 Kabira, Ishigaki-shi, Okinawa-ken 907-0453, Japan) Being part of a bomb-evacuation on the tiny Island of Ishigaki was a fun experience. Woken up in our capsule hotel by a Japanese lady with a sign in English saying PLEASE LEAVE HOTEL IMMEDIATELY. After the all-clear, we decided to head up to Kabira Bay for an afternoon of glass-bottom boat trips, lumbering around and finally a hankering for some Okinawa Soba.
This place came highly recommended and it tasted more complex than it appears. The noodles were the star, the meat secondary. A definitely pop-in place if you are over on the bay enjoying the spectacular scenery. 6/10 (1-8-6 Matsuyama, Naha, Okinawa Prefecture) The search for the Holy Grail took us all the way to Naha, Okinawa. After flying down from Tokyo and having a decent bowl of Ramen the night before ( at Fou Fou Ramen ) we heard about Kouryu from the owner of the hotel. There were two branches, one nearby and one a bit closer to Kokusai Dori.
We headed out the next day for lunch, getting lost in a couple of cool stores on the way down there first. Upon entering you just knew this place was going to be epic. Very cool facade, decent prices on the machine, and a warm greeting when we entered. We sat in the corner and ordered the normal Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen. Everything was perfect. Everything. The eggs, the broth, the noodles chewiness, the toppings, the spring onions, the pork was perfect. Literally, you can't get a much better bowl of Ramen than this anywhere in my opinion. We went back 4 times in 5 days, which is testament to the utter supremacy of this establishment. This is undoubtably the King of Ramen. The best I have ever tried, and have struggled to find a challenger to topple it off the throne of greatness. People should fly to Okinawa just to eat this.... 10/10 (3 Chome-2-17 Koenjikita, 杉並区 Tokyo 166-0002, Japan) After a small earthquake in Asagaya, we headed by train to Koenji to hunt down a couple of ramen places that had come highly recommended. The first one was closed for 2 weeks holiday, the 2nd we just couldn't find. Not defeated (after walking around at least 2 hours) we saw some guys hanging around in an art studio. I popped in and asked if any of them knew a good ramen spot nearby. Immediately he ushered me out of the studio and pointed frantically towards a couple blocks away.
We followed his directions and ended up at Tabushi's. I ordered the Miso Ramen and sat back watching the chefs disciplined and clean, cooking their noodles and prepping the toppings. The bowl arrived, steaming and tempting. The fatty glisten of oily-miso on top and a scattering of cabbage, pork and bean sprouts along with a Tamago (egg). As I learned years ago watching Tampopo/Tanpopo the master told his student in the ramen shop that after observing the bowl, the most important thing is to taste the broth first and let the flavours sink in. This was one of the best bowls of Miso Ramen I have ever had. Everything was perfect, except perhaps the pork was stringy and not the type I prefer. However, there can be no complaints at all. A fantastic recommendation, and a place I have already convinced a few friends to go who all came back with glowing reviews. 8.5/10 (241-243 Nguyễn Trãi, Phường Nguyễn Cư Trinh) After perhaps 6 visits to Ho Chi Minh, the eternal search for the cities best Pho is high on the agenda.
Until recently that crown was placed firmly on this places head. They had a fantastic broth, great noodles, decent meat, amazing condiments and the price was right. For visitors to Saigon who have been to "Hung" and not liked it, beware, there are many imposters who stole the logo and sign and serve under-par Pho. This place is the real deal. You can find better Pho at Quynh a few blocks away, the meat is better there and the broth is just a touch more magic, but this is top shelf Pho and you will not be disappointed. 8/10 ( 7-4-5 Nishishinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo) Can there be such a thing as TOO GOOD?
The answer in short: Yes. After hearing about this place from a friend of ours (Scott Hatch), who recommended we try hunt it down in Tokyo after reading about the L.A. branch offering the peculiar addition of Tonkotsu Broth made from Pig Skulls. I was wary of the notion of creamy brains adding an extra level to the natural bone-broth's boiled for hours and hours, but curiosity got the better of us. After taking a while to find it, the taxi driver dropped us outside. There was a line. Of course. We waited around 20 minutes and were escorted to a table in the back of the restaurant after we had chosen our bowls from the machine. 10 minutes later, two big bowls of fatty Tonkotsu ramen arrived at the table. First sip: ASTOUNDED.. both of us looked at each other and shouted "Holy shit". This was undeniably the best tasting ramen broth I had ever tasted. The Chashu was melt-in-your-mouth, the egg was perfect. You couldn't fault a single thing. Until you ate more...... From the heights of euphoria at having found potentially the greatest bowl of ramen on earth, we started hitting the half-way part of the bowl. I began to get nauseous. That feeling you get after eating too much Christmas Dinner but also a deep, deep fatty feeling of having had too much richness. We struggled to politely finish most of the bowl before leaving the restaurant complimenting the chefs (since it was delicious) and walking straight over to a bush in case I needed to "evacuate". Willy thankfully had 2 small bottles of Aquavit (Norwegian liquor) in his bag so we downed them, but literally continued walking around Shinjuku with the most nauseous feeling on earth. The best, but also the worst bowl I ever ate. On a side-note: We actually cancelled our flights to Fukuoka after that because the thought of eating Tonkotsu ever again was not on the horizon. We ended up going down to Okinawa and eating Sashimi instead. I must say, it was the wisest of decisions. It took almost 2 months to feel like eating Tonkotsu again. Try it if you dare, but the repercussions are real. 10/10 but also 1/10 (1 Chome-22-7 Jinnan, 渋谷区 Tokyo 150-0041, Japan) Ok, its a chain. They have them everywhere. However, if you are not a people person, then this is the best thing on earth. Private small "booths" where you don't even have to look at the person next to you OR the person who serves you. AMEN!!!
This isn't the best ramen you'll have in Japan, but it's a decent option if you are wandering around and can't find anything else and are shitfaced. The paper you fill out gives various options for how soft/hard you want your noodles, how mild/spicy your broth should be, how fatty/thin, etc. I always go for hard noodles, fatty, and pretty spicy. That makes a decent bowl of Ramen considering its a chain. This is by no means close to the top 100 ramens in Japan, but its the best choice between McDonalds and Ichiran at 4am. 6/10. (Korsgata 25, Oslo) Norway has not been universally respected for its culinary attempts until perhaps of late. They are a nation of meat and potatoes who think black pepper is a miracle and their local kebab sauce is actually "spicy". Kamai are trying to do "Modern Japanese food" and one fair day they announced they were adding a ramen bowl to their tasting menu. Well, we had to try it.
It wasn't successful. It tasted like beef stock with some oxtail in it, some random cabbage and other edibles and a poached egg. The noodles were so forgettable i didn't remember there were any. Next please. 4/10 (Hietalahden kauppahalli, Lönnrotinkatu 34,, 00180 Helsinki, ) You just knew it when you entered the place that these people had no clue about Ramen.
Look at that broth? Looks like dishwater. Pulled Pork? Squeeze of Sriracha or some other generic hot sauce? Overcooked egg, huge chunks of spring onion and a dusting of sesame seeds? NO NO FINLAND! You have to do better than this. 4/10 (Mathallen, Oslo) This is where Ramen goes to die.
It is the culmination of a nations ignorance, and a proprietor who is trying to cash in on a trend. An egg beaten to within an inch of it's life, peeled with bear claws, stuck in a fridge with no marinade and served ICE COLD in a bowl of the most lifeless, insipid, dishwater like broth. Zero taste. Zero umami. Zero care. The pork looks like a kitten abortion. The grey life-less meat dangling above the mushy noodles and thick menma. This was truly the work of someone who doesn't give a shit about what they do. Typical Japanese person who knows nothing about food trying to pull the wool over the "gullible" Norwegians when Ramen became a trend. Well, I used to serve a very decent bowl of Vegan Ramen at a pop up called Tanpopo a few years ago, and we had lines of Japanese, Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese waiting for us to open. I used to peel every egg with care. This is just sad.. it makes me depressed... 1/10 (Chauk Bazaar, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India) The Chinese spread their Ramen to Japan, just as the Tibetans spread the wonderful version "Thukpa" across to Nepal and Northern India. The dish comprises noodles, broth, vegetables, meat (if wanted) and coriander, generally. It's the perfect meal to combat the chilly winds in the Himalayas and a great hangover cure.
Kunga is a small unassuming restaurant up near the bazaar in Darjeeling. However, their limited space is almost always packed with hungry locals and inquisitive tourists. The inexpensive food is top notch and the service is always friendly. This Thukpa will set you up for the day of wandering around town or climbing all the steep alleyways. 8/10 (100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District)Ippudo has never been a favourite of mine, but once in a while when you have been wandering around aimlessly for hours and hours, you might be inclined to pop in for some Ramen.
The noodles are the thinner kind, which is not my fave. The meat is decent, the egg is fine, the broth fits squarely in the middle of the pack. It's perhaps a good place to go for Ramen virgins or people who haven't pushed their tastes to the extremes yet. 6/10 (100-0005 Tokyo, Chiyoda, Marunouchi, 1−9−1) Being a huge David Chang fan, I was eager to try Rokurinsha whilst in Tokyo on my second trip this year, since he had almost had a stroke at the texture of the noodles. I headed to Tokyo station and managed to get there around 2pm. I waited almost 60 minutes to get a spot at the counter, and ordered.
The food came and I tucked into what will go down as probably one of the best noodles I have ever eaten. Springy, thick, epically cooked. The only downside for me was the intense intense flavour of fish powder. I know its a favourite of the Japanese, but for me I try to push my palate at any given time but this was just a step too far. I ate the noodles and then left a lot of the broth even after asking to dilute it with the Yuzu stock (which definitely improved it) that they pour into everyones bowl. Overall, i'd recommend anyone to go there if they want to taste some perfectly cooked noodles. Don't blame me if you can't handle the fishiness. 8/10 One blustery afternoon my flatmate burst in the room and said "Time for beef noodle soup". Hell yes. We walked down He Ping, and went down a couple alleyways until we found the shop. This was up there with some of the best beef noodle soup ever. Delicate, but rich broth, amazing noodles, succelent and falling apart beef and a sprinking of greens. This is the quintessential bowl of Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup.
9/10 |
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