Shibaraku 博多ラーメン しばらく

It all started with Jangara, and I still love tonkotsu ramen. But that definitely has taken a back seat in Tokyo, since the rise of tonkotsu gyokai (豚骨魚介) has pretty much taken over first place in my heart. Still, every once in a while, it is nice to have a change and go back to my roots. Shibaraku, being close to the office, was one option that I had to explore.

Hakata-style ramen shops has your typical menu. Ramen, with topping options, kaemada (another serving of noodles), gyoza, and some rice options.

I love gyoza, but it's not something I usually order at a ramen shop. Pretty normal for the locals to have ramen + gyoza, or ramen + rice. The gyozas here were good, nothing spectacular, but more than fit the bill.

Here comes the ramen. Bowl is small to begin with, which means the bowl is completely filled to the top with the noodles, soup, and toppings. The bowl looks small, but there is more than enough food in there.


Soup is well balanced here, but the hakata-taste was a bit stronger than I liked. But if you like the hakata-style flavor, this place is good for you.

The tamago was done VERY well. Nice orange color, soft on the outside, yolks still a bit liquidy. Amazing!

Noodles were your standard hakata-style thin noodles. It is what we come to expect. As with any hakata-style ramen shop, you can ask to have the noodles cooked longer to be a bit soft, or shorter to be a bit hard.

Being close to the office, it earns kudo points already. And this place wasn't bad at all. I've been back a few times, and it's always done consistently. You'll have to like Hakata ramen though to appreciate this place, but it is one that usually has a packed hour during lunch time. The businessmen around the area know, if they want a good meal for lunch, Shibaraku is a solid option.

City: Tokyo, Japan (one other location in Tokyo, three in Fukuoka)
Location: Nihonbashi area, 5 minutes walk from Suitengumae Station
Hours: 11am - 8pm
Website: No official website, http://ramendb.supleks.jp/s/3840.html
Ordering system: Menu
Available in English: Minimal

Sandaime 三代目（助） MARUSUKE

In my many trips to Tokyo, I pretty much always stay in Shinjuku. Let me take this opportunity to prop up the Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku, one of my favorite hotels in the world. Great location, friendly staff, and amazing lounge. If you have diamond status, it is one of the better lounges I've ever been to.

Okay, on to the main event. While I don't mind traveling a long distance to have good ramen, it's always nice to find something in the neighborhood. So thanks to ramendb, I've decided to give Sandaime a go on a Saturday afternoon.


One great thing about Sandaime is the decor and how spacious the shop is. Many of you ramen lovers will attest that some of the ramen shops in Japan are way too small. It makes the experience special and cozy, but for a big guy like me, it can get difficult to maneuver. The way the interior is designed reminds me of a sushi shop where you sit at the bar with the sushi chef preparing your food.


Sandaime offers a variety of ramen flavors, but based on recommendations, I went with one of my favorites, tonkotsu.


The bowl is nicely decorated with a nice, white, creamy looking soup, nice and evenly marbled charshu, menma, tamago, and usual other toppings. All in all looking very good.


The noodles not like your traditional hakata-style noodles, but also of the thinner variety. Cooked to just the right chewiness.


Charshu was the highlight of this place. Made just exactly the way I like it, not too lean with just the even amount of fat.


The egg was also done very well here, another signature item here, although the yolk is cooked a bit too long and not as liquidly as others.


All in all a very nice, quality bowl of ramen. Does it stack up to the greats? Probably not. And chances are I still prefer Ichiran if I need a tonkotshu ramen fix. But if you happen to be in the Shinjuku Sanchome area and looking for a nice bowl of ramen, you should give this a try.

City: Tokyo, Japan
Location: Shinjuku, minutes from the Shinjuku Sanchome station
Hours: 11:30am - 11pm,
Website: No official website, http://ramendb.supleks.jp/s/2562.html
Ordering system: Machine
Available in English: None

Akanoren 博多麺房 赤のれん

My original taste for ramen in Japan was really more tailored to hakata-style ramen. I have always loved thin noodles, and my first experience being Jangara, which was one of the more popular tonkotsu ramen shops in Tokyo, I was out searching for a true, tradition style of hakata ramen. With an option that is so close to Roppongi station, I had to give Akanoren a try.


This ramen shop almost seems out of place, because just down the street is the ever so modern Roppongi Hills. The decor brings you back in time, and you can sense this tradition of hakata ramen even before sitting down. Even the menu is written on a wooden board.


Akanoren brings you hakata ramen at its finest. Every thing from the thin noodles, to the thickness of the tonkotsu soup, to the charshu, and the toppings. This is as traditional as it gets.


What was a nice surpise also was the special dumplings they had. Normally you get gyozas, which is pan-fried. But here, you get boiled dumplings, which was a really nice change. The standard gyoza/dumpling sauce is available, and it was a nice compliment to the ramen.


The problem with having ramen without a Japanese speaking friend is running into problems ordering. Without a machine, I did my best impression of a Japanese person, but failed miserably. Simply because we wanted the hanjyuku tamago, but got a full-boiled egg in our bowl. And when I attempted to order what I thought I wanted, out comes a fully raw egg in my bowl.


It didn't mix well, but that's not the ramen shop's fault. The ramen as a whole was very good. So the lesson here is, I need to learn some Japanese.


All in all, this was a very memorable experience. I loved the decor, the ramen was always very good. If you are craving good hakata ramen, and you live in the city, you won't have to go far. Akanoren is just around the corner.

City: Tokyo, Japan
Location: Roppongi, about 10-minute walk from Roppongi or Azabu-Juban Station
Hours: 11am - 5am
Website: No official website (http://ramendb.supleks.jp/s/398.html)
Ordering system: Menu
Available in English: Minimal

Kohmen 光麵

One of the more famous chains in Tokyo, Kohmen has always had a decent reputation for bringing unique taste. Don’t be fooled by a chain ramen shop, this one is actually more than decent.

They are several types of ramen offered here. Their standard ramen is shouyu-based, called 元祖光麵. Of course I chose 熟成光麵, which was tonkotsu-based. They also have 坦坦麺, which looks excellent.

The 熟成光麵 ramen offers tonkotsu-based soup, with thin noodles, and chashu. There is not your traditional tonkotsu ramen, as the noodles and soup are a bit different. However, it does bring its uniqueness here. The combination of chashu, menma, and tamago, with the soup gives just the right balance for a bowl of ramen. It won’t knock your socks off, but definitely good enough if you have a craving.

The next option in line is their 全部 toppings with your 熟成光麵, which they put all the super duper toppings on a plate. Included in niku (pork), chashu, tamago, menma, seaweed, fried garlic, some sort of veggies, and grilled negi. The tamago here is excellent, by the way. You add these toppings to your bowl of ramen as you wish. A very different way to eat ramen (haven’t found anything similar).

Last thing to talk about here is the gyoza. Nothing spectacular, but it’s pretty good.

You can say Kohmen is your backup plan, your go-to setup man that’s always reliable. It certainly won’t be dazzling your taste buds, but you will leave there a satisfied customer.

City: Tokyo, Japan
Location: Numerous locations throughout the city
Hours: Varies (check website)
Website: http://www.kohmen.com/
Order system: Menu
Available in English? Some

Tonchin 屯ちん

It’s always a plus to find a decent ramen shop near Shinjuku, as it is easy access for me when I need a good meal. There were many that I was really excited about, but I read good things about Tochin, so on a Saturday afternoon, I decided to give it a try.

As with many ramen shops, the machine system makes ordering quick and painless. It wasn’t too busy on a Saturday afternoon, especially with plenty of places to eat around this area. The kitchen here is wide open, so you can see the ramen artists here at work.

This place essentially has got three types of noodles: Miso, Tonkotsu, and Tsukemen. Quite an interesting combination as usually we do not see these three together in one shop. I of course always opt for my usual, tonkontsu. Without too long of a wait, my ramen came.

One of the things that differentiate the tonkotsu ramen here is that one of the standard topping is green onions and menma (looks like it is stir fried and a bit spicy). It provided a bit of a different taste to a standard tonkotsu-based ramen. The other usual suspects are here: seaweed, hanjyuku tamago, and chashu.

The soup is quite tasty here, with just the right amount of fat and heaviness.

The chashu also quite excellent, with a nice balance of lean and fatty meat.

The tamago was your standard hanjyuku tamago, but the yolk may have been cooked a bit too much.

All in all, not a bad bowl of ramen. I wouldn’t mind trying the miso ramen next time if I am around, but not exactly near the top as far as tonkotsu-based ramen. The stir-fried green onions and menma didn’t really do it for me. It wasn’t one of my favorites, but would definitely consider it if I didn’t have too many options to choose from.

City: Tokyo, Japan (also in Kawasaki and Fukashima)
Location: Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Sunamo

Hours: Varies (check website)
Website: http://tonchin.foodex.ne.jp/index.html

Order system: Machine
Available in English? Some

Kagetsu Arashi らあめん花月嵐

One of the bigger ramen chains, Kagetsu Arashi stretches not only all over Japan, but even to Taiwan, where a location exists at 華納威秀. This place offers a variety of ramen, and usually it feels quite gimmicky more than anything else. It’s not a lot of substance, just a lot of flair, if you know what I mean.

As you can see, plenty of condiments offered to help customize the taste of your ramen.

On a rather calm Sunday evening in Shinjuku, the ramen finally arrives only after a few minutes. Just looking at the bowl, nothing really stands out here. All the oil bits made the soup a bit too fatty for my taste, and the noodles were pretty average actually. The best thing about this bowl was the pork, which was pretty much the saving grace for this place.

It’s certainly done well for itself over the years, with shops ALL OVER Japan, so it must be doing something right. They'll have some new creative type of ramen like once a month, which again seem more like a ploy than anything. This is one ramen shop I would avoid if you want to have a taste of a truly amazing bowl of ramen. It’s very much all sizzle and very little steak. While you might not have to stand in line for an hour to enjoy the ramen here, the saying “the best thing comes to those who wait” really fits here.

Location: Everywhere (just kidding, look at website for locations)
Hours: Varies
Website: http://www.kagetsu.co.jp/index.html
Order system: Machine
Available in English? Maybe

Hakata Nagahama Ramen Botan 博多長浜らーめん ぼたん

On my quest to find the best tonkotsu ramen, my journey this time takes me to Takadanobaba. This place is rated one of the best tonkotsu-based ramen according to http://ramendb.supleks.jp/, and I had to try it out.

It was truly a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and a good time to go to a rather popular place to avoid the potential long lines. Just walking down this street, I saw two other ramen shops, one of which was ラーメン二郎, which had a huge queue (its popularity is quite sickening, I’ll explain more in my ラーメン二郎 review).

The place was pretty much empty when I arrived. The typical ticket machine is here so you don't have to even speak Japanese to order, as long as you know what you want and can read a bit of Japanese. I quickly ordered the standard, chashu-men. Just minutes later, my ramen arrived.

Here is your conventional tonkotsu ramen: creamy colored soup, chashu with just the right amount of fat, green onions, kurage (mushroom), and of course the tamago. I also ordered gyoza as this was my first meal of the day, and I was hungry.

The chashu here is excellent. Roasted to perfection and not an overwhelming piece as most places will offer, this will fit in one bite.

The noodles are also very good. As with most tonkotsu ramen, the thin noodles are offered here. And of course you can tell them how long you want your noodles cooked to determine the hardness. I like mine less tender and a bit more chewy.

The gyozas here are also very tasty, pan-fried just right, with veggies and pork.

All in all, a great tonkotsu ramen, one of the highest rated ones in the Tokyo area. Definitely pay a visit if you are a tonkotsu ramen fan, especially if you are in the Takadanobaba area.

City: Tokyo, Japan
Location: Takadanobaba, minutes walk from the station

Hours: Daily 11:00am-4:00am
Website: http://ramendb.supleks.jp/shop/5585
Order system: Machine

Available in English? No