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Ramen Street In Tokyo

Located inside Tokyo Station, Ramen Street has eight of the Japanese megacity’s best ramen shops. Discover why we loved this ‘street’ for its selection of cheap and delicious bowls of soup.

Sign to Tokyo Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Sign Points Straight Ahead to Tokyo’s Tastiest Street | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Tokyo Station was an important part of our recent visit to Tokyo and is a must-stop on any Tokyo itinerary with a focus on Japanese food.

It’s where we entered Tokyo via the monorail ride from Haneda Airport. It’s where we caught the Shinkansen (bullet) high-speed train to Kyoto. And, most importantly, it’s where we twice ate exceptional ramen.

The station is big. Really big. In fact, it’s arguably the busiest rail station in Japan. Shinjuku Station, on the other side of town, may be even busier.

In the underground mall, near Character Street, is Ramen Street. The name is not misleading – Ramen Street is home to eight of the best ramen shops in Tokyo. In a nutshell, Ramen Street is Tokyo’s tastiest indoor street.

As fans of ramen dating back to our days living in Philadelphia, eating ramen was high on our list of the top things to do in Tokyo. After a morning of touring, we headed to Ramen Street for lunch on our second day in Tokyo. We weaved our way through the bustling Tokyo Station complex until we found the mecca for soup lovers like us.

Discover more of the best soups in the world.

Ramen Street Toyko

A Guide to Tokyo Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
A Guide to Tokyo Ramen Street | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Our first stop on Ramen Street was the sign with photographs and descriptions of the eight ramen shops and their chefs. Since the descriptions were in Japanese, we ended up picking our first ramen shop by gut instinct.

Locals at Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Tokyo Locals Argue over their Ramen Choices | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Selecting A Ramen Shop

Our first thought was to go to the shop with the longest line. But then, on second thought, we were drawn to the only shop where the chefs were making handmade noodles from scratch. It turns out that we picked Shichisai 麺や 七彩 which is known for its handmade noodles, lack of preservatives and chasu pork.

Handmade noodles at Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Handmade Noodles Wait for their Bath | Image: ©2foodtrippers
Boiling Noodles at Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Boiling Noodles | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Ordering Ramen

Step one was to order our soup via a vending machine. This was easier said than done since there was no English on the vending machine, but we ordered successfully.

Ramen Vending Machine at Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Ramen Vending Machine | Image: ©2foodtrippers

We paid for our lunch, got our tickets and then got in line to wait for our turn to eat. The others in line were all local businessmen. After we were seated in one of the few booths, we promptly ordered a large bottle of Asahi to share.

Asahi Beer at Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Daryl Waits Patiently – with Asahi Beer | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Daryl ordered a bowl of shoyu ramen brimming with chasu pork and an egg that oozed orange goodness when broken.

Shoyu Ramen at Shichisai at Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Shoyu Ramen at Shichisai | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Mindi ordered her ramen tsukemen style with the noodles and light, broth-like sauce served in separate bowls.

Mindi enjoys her Tsukamen on Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Mindi Dips and Slurps her Tsukemen Ramen | Image: ©2foodtrippers

While Daryl slurped his ramen, Mindi enjoyed hers by dipping, slurping and repeating until gone. We were struck by the depth of flavor in such deceptively simple food, and we especially loved the handmade noodles. In other words, the ramen was delicious.

Our Second Visit To Ramen Street

Our second visit to Ramen Street was different, as we knew exactly how to get there and where we were going. We had decided in advance to try Honda 本田, and we found it by matching the letter symbols.

Since it was later in the day, the lines were shorter. We ordered our lunch by vending machine again, which was a bit of a crapshoot without English.

For this lunch, we both ordered bowls of ramen with pork and eggs. The soups were simply composed with broths possessing complex flavors marrying dark soy and pork. As the peppy music played in the brightly lit shop, we happily slurped our way to the bottom of the bowls.

Bowl of Ramen at Honda on Ramen Street in Tokyo Japan
Honda Ramen | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Ramen is originally from China. Trust the Japanese to borrow a concept and then perfect it. Perfection in a bowl to be precise.

Ramen Street is located in Tokyo Station at 1 Chome Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.

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About The Authors

About The Authors

Daryl & Mindi Hirsch

Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers their unique taste of the world.

Disclosures

Article Updates
We update our articles regularly. Some updates are major while others are minor link changes and spelling corrections. Let us know if you see anything that needs to be updated in this article.

Funding
We self-funded our trip to Tokyo.

Original Publication Date: April 24, 2013

Megan

Sunday 14th of April 2019

Thanks for this post! My husband and I are currently in Tokyo for a 2-day stopover, and we used your guidelines to order ramen at Ramen Street. It was great! Thanks so much!

Daryl and Mindi Hirsch

Sunday 14th of April 2019

That's awesome! Enjoy the rest of your travels where you're headed next!

Kisa Johnson

Monday 27th of July 2015

I'm so jealous you got to actually try Ramen in Tokyo!! I've gotten to try it at Japanese restaurants here, and while delicious, I can't wait to someday experience it in Japan!!

Daryl and Mindi Hirsch

Monday 27th of July 2015

You will love ramen in Tokyo!

Stacie

Wednesday 15th of July 2015

My son would absolutely love this restaurant as he loves ramen. He is always telling me about different Ramen Recipes. The food looks amazing.

Shigeru Saito

Friday 22nd of August 2014

Welcome to Japan. That sounds like Japanese ramen could be added your fav food list? Tokyo station is on my way to my office, but I've never visited Tokyo ramen street. I'll definitely visit there soon. I'm afraid there used to be a few signboards written in English in Japan, but recently they are increasing everywhere. Please come to Japan again and have a nice time! Thank you

Shige

Sumit Surai

Monday 18th of August 2014

That Shoyu Ramen picture made me super hungry. How did you people manage to order the soup with everything written in Japanese?

Daryl and Mindi Hirsch

Monday 18th of August 2014

We used a combination of educated guessing and hand gesturing.

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