Ramen

This is the main shop of the Menya Musashi group, four minutes from the West Exit of JR Shinjuku Station. The soup is a double soup: an animal-based stock built on chicken bones and pork bones, combined with a seafood stock taken from bonito flakes and dried sardines. Both ra-men and tsukemen, noodles served with a separate dipping soup, are on the menu, each in light and rich versions, with garlic, spicy tantan and extra-pork variations. The shop has 19 seats and is open every day.

Good to know

• The shop has only 19 seats, so you may have to wait.
• Prices and accepted payment methods are not listed on the official website.
• The shop is open every day with no regular closing day.
• The official site has an English version of this shop's page.

Menya Musashi Bukotsu opened in December 2003 near the North Exit of Okachimachi Station, three minutes on foot. The shop builds its ramen on a pork bone soup and offers three versions: the basic white, a black made with squid ink, and a red made with a house spicy sauce. Chashu is pork belly steamed for a long time and simmered in a sauce, then cut in front of you as it is served. The menu covers ra-men and tsukemen, dipping noodles, in each of the three flavours, with the shop having only 12 seats.

Good to know

• The shop has only 12 seats, so you may have to wait.
• Prices and accepted payment methods are not listed on the official website.
• The shop is open every day with no regular closing day.
• The official site has an English version of this shop's page.

Oreryu Shio-Ramen is a salt ramen shop that the company describes as born in Shibuya, and this branch in Shibuya Center-gai opens at 11:00 and serves until 7:00 the next morning, every day of the week. The basic bowl, Oreryu Shio-Ramen at ¥830, is built on a broth of chicken bones and spring onion simmered slowly over a low flame. A matured version, Jukusei Shio-Ramen at ¥850, is cooked quickly in a pressure pot so that only the sweetness and umami come through. All seats are non-smoking.

Good to know

• All seats are non-smoking.
• The official page does not give a seat count, a walking time from the station, the payment methods accepted, or whether prices include tax.
• Reservations and any age limit are not mentioned on the official page.

Fuunji is a tsukemen and ramen shop five minutes from the South Exit of JR Shinjuku Station, and one minute from Exit 6 of the Toei Shinjuku Station. The soup is made by simmering whole domestic chicken, chicken bones, kelp, bonito flakes and round herring for eight hours, straining it over six hours and ageing it for a day. The noodles are a medium-thick straight noodle made to order by a noodle maker that supplies many well-known shops. There are 15 counter seats, all non-smoking, and the shop closes when the soup runs out.

Good to know

• The shop does not take reservations.
• It closes when the soup runs out, before the listed closing time.
• All 15 counter seats are non-smoking.
• The shop breaks between 15:00 and 17:00 every day.
• The official site does not say which payment methods are accepted, nor whether prices include tax.
• There is no parking, although there are paid car parks nearby.
• The address is in Shibuya-ku, but the shop is within walking distance of Shinjuku Station.

Bukotsu Soden opened in June 2011 one minute from the Shinobazu Exit of JR Ueno Station, carrying on the methods of Menya Musashi Bukotsu as a shop specialising in tsukemen, noodles served with a separate dipping soup. As at Bukotsu you choose between three flavours, black, white and red. For the black, aromatic vegetables such as garlic and onion are slowly fried in lard until charred, then squid ink is added for extra depth. The menu also includes ra-men, mazesoba and roast pork dishes, with 17 seats in the shop.

Good to know

• The shop has only 17 seats, so you may have to wait.
• Prices and accepted payment methods are not listed on the official website.
• The shop is open every day with no regular closing day.
• The official site has an English version of the Menya Musashi shop pages.

Bukotsu Gaiden is the Menya Musashi group's Dogenzaka shop, three minutes from the Hachiko Exit of JR Shibuya Station, and it has been open since December 2006. You choose between a regular soup of chicken and pork bones combined with crab and dried sardines, and a rich version that adds thick-shaved bonito flakes. You then choose black, with a special soy sauce thickened sauce, red, with a spicy miso sauce, or white, with no sauce. The shop has 19 seats and opens every day.

Good to know

• The shop has only 19 seats, so you may have to wait.
• Prices and accepted payment methods are not listed on the official website.
• The shop is open every day with no regular closing day.
• The official site does not state the smoking policy or whether reservations are taken.

Moko Tanmen Nakamoto is a ramen shop in the basement of a building in Nishi-Shinjuku, open from 10:00 to 23:00. Every bowl on the ramen menu carries a spiciness number from 0 to 9. Shio tanmen, with stir-fried vegetables and no chilli, is level 0 at ¥1,000; moko tanmen, which the shop lists as its most popular dish, is level 5 at ¥1,060 and puts spicy mapo tofu on top of a miso tanmen; and hokkyoku ramen, level 9 at ¥1,080, is the hottest, with the shop warning first-time visitors. There are 19 counter seats and three tables.

Good to know

• The official page does not give a nearest station or a walking time.
• The shop is in the basement of the building.
• Payment methods, the smoking policy, reservations and closing days are not stated on the official page.
• Takeout and delivery are shown on the shop page.

Moko Tanmen Nakamoto is a ramen shop on the second basement floor of the TOHO Cinemas Shibuya building on Dogenzaka, open from 10:00 to 22:30. Every bowl on the ramen menu carries a spiciness number from 0 to 9. Shio tanmen, with stir-fried vegetables and no chilli, is level 0 at ¥1,000; moko tanmen, which the shop lists as its most popular dish, is level 5 at ¥1,060 and puts spicy mapo tofu on top of a miso tanmen; and hokkyoku ramen, level 9 at ¥1,080, is the hottest, with the shop warning first-time visitors. There are 14 counter seats and five tables.

Good to know

• The official page does not give a nearest station or a walking time. The shop is on the second basement floor of the TOHO Cinemas Shibuya building.
• Payment methods, the smoking policy, reservations and closing days are not stated on the official page.
• The chain publishes a separate page listing regular and temporary closures.

A ramen shop at the Okachimachi end of Ameyoko, open around the clock. The broth is made from duck, spring onion and water alone, served with noodles milled to the shop's own order from domestic wholemeal and wheat flour.

The other thing people order is the oyakodon — chicken and egg over rice, cooked for ten seconds so it is almost drinkable.

Good to know

• Cash only — cards, IC cards and QR payments are not accepted.
• Prices are not published on the official site.
• Reservations are only taken for Monday to Thursday between 11:00 and 21:00, so late-night visits are walk-in.