5 best modern ramen in Tokyo

The noodles at Ginza Hachigo take inspiration from the owner-chef Yasushi Matsumura’s extensive French culinary experience. The result: a clear, golden ramen soup that could pass as a consomme, light yet complex in flavour. It’s made by boiling down Nagoya Cochin chicken, duck, scallops, dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, konbu (seaweed), an heirloom green onion from Kyoto and surprisingly, cured ham. Where your standard bowl of ramen calls for tare, a sauce concentrate that acts like a seasoning, Matsumura eschews that for a sprinkling of French sea salt to round out the flavours. And it’s just phenomenal.

The bowl of noodles is then topped with bamboo shoots, slivers of green onion and slices of chashu pork, and finished with a fresh crack of black pepper. Those fatty pork pieces are cooked so perfectly that the fat just coats your palette with a sweet, creamy, savoury goodness. Be warned though, you’ll have to arrive early to get in line – but it’ll be one of the best bowls of ramen you’ll have in Tokyo. From ¥1,100

Chef Masa who runs Ebimaru does not have any training in ramen. It’s his experience in French cuisine that led to the creation of this luxurious bowl of lobster noodles. The soup, which is the star here, is actually a rich and creamy lobster bisque that wouldn’t look out of place in a French restaurant. It’s made with Canadian lobster, brandy, wine and a plethora of herbs, vegetables and spices on a base of chicken broth.

The most popular item on the menu, the whole lobster ramen (¥3,300) is a feast. It comes with a whole oven-baked lobster, two slices of pork, half a smoked egg, chopped onions and strangely, a smear of sour cream on a piece of baguette. The sour cream does help tone down the bold and punchy taste of crustacean, but we much prefer to add in the chilli oil to boost those sweet, roasty, shrimpy flavours instead.

While we know it’s hard to resist licking the bowl clean, make sure to save some of the bisque for part two. Order a small serving of rice, a raw egg yolk and shrimp (¥440), pour in the leftover soup, let the waiter grate a heap of cheese over it, stir to mix, and you’ll have an exquisite risotto. After that, head home and enjoy your food coma.

This basement ramen shop in Kanda is best known for its tori paitan soba (¥890) – a rich creamy chicken number that's essentially pasta carbonara in ramen form. It's even finished off with toppings you normally see on a plate of pasta: bacon-wrapped asparagus grilled to a perfect crisp, a softly poached egg, broccoli, fried onion and bacon bits. Close your eyes and you could swear you're eating carbonara covered in sauce.

For the ultimate indulgence, be sure to get a side of garlic butter to add to your broth.

One of the most famous types of ramen, tonkotsu is known for its thick and cloudy collagen-rich broth, made by boiling pork bones for an extended period of time. But Butasoba Tsukiya in Hiroo’s Eat Play Works food hall has a different take on this classic dish. 

Here, the soup is light, fresh and surprisingly clear. To achieve this, the chef simmers the pork bones on gentle heat rather than boiling them, and continuously skims the liquid to remove sediment. It’s a painstakingly long process, but it results in a beautiful, clarified broth that still packs in the sweet flavours of pork.

The noodles are topped with thin slices of chashu pork and served alongside a wedge of kabosu (Japanese citrus similar to a lime). The best way to enjoy this is to taste the broth as-is before squeezing in the citrus rind-side down for a zesty hit. From ¥800

This quaint little ramen joint in Shimokitazawa has amassed a loyal fanbase, who flock to the 14-seater for its tongue-tingling ramen noodles steeped in a spicy broth that’s more akin to Hokkaido soup curry. The fiery and amazingly moreish soup is made with pork bones, chicken, seafood and vegetables, and then infused with a handful of herbs and Indian spices including cumin and turmeric.

Don’t worry, there’s a lot of crunch and freshness in the final dish to offset the heat. The bowl is topped with ingredients you don’t see in regular ramen, such as deep-fried burdock, cashews, red onion slices, diced capsicum and chrysanthemum petals. Of course, you’ll get the customary soft-boiled egg and roast pork, and if you’re after a real chilli burn, you can request your ramen to be two to six times spicier at an additional cost. From ¥980