The 10 Best Ramen Shops You Must Eat in Shinjuku, Tokyo

Shinjuku is one of the most competitive district of Tokyo Ramen. The styles of ramen you find here vary from traditional styles to innovative ramens. Some restaurants are open 24 hours. We gathered the best ramen restaurants in Shinjuku area. They are all worth trying!

1. Fu-unji

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Fu-unji is one of the restaurants that always have a line of people in this competitive ramen district. What attracts people the most is their unique soup, a fusion of rich chicken broth and light fish broth.

They simmer nationally grown chicken and chicken bones, dried bonito (from Kochi), Urume sardine (from Ehime) and kelp for 8 hours. Then the soup is carefully strained over 6 hours, and sit for a day before being served.

It goes well with their thick straight noodles made from nationally grown wheat. “Tsukemen” is their best seller but they also have 15-servings-only ramen, “Kamatamaamen”. Try it out!

2. Ramen Manrai

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Ramen Manrai has 50 years of history. They have kept the original recipe since the beginning and the taste is somehow nostalgic. Their best seller is “Char siu zaru” The noodle is smooth and strong, and it goes well with their sour soup.

Their Char siu is thickly sliced and the meat is so soft. This restaurant is easy to get in even when you are alone. Try it out when you want thick Cha siu!

3. Yakiago Shio Ramen Takahashi

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Yakiago Shio Ramen Takahashi is proud of their special soup. They simmer nationally grown pork and add fish broth made from high-quality grilled flying fish and some other seafood. They process each flying fish by hand to make the best soup out of it.

You should also have rice if you come here, Their rice comes directly form farmers in Niigata and you can have this high-quality rice for 100 yes, not matter the size. Come here hungry!

4. Shinjuku Menya Kaijin

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Shinjuku Menya Kaijin is right by the south east exit of JR Shinjuku station. They are particular about broth and use only fresh fish that are caught on the day to make the broth. Their salt based soup is made by simmering saw edged perch.

The soup is clear and smooth. Their strong and smooth thin noodles are made from two different kinds of wheat. “Heshiko yaki onigiri (rice ball)” is also popular here. You can have it separately or by soaking it into the soup. Please try!

5. Sugoi Niboshi Ramen Nagi

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Sugoi Niboshi Ramen Nagi opened in Shinjuku in 2004. Their characteristics is the extremely rich soup. They gather more than 20 different kinds of Niboshi (dried sardines) from all over Japan and blend them into the soup.

They use curly noodles made by hand, which have great wheat flavor. They also have branches in Taiwan, Philippines and Hong Kong, and all are successful! Try their ramen if you have a chance!

 
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6. Mensho Taketora

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Mensho Taketora established a new style of enjoying ramen. Typical ramen restaurants have counter seats and a few tables, but Mensho Taketora has private dining rooms and offers cocktails, shochu, and various side dishes such as Takowasa and grilled ray fin.

You can take time enjoying good food and drink. They have shoyu (soy sauce) ramen, miso ramen, shio (salt) ramen, and ramen with fish and pork broth. Here, you can enjoy ramen as a nice dinner.

7. Ramen Horiuchi

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Ramen Horiuchi became independent from Ramen Manrai and opened a new restaurant in Nishi Shinjuku. Their shoyu (soy sauce) based soup uses a lot of pork bones and chicken bones, and it is light and smooth. You can easily finish one portion.

They change boiling time for noodles depending on the temperature and the humidity of the day. Their thick and strong noodles go well with their char siu.

They also have a branch in Shinbashi and this one is open till the early morning. If you don’t know which ramen to try in Tokyo, come try this one!

8. Nichome Tsukemen GACHI

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Ramen
GACHI literally means that you put 100% effort, and as their name suggests, they put 100% effort on both noodles and soup. The noodles are freshly made by themselves and the soup is 100% from chicken.

Their salt based chicken soup goes well with homemade thick noodles. Since the restaurant is in Nichome, it Is popular among foreigners too. You can try unique ramens such as teriyaki flavor or red hot chili flavor here. Come here when you want to try something new!

9. Menya Sho

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Exquisite Shio Ramen with various kinds of salt
Menya Sho just had 10 year anniversary in April 2017. Their best seller is shio (salt) ramen but you can also enjoy shoyu (soy sauce) ramen and Toripaitan (chicken broth) ramen.

“Kosai Toridashi Shio Ramen”combines various kinds of salt and has a rich flavor of chicken. Try this special soup that they are proud of.

You can also have miso ramen every Wednesday, and they offer “Himekko Jidori Ramen”made from high-quality chicken from Ehime on the last Tuesday of the month. You will never get bored with this restaurant!

10. Tsukemen Ramen Araumi

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Customize your Tsukemen
Carefully chosen chicken, pork bones, fish bones and vegetables are simmered for hours and make this delicious soup. You can choose the firmness of your noodles, thickness of the soup and the amount of vegetable toppings, garlic, oil and chili.

You can customize you own ramen here! Their best seller is “Tokusei Tsukemen” but “Showa Shoyu Ramen”is popular as well, with its gentlw homemade taste. Please try this one at least once!

Have the best ramens in Shinjuku!

Ramen is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. Shinjuku has many different ramen restaurants and some trends start from here. The 10 restaurants listed here are the top recommendations in Shinjuku area. Get on the train now and try it out!