Best of the Best Ramen in Japan
So you want the best ramen in Japan. Maybe a Google search brought you here. At the end of the day, making a best-of list is the most annoying part of being a ramen critic. Let’s let the top foodies in Japan decide for us!
Print Media
Publishing is alive and well in Japan, with many ramen magazines hitting the shelves annually. Ramen Walker, which sells annual magazines covering different regions of Japan, has published a comprehensive guide to their Gold, Silver, and Bronze-winning shops. Consider this the ultimate guide to the best ramen in Japan. Yes, there are over 500 shops listed, but crushing the Legend Shops (shops that received Gold for three years) is a must for any ambitious ramen hunter.
百名店
The Hyakumeiten (百名店) list from Tabelog is one heck of a list. We have 100 shops in Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Kanagawa, Aichi, East, and West for a total of 700 top shops around Japan. I’ve compiled all of the shops into lists with links. Eating at 700 shops is a mission, so why not start with the top 10 in each area? My lists are in order of the general Tabelog rating, which, though not a perfect metric, is decent in its own special way.
The Hyakumeiten covers 29 different genres of casual gourmet like soba, unagi, burgers, ice cream, and curry. It is updated yearly, with ramen getting a facelift around December.
I decided to make my life easier and let ChatGPT pick the best. It is obvious how AI aligns.
This list would feel good at home in any English-language guidebook. The truth is, these shops are all packed with more tourists than locals, and some of them are completely absent from any of the well-respected Japanese best-of lists. Since I made this list, the AI hivemind has become a much better resource. Time for a new video? Michelin is also in the game, but it has more critics than fans, so I won’t talk about it here.
