Best New Ramen Shops

An unlikely trio of a country club chef, a pilot and an events promoter founded this fantastic spot. Its inspired ramen variations incorporate additions like smoked pulled pork, caramelized fennel, Japanese eggplant, olive oil–poached shrimp and rabbit confit (served in rabbit dashi). The house-made noodles are delicious, and gluten-free diners can choose excellent yam-based noodles. bokebowl.com

The Portland branch of this Tokyo-based chain serves a complete izakaya-style menu, but the ramen, which is clearly among the best bowls in town, is the key offering. Shigezo’s tonkotsu broth is rich and pleasantly funky, and it lacks the sweetness that can dominate other pork broths. The Tokyo ramen, based on a chicken-and-shoyu broth, is even better, with a well-balanced flavor reminiscent of soba dashi but with extra meatiness. shigezo-pdx.com

This hit East Bay ramen shop is the result of a collaboration between three former chefs from the legendary Chez Panisse. Among them is Jerry Jaksich, who was so enthralled by the ramen at one Sapporo shop that he begged to work there and started by cleaning the floors. His experience in Japan shows: The springy-textured house-made noodles are exemplary, and the broths are uniformly delicious. Jaksich and his crew pride themselves on incorporating top-quality local ingredients such as nori from nearby Mendocino County. For dessert, the shop offers terrific ice cream sandwiches in combinations like black sesame ice cream with brown sugar cookies. ramenshop.com

With only three tables and a counter for in-restaurant dining at this small shop in San Francisco’s Financial District, there’s almost always a line of people waiting to try one of its seven excellent ramen variations. The broths, each of which the restaurant says takes up to 12 hours to make, range from the ubiquitous miso to a soy milk–based version that’s traditional in Kyoto. The noodles are pleasantly springy and additional toppings (just $1 each) range from kakuni (braised pork) to spicy tofu and soft-boiled egg. ramenunderground.org

This North Beach pop-up has earned comparisons to the well-regarded shop Saiwaii in the Outer Sunset, though the broth here veers to the lighter side. Japan-trained chef-owner Leonardi Gondoputro offers tonkotsu broth, miso broth and an excellent chicken-miso broth made with chicken from Marin Sun Farms. kirimachi.com

Chef Shigetoshi “Sean” Nakamura elevates the dip-ramen concept with a signature broth that’s spiked with powdered katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) imported from general manager Takashi Adachi’s father’s company in Japan. The fantastic dipping broths include the Johnny Dip, made with green onions and Italian basil, and the Zebra Dip, made with onsen tamago (traditional Japanese boiled egg), green onions and zebra garlic dressing. If finish the noodles but still have some broth left, servers will add a little hot water so you can sip the remainder, subdued but still delicious. ikemenhollywood.com

Opened by chefs Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto, formerly of the Michelin-starred L.A. restaurant Urasawa, this shop has quickly become Austin’s top ramen spot. Aikawa and Matsumoto are fanatical about the ramen experience. To that end: Broth simmers for up to 60 hours (giving it extraordinary depth of flavor); customers are required to use chopsticks (“training” versions are provided on request); and there’s no take-out (lest the creamy broth break or the noodles inch past al dente). Instead of dousing bowls with hot sauce, slurpers can order spice paste “bombs” to add heat. ramen-tatsuya.com

The first brick-and-mortar incarnation of Top Chef alumnus Paul Qui’s successful late-night food cart project features three meat-based ramen variations: a kimchi pork ramen made with bacon dashi, pork belly and cabbage kimchi; a chicken tortilla ramen, which draws influences from Mexican tortilla soup; and a delicious ramen featuring a velvety broth peppered with bacon and topped with Sapporo beer foam. A vegetarian special is also on the menu, featuring dipping ramen with fried tofu, satsuma-imo (sweet potato), vegetables and crushed peanuts. eskaustin.com/v2/hitw

After earning a Michelin star at his namesake Takashi, chef Takashi Yagihashi wanted to create a restaurant serving the same Japanese comfort food he grew up eating, specifically the ramen. So he returned to his childhood hometown in Japan and trained, paying a shop owner to let him work in the kitchen. The research shows in Yagihashi’s fantastic noodles, made from his own carefully tweaked recipe on a $40,000, Japanese-made machine in the building’s basement. slurpingturtle.com

Long waits are common to enter this small, upstairs shop. While some ramen chefs obsess over noodles, chef Erik Bruner-Yang turns out especially impressive broths, including one with curry spices, and a deeply colored vegetarian stock made with shiitake mushrooms, kombu, lemongrass and ginger. tokiunderground.com

Chef Dean Leevongcharoen’s 70-seat restaurant draws its influence from the Hakata-style soup famous in southern Japan. At Ramen Bar, the delicious pork-based tonkotsu broth is simmered for more than 20 hours. Eight ramen varieties are offered, which range from the spicy Kara Kara to a delicious vegetarian option made with a seaweed-based broth. Additional toppings include marinated boiled egg, seasoned bamboo shoots and a signature spicy paste. ramenbarphilly.com

Opened by three former Morimoto chefs, this cash-only, 35-seat shop offers four types of ramen (miso, soy, vegetarian and kimchi), plus a weekly special. While there’s no wrong order, the kimchi ramen offers a perfect balance of flavorful broth, cooked-just-right noodles and creative garnishes including corn, bamboo shoots, market vegetables and ground pork, all topped with a poached egg. barchuko.com

The Long Island–born Japanese ramen guru Ivan Orkin will soon open his first namesake ramen shop in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Staying true to the process that earned him respect in Tokyo despite his being a foreigner, Orkin will be making custom rye-flour noodles—a collaborative effort with New Jersey noodle maker Sun Noodle—to serve with his innovative pork-and-dashi-based broth. 25 Clinton St.

Run by chef Akira Hiratsuka, formerly of New York’s excellent Yakitori Totto, this shop specializes in Sapporo-style ramen. Bowls here begin with a mixture of ground pork, bean sprouts, onions, garlic and ginger that’s stir-fried in a raging-hot wok that’s then deglazed with broth, which picks up a hint of smokiness from the hot steel. House-made spicy garlic oil adds heat. ramenyebisu.com

This super-popular shop in the heart of Honolulu’s Chinatown offers four fantastic ramen variations, ranging from a classic offering, made with bean sprouts, a soft steamed egg and wakame to the Beast Bowl, which adds brisket, short ribs and oxtail wontons. The namesake Belly Bowl is meaty as well, with traditional pork belly in addition to bacon and smoky sausage. luckybelly.com

This 16-seat ramen shop offers just one bowl: a pork-soy broth featuring thick, handmade noodles and heaping portions of pork slices, topped with crunchy, raw cabbage and bean sprouts. Minced garlic and seabura (pork back fat) toppings are available on request. The thickly cut pork belly is fantastic, and the shop sells it cooked to take home in 500-gram packages for $15.

Fun fact: Yume wo katare means “tell your dreams.” Picture frames hang on the shop’s walls for people to rent and write down their dreams. Costs vary: $10 for one month, $30 for three months and the 10-year frame is $10,000. If your dream is realized by the end of your rental period, prizes include a free bowl of ramen or a T-shirt. yumewokatare.com