Food & Drink Jun 15, 2019
Ramen no Bonbo: First steps on a ramen journey
by J.J. O'Donoghue
Kyoto's newly opened Ramen no Bonbo may be owned by two of the youngest ramen chefs in the city, but they're no amateurs in the kitchen.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Mar 30, 2019
Le Dessin: How did such refined ramen come to be?
by Robbie Swinnerton
Among the mundane family restaurants, gritty gasoline stands and unlovely strip malls that line National Route 1 in Shizuoka Prececture there are places that catch the eye and justify a detour. None more so than Le Dessin.
Food & Drink | DESSERT WATCH Feb 9, 2019
Say 'I love you' a different way with Kourakuen's chocolate ramen
by Patrick St. Michel
This Valentine's Day offering from ramen chain Kourakuen features a soy sauce-based ramen with a hefty dose of chocolate.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jan 19, 2019
Ginza Kagari Honten: The tori paitan classic is reborn
by Robbie Swinnerton
Two words: "tori paitan." The smooth, satisfying soup derived from simmering chicken bones and carcasses long and slow to create a thick, umami-rich broth. Served with ramen and a few choice toppings, it makes for one of the finest bowls of noodles you can ...
Food & Drink Dec 22, 2018
Full stomachs and wallets at Osaka Hanten
by Matt Kaufman
At Osaka Hanten, Hisao Tanaka's mission to provide hearty meals at affordable prices comes from the chef's past experiences with hunger.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Dec 15, 2018
Konjiki Hototogisu: Ramen's new star rises in Shinjuku
by Robbie Swinnerton
Konjiki Hototogisu is exactly the kind of new-wave noodle counter that old-school ramen grinches love to hate. It's squeaky clean and has a rustic wooden frontage. The delicate noodles are handmade in-house. The soups are light, complex and deep, with none of that porky ...
Travel | A Weekend In Nov 10, 2018
A weekend in Sapporo: Fresh crab, craft beer and sculpture gardens
by Oscar Boyd
For more than a third of the year, Sapporo is buried beneath thick snow. During its warmer months, however, the city shrugs off its winter coat and bursts into life. If winter is uncomfortably cold, then summer is refreshingly cool; Sapporo doesn't suffer from the ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Aug 4, 2018
Mensho San Francisco: Ramen given the West Coast treatment
by Robbie Swinnerton
It's no secret: Ramen is big in America, and getting bigger fast. It also seems to be undergoing some unusual mutations in its new, no-holds-barred environment. No one understands this better than the self-styled "hyper ramen creator," Tomoharu Shono. He's the man behind some of ...
Business Aug 1, 2018
Kirin Ramen gets new name amid trademark battle with beer giant
Noodle-maker Ogasawara Seifun said Wednesday it has picked a new name for its mainstay ramen product, Kirin Ramen, amid an ongoing trademark battle with major brewer Kirin Co. The ramen, styled by the company based in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, as "local soul food every single ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Jun 30, 2018
Ayu Ramen: Hole in the wall noodles topped with sweetfish
by Robbie Swinnerton
The noren half-curtain across the entrance, the compact seven-seat counter, the steam wafting up from the simmering vats — this is the DNA for thousands of hole-in-the-wall noodle joints across Japan. But Ayu Ramen stands out in one crucial respect. Every bowl here comes ...
People | WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN? Apr 7, 2018
Tak Tokumine: It's all about love and noodles
by George Koutsakis
Founder of Japan Centre and Shoryu Ramen says the U.K. is now his home.