Koen and I arrived in Tokyo early in the morning, so by the time we settled into our apartment for the week we were ready for lunch. One place we were excited to visit was the Tokyo Ramen Street in the Tokyo Station. We first saw it in Mind of a Chef with David Chang and then read about it on various sites about the best ramen in Tokyo.

Ramen Street opened in 2011, when Tokyo Station invited 8 of the best ramen chefs to open shops. During our trip we ate ramen at two of the restaurants, Rokurinsha and Hirugao.

Rokurinsha is the most famous of the eight, known for their tsukemen style ramen, aka dipping noodle style. They have super thick noodles and a delicious thick broth. There is always a super long line and we waited around 45 minutes for our delicious bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hirugao is known for another type of ramen – shio. Shio basically means “salty” and it’s the most prevalent style of ramen in Tokyo. We went with our friend Kyoko and she said this is her favorite type of ramen, so we were excited to try it! Hirugao is also famous for it’s gyoza, or Japanese dumplings, and you could purchase an order on the side or in your ramen.

 

 

 

I really loved Tokyo Station – and not just for Ramen Street! You can also find Character Street filled with shops featuring all of the favorite animated characters, like Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and everything from Studio Ghibli. There are also tons of delicious sweets available!