# Ramen restaurants in Japan, what is the deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628 "2015-01-12T15:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/41 "2015-01-12T19:44:20Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’ve seen these places and I can come up with a few options: > > They make REALLY GOOD ramen, like really good which makes it worth the money. But ramen is so easy to make at home, even livening it up by tossing in some fresh veggies or egg etc that this is hard to be believe it is worth it. Just as a random comparison say burger places, no contest. > > They are reasonable enough in price it is worth it(could be I dunno.) > > It is just that culturally the customers want ramen and are willing to pay for it, but then I wonder why there are no ramen places in the USA or elsewhere for the most part. There are. The popularity of ramen bars is on the rise in the US. But tastes always differ and it can be hard to start a trend or break into a saturated market. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/42 "2015-01-12T19:45:12Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > **John Mace** - have you tried the new [Ramen Taka](http://www.yelp.com/biz/ramen-taka-santa-clara) in Santa Clara near the university? I rate it as 90% as good as Orenchi, without the mobs. I’m going back this week. No, but it sounds good. My usual place is [Kumako](http://www.yelp.com/biz/kumako-san-jose) in Japan Town in SJ. The chef is Chinese, so it has some Chinese influenced choices, too. But oh-so-good on a chilly winter day! It’s a total dive, btw, so you have to not mind that. Very popular with SJ State students. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/43 "2015-01-12T19:46:22Z")
Y’know, looking at the OP again, I wonder. **grude** - if you’ve seen these places, why not just try one and find out what the deal is? Get whatever the most standard menu offering is. Those are often the best, especially if you don’t know what you particularly like. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/44 "2015-01-12T21:05:50Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’ve seen these places and I can come up with a few options: > > They make REALLY GOOD ramen, like really good which makes it worth the money. But ramen is so easy to make at home, even livening it up by tossing in some fresh veggies or egg etc that this is hard to be believe it is worth it. Just as a random comparison say burger places, no contest. > > They are reasonable enough in price it is worth it(could be I dunno.) > > It is just that culturally the customers want ramen and are willing to pay for it, but then I wonder why there are no ramen places in the USA or elsewhere for the most part. Or they just want to go out to eat, and they like ramen? ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/45 "2015-01-12T22:10:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Well then I’m kind of annoyed that ramen places serving real broth etc haven’t expanded outside Japan. They have. I know of several in the Boston area. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/46 "2015-01-12T22:39:46Z")
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned but perhaps should be is that real ramen is pretty damn cheap in Japan. You’re going to pay like $10 at the most, probably less. I’d be wary of any ramen place that offered more than one kind of broth. A good place will specialize. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/47 "2015-01-12T23:27:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Well then I’m kind of annoyed that ramen places serving real broth etc haven’t expanded outside Japan. It annoys me more that Pho places which serve real broth have expanded outside Japan. Ramen is much tastier than Pho. ---
**Author:** ![CalBak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@CalBak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalBak)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/48 "2015-01-13T00:03:54Z")
There’s one slated to open in Des Moines in July or August and it is pretty far from a major metropolitan city, less than 600,000 people. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/49 "2015-01-13T00:56:02Z")
Well, like most things Japanese, the effort and the craftsmanship involved in making these things is much better than the things themselves. I can’t imagine anyone slicing meat in such a way as to make Shaved Montreal Smoke Meat - least wise not in the 1500s. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/50 "2015-01-13T01:23:38Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It annoys me more that Pho places which serve real broth have expanded outside Japan. Ramen is much tastier than Pho. 1. Pho, being from Vietnam (and currently servicing the enormous Vietnamese expat population here), _started_ outside Japan. 🆒 2. Being Vietnamese myself, my mileage regarding the relative merits of the two dishes obviously varies. (I could eat pho literally every day without a second thought.) “Real” ramen is awesome, though. Hell, for that matter, so is the instant stuff, if you dress it up with a little sesame oil and hot sauce. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/51 "2015-01-13T01:39:26Z")
I think that the fond recollections of living on ramen in college could be an advantage when opening a ramen restaurant, the same way that a childhood love of McDonald’s leads one to seek out more sophisticated burgers in adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/52 "2015-01-13T05:42:04Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’ve seen these places and I can come up with a few options: > > They make REALLY GOOD ramen, like really good which makes it worth the money. But ramen is so easy to make at home, even livening it up by tossing in some fresh veggies or egg etc that this is hard to be believe it is worth it. Just as a random comparison say burger places, no contest. > > They are reasonable enough in price it is worth it(could be I dunno.) > > It is just that culturally the customers want ramen and are willing to pay for it, but then I wonder why there are no ramen places in the USA or elsewhere for the most part. lmao no ramen places in the USA? there’s gotta be 50+ ramen restaurants in the LA area and ramen is not easy to make. it’s really time consuming. broths take anywhere from 12 - 24 hours to make. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/53 "2015-01-13T05:45:07Z")
I wouldn’t call making ramen broth exceptionally difficult. Time consuming? Sure, making dashi certainly involves boiling seaweed and fish flakes for a hell of a long time. But it’s not like some recipes where letting the temperature get **just** too high ruins the whole thing or anything. E: Miso is a bit more intense, though. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/54 "2015-01-13T06:25:19Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I wouldn’t call making ramen broth exceptionally difficult. Time consuming? Sure, making dashi certainly involves boiling seaweed and fish flakes for a hell of a long time. Making decent to good ramen at home isn’t too difficult. However, getting the same quality as good restaurants is not just time consuming, it’s downright impractical. This is more true for some types of ramen than others. For instance, to properly make a Hakata-style _tonkotsu_ soup, you need to get the blood out of pig bones by boiling them and constantly scooping out the foam. Then, you clean them and dry them. Then, you smash them to pieces with a hammer, and then you boil them again – for 12 to 24 hours. That’s probably the most difficult soup to make, but many restaurants do simmer their broths for several hours, requiring frequent monitoring and attention to remove foam, and add ingredients at the right time. Ramen is not made with Japanese bonito _dashi_ (which typically takes, BTW, only a few minutes to make.) Bonito flakes and seaweed can be added to the soup, but the most traditional recipes call for chicken broth. Pork or beef bones are also common, and as anyone who has seen _Tampopo_ knows, the exact ingredients that go in the soup can be a tightly guarded secret. You can buy pretty decent noodles at the supermarket, and people do make it at home, but when you can have a great bowl of the stuff for the equivalent of 6 to 7 dollars, most of the time, it’s not worth the trouble. There are something like 20,000 ramen restaurants in Tokyo alone. The competition is such that to even survive, you have to be very good. You have to be very unlucky to have bad ramen in Tokyo. Also, since it’s so popular, customers are very demanding and also very good at telling the subtle differences between different restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/55 "2015-01-13T06:29:01Z")
I was actually thinking of Udon when I mentioned dashi, derp. Though I have made a couple varieties of homemade ramen too, though you’re right that the difficulty depends on kind. Shoyu is pretty straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/56 "2015-01-13T06:31:41Z")
Yeah, it’s a huge generalisation, but for ramen, the soup makes the difference, and for udon, it’s the noodles. Udon (with frozen or dry noodles) is a much more common home-made food than ramen. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/57 "2015-01-13T07:50:29Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I wouldn’t call making ramen broth exceptionally difficult. Time consuming? Sure, making dashi certainly involves boiling seaweed and fish flakes for a hell of a long time. a) Ramen broth tends not to be dashi-based b) No, [proper dashi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PKLRjSxd4Y)doesn’t involve _long_ boiling. c) I see **jovan** already covered both points. Still posting just for that link…also check out[this other one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erjt-e5Pj-4)on the best ramen. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/58 "2015-01-13T11:29:33Z")
I currently live in Japan, and have done so for a combined total of 8 years now. Ramen from a good noodle shop is…so insanely good, I don’t even have words. When I was recently ill with a fever, I specifically sent the Mister out for spicy ramen, and while it didn’t cure me, it made me feel tons better. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/59 "2015-01-13T17:18:23Z")
Y’all are making me crave ramen, and my favorite joint is closed on Tuesdays. I’ll have to wait for tomorrow. They do a good tonkotsu broth, and put halves of runny soft-boiled eggs in the bowl with the roast pork and other toppings. On the tables, they place sesame-seed grinders and pots of spicy pickled mustard greens as their unique condiments offering. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628/60 "2015-01-13T19:50:08Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > lmao > > no ramen places in the USA? there’s gotta be 50+ ramen restaurants in the LA area There are indeed several ramen places in the LA area, including Little Tokyo, the area near Sawtelle Boulevard, Gardena and Torrance. There is also an annual ramen festival, in which several food trucks serve ramen and you pay about $8 per bowl. A couple ramen restaurants I’ve tried and loved are [Shin-Sen-Gumi](http://www.shinsengumigroup.com/en/restaurants/litteletokyo-ramen.php) and [Orochon](http://www.orochonusa.com/), both in Little Tokyo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ramen-restaurants-in-japan-what-is-the-deal/709628.md?page=4)