Midtown Manhattan’s Menchanko-tei (say that three times fast!) serves up a sumo-style stew of traditional Japanese hot pot and ramen noodles. They’re also from Hakata, so expect an attempt at tonkotsu ramen. But does it fall flat like a teetering yokozuna? That thundering sound you hear might well be the din of a few bowls breaking...

Fire up the smokestacks, Minca Ramen Factory is operating at full capacity. This off-the-beaten path East Village ramen shop is still unknown to quite a few of rameniac’s New York friends. But what’s in a name? If Minca is a truly a ramen factory, then assembly-line noodles never tasted so good. Or so authentic!

At long last, rameniac takes a bite out of the Big Apple with a whirlwind tour of New York’s finest noodle shops! First at bat, Menkui-Tei, a decidedly humble abode in Manhattan’s Asian hipster haven, the East Village. Real estate is expensive around here, at these prices, how fare the eats? 

A full-blown Chinese restaurant that serves authentic Japanese ramen? Instinct might tell slurpers to stay away. Yet Seattle has but a handful of ramen shops to its name and Fu Lin rates a visit, according to the locals. How does one jaded rameniac handle slippery plastic chopsticks and xiao long bao?

Hakata Ikousha represents the new wave of post-boom regionalized tonkotsu ramen, with a solid foundation in pork bone basics, innovative presentation, and the savvy to branch out across Japan. Next stop, the world? Judging by the youthful enthusiasm of Ikousha’s staff, the future is in good hands.

Shinpuku brings a taste of Kyoto to the hallowed environs of Raumen Stadium 2. How do the mellow, shoyu-infused stylings of one of Japan’s oldest ramen shops play in a town known for its pork bones? Don’t forget your passport on the way through the noren…

Ramen worth a ransom? You bet! Ever wonder what might happen when one jealous ramen chef accuses another of stealing his precious recipe? You get a double-soup doublecross that involves kidnapping, beating, and *ahem* apparent nekkidness. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried…

Nestled in the heart of Tokyo, Ramen Jiro honten lands the first perfect score on our rating system. It was inevitable that the day would come, and this hugely influential ramen shop lives up to all expectations and then some. Some people won’t feel the appeal, but rameniac, for one, is a full-blown convert…

Samurai Noodle is the shop of the day here in Seattle, a beachhead for tonkotsu ramen as the pork bone craze makes its way across America! Watch the waribashi fly as diners do battle with extra oil, spicy cod roe, and all the trappings in a masterpiece worthy of Toshiro Mifune, if only he’d been a ramen chef…

A multi-meal afternoon at Yokohama’s famed Raumen Museum yields a bounty of noodle-slurping treasures, beginning with Asahikawa’s Hachiya. Sixty years strong and what do you have to show for it? Burnt oil, saltwater, and a whole lot of flavor to be sure…

Shinsengumi 2go, the no-nonsense faster food outpost of SoCal’s most popular purveyor of Hakata-style ramen, takes a left turn towards Tokyo with a limited-time trial run of tsukemen dipping noodles! Money can’t buy happiness, but for $3.33, you really can’t go wrong, can you?

Kitakyushu ramen is well-represented at Canal City Hakata’s Raumen Stadium 2. Stylistically, Kokura ramen shops might not be all that different from their famous neighbors to the southwest, but blow-for-blow, Murasaki is one noodler that can definitely hold its own against the Hakata elite! 

Canal City Hakata’s Raumen Stadium 2 is a bountiful bevy of prominent, predominantly Kyushu-area ramen shops! A star stand out on the food court, Isshin Furan swears by its Miyazaki stylings with a multi-hued menu of top-notch tonkotsu. Alliteratively speaking, of course.

Ramen in Fukuoka is typically served in smaller portions than in other parts of Japan. You can order kaedama and add extra noodles or, like, rameniac, simply adopt a bowl-and-a-half strategy. On the way back to the hotel from eating ramen, rameniac makes a pit stop for well, more ramen. Warning. Don’t try this at home, kids.

Rameniac burns a morning towing his luggage around Fukuoka’s Hakata district in search of the perfect hotel - wherever’s closest to the perfect bowls! First up, Aka Noren has been around for over fifty years, and the ramen is so old-school you might not even recognize the Hakata ramen it purports to have originated!

Hakata Shin-Sen-Gumi brings the flavor of Fukuoka to an otherwise arid city of dysfunctional pop tarts and baked, rappin’ hot dawgs. If I ruled the world, I’d just ship over an entire fleet of food carts, complete with drunken salarymen and grumpy old ramen masters. Until then, we’ll just have to make do with these guys.

At long last, rameniac gives a thumbs up/down/sideways to Daikokuya, arguably the most popular ramen shop in Los Angeles ever since Jonathan Gold gave it his seal of approval in the LA Weekly. Curious how you fend off hipsters to get a bowl of your very own?

Cafe Asa is the greatest thing to hit Los Angeles since… well, since my exchange student friend came for a homestay earlier year. But that’s another story. This hidden gem of a place recently appeared out of nowhere to thoroughly own most of the other ramen shops around town! The secret’s out starting now!

Rameniac takes his first, tentative steps behind the Orange Curtain to uncover the treasure trove of ramen shops in Los Angeles’ neighbor to the south. Does Chinese Restaurant Kohryu yield a pot of gold at the end of the 405 freeway?

“Made in China” is the scarlet letter for 21st century goods. What happens when you take an enterprising Kumamoto ramen shop, franchise it across Asia, and expand it into Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley? You might get a fiasco of ill-prepared portions. Or something like that.