There be a restaurant in olde London’s Soho that doth bear a suspicious resemblance to another, one just down the road and around a corner. If imitation is a sincere form of flattery, what do you call it when a noodle shop gets even its *ahem* homage slightly wrong? Ramen Seto is all washed out in orange paint, or maybe that’s the blush of embarrassment.

Rameniac emerges from hiatus on the far side of the Atlantic, ready to tackle a crop of noodle shops in the UK and beyond! First up, Taro, a venerable old joint that is about as authentically Japanese as you can get - in the heart of London’s Soho! Take the tube to Piccadilly Circus, round the bend at Uniqlo (really?) You’ll find it. Cheers!

At TETSU in northeastern Tokyo, you can reheat your tsukemen dipping soup by dropping a scalding hot metal weight into your bowl. There’s actually a guy standing behind the counter, grilling these chunks of heavy metal on a robatayaki. It’s a fanciful concept to be sure, but it’s surprisingly effective. The noodles ain’t bad either!

Mention Daruma Ramen within earshot of anyone from Fukuoka, and you’ll likely get an enthusiastic thumbs up for a ramen shop a bit off the radar but unanimously beloved by the locals. 7 and i Holdings now feature Daruma instant tonkotsu ramen, #006 in their exclusive regional ramen series. And yes, it’s plenty good.

Cheese in ramen may seem like a half-baked gimmick, but it’s more sensible than one would think at first. Proper noodling is all about the umami, and good cheese, like the “tomme tomme” served at Tukumo in Ebisu, Tokyo, injects a mighty amount of sensation into an ordinary bowl of miso ramen. It’s no wonder this limited quantity specialty sells out daily. Ramen chefs take note. The curd is calling.

A native New Yorker in Tokyo overcomes adversity to open a ramen shop and become the toast of the town. An unlikely success story, a potential treatment for some Hollywood-style fairytale, or the achievement of a fantastic chef with exemplary skill and class, and an all around cool guy?  All of the above and then some. Ivan is great.

Bassanova serves up a heady stew of cosmopolitan fusion goodness in a quiet corner of Setagaya, Tokyo. How do Thai green curry and ramen noodles mix? Like Brazilian polyrhythms and jazz guitar, apparently. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me put it in plain English for you. “Quite well, actually.” Quite well indeed.

At the edge of Nagoya’s old shopping district sits Misen, originator of Japan’s little known Taiwan-style ramen. A product of the area’s ethnically Taiwanese immigrants, stepping into Misen is like leaving Japan for an afternoon slurp. Bring on the beer, this is one greasy spoon that will remind you Asia is much more than an island nation of giant robots and Pocky!

Hot off the Tokaido Shinkansen, rameniac pays a visit to Japan’s shiny new ramen robots at Fa-Men. You’ve seen them on the news, now learn if assembly-line automation can truly build a better bowl than a cranky old dude with a towel around his head. Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in a bowl of space-aged slurping. Now with official rameniac video!

Sapporo Rai Rai rounds out rameniac’s latest trip to the fiftieth state. With stiff competition from a number of famed local eateries just down the road, can this nominal noodler survive on a sun-drenched stretch of paradise? It’s locals only when you’re this far off the beach…

What’s this? It looks like a weed has grown out of rameniac’s shoyu ramen! Its true he often takes a while in between posts, but… oh wait, it’s just spicy mustard greens from a bowl of “ao ramen” at Kiwami in Waikiki, arguably the most Japanese of Japanese noodle shops between Ala Moana and Diamond Head. Now what does that even mean?

Ramen Ezogiku is a Honolulu institution, a miso ramen joint from Tokyo that made its way to the islands some thirty years ago. If you’re looking for something down home and familiar, this could be the place, with noodles like mom might have made them or the stuff you had in your high school cafeteria growing up. But nostalgia can only get you so far…

Chin-Ma-Ya isn’t the only tan tan men game going Stateside; Honolulu’s Gomaichi has been promoting the art of spicy Szechuan noodling since the mid-nineties. But does it pack heat enough to send scorched diners diving into the blue Pacific as proper bowl should? Open sesame to find out. Sorry, that was way too easy.

Waikiki’s Ramen Nakamura is home to something you don’t see every slurp, ox-tail ramen! How do those gnarly, gristly chunks of bovine fare in a bowl of otherwise familiar shio-based noodles? Stop in for a bite on your way to the surf and the snorkel, and be glad Honolulu has got it goin’ on.

Haughty or hot? Ramen California is simply so far out there that you’ll either love it or hate it. I for one am sold on ramen genius Sean Nakamura’s groundbreaking Stateside molecular gastrolab, a miracle of a restaurant that will force you to rethink everything you’ve ever known about a bowl of the you-know-what.

Tenka Ippin is Kyoto’s entry into the North American ramen sweepstakes, only, it’s been around for years, serving up consistently rich chicken-bone ramen to the lucky locals of Honolulu. Step into liquid with this authentic Japanese ramen operation out on the 50th state. Scott Suzui, you gotta bring this stuff over to the mainland, know what I mean?

In the shadow of Canal City Hakata stands Ichiryu, a world-class tonkotsu ramen yatai that dwarfs the competition if simply by the size of its queues. Rameniac makes it a point to visit this modest tonkotsu ramen stand whenever he’s in town, sometimes once, twice, even three times over the course of a stay. Yep, it really is that good. That’s all you need to know!

Oh it’s true. A minor bout of writer’s block and a mostly salad intake (say what?) managed to sideline rameniac’s noodling for the past two months. But now he’s back, with all the juicy details on Ippudo NY, the East Village’s hottest new ramen shop and a testament to the 90-minute wait for a table! Grab a spot at the bar and drink up! Who eats ramen sober?

Momofuku is a) the dude who invented instant ramen b) the name of an Elvis Costello album c) an Iron Chef’s pick for the top ramen in New York or d) all of the above? Jamal Malik, would you like to use a lifeline? Take the money and run, for it’ll cost you a pretty penny to down a few bowls at David Chang’s decidedly controversial noodle bar! 

Chin-Ma-Ya is Little Tokyo’s newest ramen shop, specializing in an authentic Sichuan-style tan tan men that will have peppercorns oozing through your pores. Capsaicin as a health food? According to ancient Chinese wisdom, and savvy Japanese marketing. The folks upstairs at Orochon must be quaking in their aprons...