Anyone who knows me well will likely know of my affection for Spanish cuisine, a passion which rivals and in many ways, surpasses even my love for ramen.

Nakamuraya is the flagship ramen shop of Shige “Sean” Nakamura, the bona-fide genius behind Los Angeles’ Ramen California and the mastermind of a budding ramen empire. If Ebina, Kanagawa is but a suburb of the all-encompassing Tokyo megalopolis, its claim to fame is surely as the hub of new wave ramen, where precision cooking reigns.

Ramen Jinya is that rarest of things, a class-act noodle shop in Studio City, California! Get ready, Hollywood, real ramen in the state-of-the-art Tokyo gyoukai style is about to go mainstream. Is America ready for yet another Hollywood remake of a Japanese classic? If we’re talking about ramen, the more the better!

Whenever rameniac comes back to Los Angeles from Japan, he lays off the ramen for a while. There’s a reacclimatization period you see, as the quality of noodling in America is rarely ever up to par with what you might find in Tokyo. At the brand-new Ramen Mottainai in Gardena, California, however, taste definitely doesn’t go to waste.

Dudes like Moby and Thom Yorke would be happy to know that vegan ramen, though rare, does in fact exist at one Aurora Cafe, a bi-weekly occurence held in a decidedly bohemian coffee shop/art gallery space in Tokyo’s Nakano neighborhood. Meat-free noodling? Some broths work better than others, but it’s a solid start, and it’s about time.

Tucked away in Matsudo, Chiba, Chukasoba Tomita quietly goes about its business as the top-ranked ramen shop of all time on Japan’s notorious Ramen Database. This lunchtime-only neighborhood joint, complete with a skeletal, shredded lantern, does indeed serve up an exceptional tsukemen dipping noodle, but is it the best ramen shop ever? The egg’s the thing, wherein your mind might be blown.

Deep in the suburbs of Tokyo’s northeast sits Tanaka Shoten, considered by many to be the Japanese capital’s top Hakata-style ramen shop. Is it worth the journey, from the action and the city lights to this quiet, sleepy corner of Tokyo, halfway to Saitama, for an authentic bowl of pork bone goodness? How does a sheet of seaweed say thank you in elevent different languages?

Yamagoya was where it all began, for hungry high schoolers and one gastronomically adventurous English teacher in particular, oh so many years ago. Fast forward to this Fukuoka-based chainlet’s satellite operation on the eastside of Tokyo; with seasonal twists on mukashii tonkotsu ramen, yuzu can’t go wrong.

W.O.K. is to ramen what Taco Bell is to tacos. Nope, I take that back. At least Taco Bell gets the basic concept right - there’s meat and it sits in a tortilla. Rome’s only ramen shop isn’t a ramen shop at all, but a fast food joint with a panoply of asian noodle dishes, one of which, “yasai ramen,” is about the only ramen to be had in town. Or is it even that? Uh oh.

London Soho’s Osatsuma is an all-too similar derivative of the esteemed, well, at least profitable Wagamama noodle concept. They’ve got the minimalist decor and avant-font treatments down; did they ape the original’s recipes as well? Let’s hope not, for their own sake.

Ten Ten Tei offers straight up, no-nonsense Tokyo shoyu ramen in the heart of central London. Helmed by a stern-eyed sushi chef and a gruff maitre’d, it was one of the very few places where rameniac felt too intimidated to take a load of pictures. Still, he managed to sneak a few. Was it worth the vibe?

You’ve got to be suspicious of any purportedly Japanese resaurant that wears its badge of authenticity on its shop window. “This is real traditional JAPANESE style. This is the traditional taste which the JAPANESE chef makes.” Don’t say it. Do it. Why is such a sign even necessary? What is eat TOKYO trying to hide?

The shoyu soup at Ryo in London is a suspiciously effective clone of Sano-style broth, light, slightly oily, and unlike anything else on Brewer Street. Coincidence or calculation? Either way, it’s a glimmer of soupy hope for noodling in one of the world’s great cosmopolitan cities. Just, lose the snow peas already.

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.