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!

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.

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?

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...

What could prompt an hour-long lineup on a small, residential side street in eastern Tokyo nearly every single day? How about Menya Kissou, a noon-only noodler with the #1 all time rating on Japan’s foremost ramen website? 120 million people can’t be wrong… or can they?

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…

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…

There’s something looming in the water, and it’s come to take a bite out of your wallet! Chef Kenji Chiba of Chibaki-ya returns to Los Angeles with a taste of his exclusive shark’s fin ramen! Terrorizing customers at $18 a bowl, is it worth its weight in political incorrectness? Rameniac sure hopes so!

You know things are foo-bar’d when a cheap knock off can sully the reputation of a perfectly fine ramen shop. Tucked into the middle of nowhere, the original Foo Foo Tei serves up a menu of David Lynchian weirdness that sounds worse than it really is. Like Twin Peaks, nanchatte paitan ramen isn’t for everyone!

Intrigue plagues the existence of dual Foo Foo Tei in the San Gabriel Valley. Spite and litigation apparently abound, and rumor has it that the Monterey Park branch is merely a cheap knock-off of the Hacienda Heights original. All theatrics aside, are its noodles even worth fussing over? 

The Little Tokyo branch of San Sui Tei is so new, it doesn’t even have a proper sign up yet! Perhaps rameniac should have waited for them to get settled in before writing a review, yet that bowl of spicy tonkotsu ramen looks oddly familiar…

Kick things up a notch with rameniac as he samples the Chinese-influenced paiko pork cutlets and tantanmen-style noodles of Shisen Ramen in Torrance, Calfornia! Bam!

Aesthetics are everything at Wagamama UK. Rameniac takes a break from his Japan coverage to hop clear across the globe. Teleporting across the space-time continuum can be so much fun!

Taishoken higashi-ikebukuro will be closing its doors for good come February 2007! Journey with rameniac as he investigates this hugely influential shop, where tsukemen dipping-style ramen was first invented. We’ll miss you, Yamagishi-san!

Rameniac lands in Japan and immediately makes for the nearest ramen shop! Does he get lucky on his first night in town? Click here to find out!