Forego those 25 cent instant noodles and visit these purveyors of noodles and broth instead.

For years, Montrealers felt hard-pressed to find a decent bowl of the classic Japanese soul food; now the city has a modest selection of venues to slurp up those noodles and broth. It’s a slippery investigation for any fan of the soup: Who’s ladling the most balanced broth? Whose noodles contain the optimum amount of alkalinity? What’s better, authenticity or audacity? Here are 14 that check the right boxes, be it in shio, shoyu, miso, or tonkotsu form.

Note: Restaurants on this map are listed geographically.