Just how many ramen shops are there in Tokyo? Estimates tend to vary between 6,000 and 10,000. What's certain is that the Tokyo ramen world is effectively endless — if you eat at a different shop every day, by the time you finish them all, you will just have to start over, because hundreds of new shops will have opened, and dozens of others will have closed or changed their menus. Amidst this mind-boggling quantity is a world-beating obsession with quality, as Tokyo's top masters tirelessly experiment with new techniques and ingredients to carry the scene forward — all while keeping a reverent Japanese eye on tradition.



This top 20 list is based on more than a decade of ramen hunting across Tokyo. Collectively, we've eaten over 5,000 bowls during this period. With our eating experiences in mind — along with the recommendations of Japanese ramen master friends and colleagues — we nominate these shops as the city's best ramen shops in early 2017.



The list is alphabetized, because attempting to rank these shops, given their diversity and shared excellence, would seem both subjective and a little disrespectful to the ramen masters. In truth, there are at least 30 other Tokyo shops that should be on this list — but you have to draw lines somewhere. Happy hunting.