Consistently rated as one of the best ramen shops in Kyoto and recommended by many Kyoto locals & college students, Gokkei is transforming the ramen scene with its thick, creamy chicken soup/gravy that is the ultimate comfort food. It's a bit out of the way but 100% worth your time and effort to try one of the most unique bowls of ramen in Japan.

This ramen doesn't come with soup, it comes with straight up chicken gravy -- and it's a game-changer. It's so thick, I'm convinced that they placed a whole chicken through a blender until it became a creamy sauce that coats each noodle perfectly with each bite. The wait is ridiculously long but the food is ridiculously good. I got a ticket at 4:15 asking me to come back and wait in line at 5:30. When I got there at 5:30 I waited for another hour before being seated. The food arrived quickly because my order was taken while in line. There are no English menus so here are your four options: Toridaku (the original chicken soup, recommended for first timers), Akadaku ("red" soup, spicy), Kurodaku (homemade garlic oil), and Gyodaku (fish soup). They're a steal at 750 yen per bowl and each ramen comes with two bamboo shoot pieces, one piece of chashu pork, and a mountain of higenegi (a thinly sliced green-onion type vegetable). You can add a whole egg for 100 yen, extra noodles for 100 yen, and extra chashu for 200.