Shachirin — Restaurant in Nagoya

As a first-timer in Japan, I realised it was a system where you buy the order ticket first before you line up to enter and get seated! The locals and tourists alike queued up at the time were very helpful and guided me. The restaurant itself boasted with long queues which was delightful to see as I wandered late-evening Nagoya looking for somewhere to eat! I got the “Delicious and Spicy Garlic Ramen special” (there is probably a more accurate translation but here’s what I found!😭) . It was spicy, fragrant from the garlic and bursting strongly with umami. In the end I had to soak up the soup with rice as a dessert! It was a delicious meal and markedly a great memory as my first ramen in Japan. Highly recommend this place if you love strong, in-your-face flavours...

Everyone was very friendly and helpful with the vending machine as a foreigner. When busy, you buy your ticket ahead of time and they will get your tickets from you before you line up.

Thankfully the politeness did not extend to the flavor. I was warned that level 0 spice is already spicy so I went to level 3. Asking other customers it would appear that most people go up to 2 only.

It was honestly one of the tastiest and most unique spicy flavors I've ever had. There's a self serve water station and modesty tissues below the counter that came in handy. They will ask if you want rice as well which helps support the flavor.

Will be back to try the max level 10 spice.

Highly recommend plotting out the closest...

This was probably the best mazesoba I’ve ever had. It was really so good! Comes with free rice if you want it. I like spicy and didn’t add any spice to it and I think that was a good level. Maybe do 1 or 2 if your tolerance for spice is high, but don’t overdo it. For those who don’t read or speak Japanese, don’t forget that you must buy a food ticket inside the shop before you get in the line. It is written outside and said on a recording. I waited for about 15 minutes at 2pm on a Wednesday, so not too bad at that time, but I can see it be longer for dinner or on weekends. Water and bibs were self serve....