Kaminari — Restaurant in Takayama

Saw the reviews on this place and thought it looked like a good bet. We had a slightly expensive and slightly disappointing dining experience last night (at another place) and were really hoping to score a good one tonight. We did. On every criterion.

This place is on one of the main restaurant strips. My heart started to sink as we passed several restaurants with queues out the door, even though it was not even 6:30. Arrived at the venue (verified we were at the right place) and bang, Straight in! Already I had a good feeling about this!! It is quite a modern place with clean lines and no clutter or masses of signage. You order and pay at the counter and take a seat. We ordered their two star dishes: Takayama noodles and curry ramen. Both were brimming with flavor and not over seasoned as some of these dishes can be. Basically they are a beef stock with different flavoring, ramen noodles and slices of pork loin. The servings are generous. I could really imagine eating this in the Takayama winter as it is the very definition of warming, nourishing and delicious. Even on a mild autumn Sunday night it was a delight. And how much did we pay? JPY 2500. For 2!! Now that’s a score!!

Ps. If you do get a chance to eat here, please be considerate by not lingering too long after you have finished as there will probably be some folk already at the door and they...

One of my favourite ramens I've had across my 4 trips in Japan! We were very lucky to get in, seemed like a very quiet day in Takayama and we stumbled across this ramen shop and the doors were locked! The owner must've seen how sad we looked as he let us in as there were a couple of people still eating.

We had curry ramen and it was right levels of spice, the pork was delicious.

The owner of the ramen shop clearly takes a huge pride in his restaurant, he even spotted us the next day and came out to us when we were wondering which was lovely to have a brief chat with him.

I'm sure I'll one day return to Takayama (2nd visit) and when I do I'll...

Takayama Ramen is one of the bests we have ever tried. The servings in Kaminari were big - for small people like me, a bowl can feed 2 🤣 - and the Char Siu were served in large portions (which are soooo delicious as well). Service was great and the ambiance was nice. The black walls with brown/gold touches made the restaurant simple yet elegant. Highly recommended if you visit Takayama soon. Trust me, the Ramen here is...