Afuri Shinjuku Lumine

Our first ramen experience in Japan was here at Afuri Raman located within the food “court” area of the Lumine 1 Department store in Shinjuku Station. (Pay attention to those details as Shinjuku Station is a massive complex of everything and it’s not easy to find. So first look for “Lumine 1” and half the battle is over!

They’ve got a vegan ramen which is what brought us to the place as my wife and I are both vegetarians and we wanted to have an authentic ramen experience in Japan. This was definitely it! You order from a machine (which only takes cash, though despite the cash-only signs we did see someone pay them with a credit card, so ask them about it as it’s not so obvious you can do that.)

The place was very crowded just before 6pm on a Sunday. You order from the machine, then sit on bench until they direct you to seats around a counter when they become available.

You’re given a paper bib. We gratefully accepted and now having eaten ramen at a bunch of different places are of the opinion that if you didn’t order your ramen from a machine, and if a bib was not offered, it may not be a legitimate ramen experience.

The ramen was pretty good overall. The noodles were very satisfying. The vegetables were super fresh, and the radish in particular had a very awesome bold fresh flavor.

The vegan broth itself was okay. It could have been bolder or with a tad more flavor.

My wife pressed the egg add-on button on the machine when ordering and the egg that came with her ramen (which might be marinated in dashi or fish broth) tasted great with a good smokey flavor.

Despite the long-ish line we were seated and then served fairly quickly. We enjoyed the experience overall and would return.