Miso-ga-Ichiban — Restaurant in Tokyo

Miso-ga-Ichiban is a fantastic ramen shop tucked a little bit away from the main Nakano Broadway. It's down a small alleyway off of the main Broadway and down some stairs (don't worry, there are signs and the alleyway dead ends so you can't get lost).

At the end of the stairs is a machine to place food orders. The machine has images, but no English. There is a separate, physical menu in English to the side of the machine (staff kindly retrieved and handed it to us after we were a bit flustered at the machine). After ordering food and paying at the machine, it spit out meal tickets and the receipt. We were then shown to our seats and, once seated, the staff took our tickets to get our orders going.

We had lunch here on 3/24 (Monday) around 1pm. While it was busy, it wasn't loud or super crowded like the other restaurants we had passed. (We both got seated immediately and there was at least one table open throughout our visit.) We both had Miso Ramen with everything and no additional add-ons. It was piping hot, lots of food (not just the noodles), and very delicious!!

As we were waiting for our ramen, the staff brought out complimentary rice balls and let us know they were free (in English). The rice balls were fluffy, freshly made, and neutral-tasting with a bit of salt; they were also pretty tasty!

The interior was nicely decorated and seemed traditional. The chopsticks were in cute little wooden drawers on the tables, and there were napkins available as well. There was an electric fans going, but also hand fans at the tables for use. (We were comfortable without needing to use them.)

We highly recommend this ramen shop and would...

Oh my god, it’s SOOOO GOOD!!! I’m not a big fan of ramen, but I’ve had friends who are, and whom would drag me around to supposedly the best places renowned for blah blah and famous for yadda yadda. To me each of those ramen excursions was a wasted opportunity to eat good yakiniku.

So when I say I would happily eat lunch here seven days a week, and go back for dinner a few nights as well, know that this isn’t meaningless praise! The soup stock here is a lot closer to a western-style beef stew than it is to the typical tonkotsu or shouyu ramen; thick, hearty, and full of flavor. The noodles are just the right amount of doughiness, and vegetables are heaped in every bowl. I also like that you get two different cuts of pork in every bowl.

Foreigners and tourists, they don’t speak a word of English here, and don’t have an English menu; but the staff are all friendly, patient, and willing to help. If you want ramen that’s more than a glorified convenience store snack, you owe it to yourself to visit...

We wanted an authentic ramen restaurant, and this restaurant came strongly recommended by our friend who lives in Nakano. It is less than a 5 minute walk from Nakano train station. The restaurant is in the basement just off the main shopping street. It sits about 20 people and is quite cramped but has a charming feel to it. The noodles were al dente, and the miso broth was very delicious and flavourful. The waiter was very helpful in assisting us in ordering our food from the vending machine. The side order of fresh bamboo shoots(¥160) was some of the best we have eaten. It was a very affordable dinner and quite an experience. The menu was in Japanese, and all the diners who were there when we had dinner were...