WHERE TO EAT The best Shoyu ramen in the world (according to food experts)

"The stuff shoyu dreams are made of."

"This is Japanese soul food, serving Kitakatya-style ramen in a light soy sauce soup with a kick of dried sardines."

"The combustion isn’t just for show, it slightly chars the chashu and green onions, giving it a very subtle smoky taste. It was easily the best ramen I’ve had on my four visits to Japan."

"The compatibility of the rich soup with the rich taste of pork and the thick and curly noodles is outstanding and very delicious. Because of the simplicity, you can feel the quality of the material."

"Speaking of love, you're going to love this ramen."

"If you could only visit one of the thousands of ramen-ya in Tokyo, Harukiya in Ogikubo should be it."

"The city's oldest ramen shop (opened in 1947) serves delicious al dente noodles in a shōyu (soy sauce) seasoned assari (light) broth – classic Asahikawa-style. The proprietor truly loves foreign customers and may ask you to sign her notebook."

"The luxirious roast beef ramen is as good as it looks. Giant slabs of roast beef, local green onion, extremely high grade shoyu and mirin; I usually feel that 1000 yen for a bowl is too high, but in this case it's almost too low."

"This is my favorite ramen restaurant in Takayama and I eat here every time I visit the city. The shoyu ramen here is awesome. There’s really only one choice to make here when ordering: name (regular) or dai (large). Oh, and you can get a flavored hard-boiled egg if you want (it’s called an aji-tsuke tamago). Delicious!"

"The 11 Best Ramen Restaurants in All of Hokkaido: Hachiya Ramen Honten - For most people this ramen dish is pretty intense. It has a very very bold intense flavour and is somewhat too rich for even some locals. Nevertheless, it is a dish that you must try when you come to Hokkaido!"