Oreryu Shio Ramen - our favourite ramen in Tokyo

Oreryu Shio Ramen is our current favourite ramen in Tokyo. They have many ramen shops all over Tokyo. We stopped over at the Oreryu Shio Ramen Jingumae (俺流塩らーめん神宮前店) outlet in Shibuya. Its location near Harajuku, the Meiji Shrine, Cat Street and the Omote Sando shopping area generally makes it a convenient stop for some food in between shopping.

Oreryu Shio Ramen Jingumae has a typical ramen shop layout. Food selection and payment is made at the “ATM machine” outside. The interior has a warm wood decor. There is a choice of seats along the counter or at the tables. The menus are in Japanese but the big pictures and brief English descriptions on the payment machine buttons provide adequate explanation as to the dishes available. I don’t think they have any Michelin star or special awards (as far as my limited research goes). But it is our current favourite in Tokyo. “Current” because there are so many ramen choices and we are always trying out new ones and rediscovering old ones.

In addition to the taste, what I like about Oreryu Shio Ramen is the wide range of ramen available. In addition to the usual chashu, egg etc, they also have fried chicken karage as toppings. According to their website (with the help of Google translate), the ramen is handmade everyday and “…while we are not using the most luxurious ingredients, we research and improve ourselves everyday in order to make our carefully selected ingredients taste even better”. Which we think is a sensible approach.

Extra condiments are available for diners to customise their ramen. Small tubs of dried seaweed, shredded tororo konbu (kelp), yuzu kocho (yuzu chilli paste), umeboshi (pickled plum), chilli oil and garlic paste are provided at the table. Our favourites are the seaweed, konbu and garlic, which we added generously to our ramen.

The prices of ramen at Oreryu Shio Ramen are around 1,000 yen each. We had the Special Tonkotsu Ramen and the Special Roasted Pork Ramen (980 yen each). The chashu pork and fried chicken karaage toppings were quite generous. The best part was the rich and complex soup. The kind of food that makes you want to keep eating more. Dangerous for the waistline but perfect for a quick satisfying meal, especially on a cool winter’s day.