豆天狗 (Mametengu in Takayama, Gifu)

豆天狗 本店



Mametengu is actually the highest ranked ramen shop in the area according to the popular internet ranking sites.



The plaque next to the wall goes in to detail on the history of this shop.




That's the current owner's father in the upper left there. He was known as a ハイカラで色男, a high-class lady killer, back in his heyday. What else is a stud like this meant to do? Marry his sweetheart and open a ramen shop of course!

Apparently, they two of them are as strict and stubborn as they come.



Mametengu is similar to the other Takayama shops; thin wavy noodles in a fishy shoyu broth. I'd say that the soup here has much more fish in it.

I should also note that this is the only shop in the area that receives any sort of respectable score on the main ramen ranking websites.



Official Site Here



岐阜県高山市八軒町2-62
Gifu-ken, Takayama-shi, Hachikenmachi 2-62
Closest station: Takayama

Open 11:00-19:00
Closed Tuesdays

やよいそば (Yayoisoba in Takayama, Gifu)

やよいそば 角店



I asked the cop where Yayoisoba was, and he just pointed at the sign for Yayoi bridge. Makes sense!



This shop came recommended by a few ramen connoisseurs. Spot on, this was a great bowl. Look how black that soup is. Beautiful.



Melt-in-your-mouth chashu, deep broth, and the noodles matched well. The soup is less fishy than other Takayama shops, though just by a little.



Apologies for the weak photos from the Takayama set. The DSLR was out of batteries and I was forced to use my iPad. Yes, I was one of those guys taking photos with an iPad. I won't make that mistake again.



Official Site Here



岐阜県高山市七日町1-43
Gifu-ken, Takayama-shi, Nanukamachi 1-43
Closest station: Takayama

Open 11:00-19:00
Closed Tuesdays

なないろ (Nanairo in Takayama, Gifu)

なないろと一期一会



The problem with Takayama is a big one. Everything closes at 9pm. The place is a ghost town at night!



So of course the ramen shop that had been recommended was closed. The next option was the only option. Nanairo is open late. Well . . . later.



My first foray into Takaya Ramen was a miss. Noodles tasted like instant, the soup was forgettable, and the menma was dry.



But the 1000 yen plate of fried rice topped with local Hida-beef was fantastic. My coworkers scoffed at my suggestion of a proper Hida-gyu dinner, which usually runs about $50-$100 a person for a decent steak, so this would have to do. And it did.



I quickly changed my train ticket home to give me enough time to eat some proper ramen the next day.





岐阜県高山市天満町6丁目9
Gifu-ken, Takayama-shi, Tenmanmachi 6-9
Closest station: Takayama

Maybe open until midnight

Ramen Meccas: Takayama

高山市



Up in the far reaches of Gifu prefecture, nestled in the Northern Alps, is Hida-Takayama, more commonly just called Takayama. It means tall mountain (高山), which applies to a few places here and there in Japan. Luckily, this Takayama is #1 in terms of tourism, and it is a must-hit for people with a train pass and more than a few weeks in Japan.

Takayama city boasts history, culture, and food. They even have their own style of ramen.

The ramen here is a simple shoyu, and the soup is heavy on the katsu. Despite the very dark color, it is one of the most refreshing local bowls out there. The quality of water really shines!

Noodles are thin and springy, reminiscent of the instant ones you can buy in bulk at the supermarket. In a good way.

The city seemed to have about a dozen ramen shops within walking distance of the station. Outside of that radius . . . this is countryside Japan. I stayed at a hotel that was a 10 minute drive, and we couldn't even find a convenience store near us.

Takayama's other big food attraction is the beef. 飛騨牛. Hida-gyu is locally raised wagyu, some of the best in Japan. No trip is complete without some of the stuff served raw on rice, sushi style. Very delicious. I could eat a couple of these everyday if it wasn't 500 yen for one serving.

The mountain springs mean good water and good rice. That means nihonshu. 

Plenty of free samples to try, plenty of things to buy, all in the old town area.

If you are planning a trip up here, you don't need to give yourself much time. After walking around for a couple hours, I had seen it all.

I even had time to soak my feet in a foot onsen near the station.

Go for the ramen, or a nice steak, then stick around for some of what countryside Japan is famous for. If you have transportation, there are a plethora of spots within driving distance.

By train, you can take the Bullet Train to Nagoya and transfer to an express train. There are buses from Shinjuku as well that take about 6 hours, and are a lot cheaper.

Route1

Take time: 248 Minutes  Transfer: 1 Times  Distance: 532.7 km
Total:¥ 14,500(Fare:¥ 8,510  Seat Fee:¥ 5,990)  Commuting ticket(1mon:¥ ---   3mon:¥ ---   6mon:¥ --- )

Commuting ticket

Time	Route		Fare	Seat Fee	UsefulLink
13:00		TOKYO [ Departure track No.18 ] Station timetable | Add to favorite			Map Hotel Rent-a-car
[101 Min]		SHINKANSEN NOZOMI 229 Train timetable | Interval timetable		Green seat: ¥8,180Reserved seat: ¥4,690Unreserved seat: ¥3,980
14:41 14:48		NAGOYA [ Arrival track No.17 / Departure track No.11 ] Station timetable | Add to favorite	¥8,510		Map Hotel Rent-a-car
[140 Min]		LTD. EXP (WIDE VIEW) HIDA 13 Train timetable | Interval timetable		Green seat: ¥3,720Reserved seat: ¥1,300Unreserved seat: ¥1,050
17:08		TAKAYAMA Add to favorite

丸長 (Marucho in Meijiro)

丸長



Tokyo is saturated with thick, porky, Rokurinsha-style tsukemen. Though I love the stuff, it gets a little tiring trying to find subtle differences in a tonkotsu-gyokai soup.

Enter Marucho. An instant top 5.



The soup, though thinner than the other styles, is full of meat and onion bits. So much so that every bit of noodles includes a fair share of umami chunks.



And the soup-owari. Refreshing, with a kick of spicy and vinegary.



As expected, a lunch only spot. The only one of the four branches to be open later is way out at Tskuba University, an hour or so away by express train.







東京都新宿区下落合3-19-4
Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Shimoochia 3-19-4
Closest station: Meijiro

Open 11:00-15:00
Closed Sundays