Ramen in Hyogo Prefecture! 9 popular spots by area you'll want to visit at least once

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Ryukaso is a Chinese restaurant located on Toryugai, a narrow side street off Kobe Motomachi Shopping Street, known for its striking dome-shaped arcade with more than 140 years of history.

Look for the chicken mascot and red door. The compact interior is clean and has about 18 seats in total. It is open for both lunch and dinner.

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The specialty here is "yakitori (roasted chicken)." This roast chicken, made with a Chinese-style cooking method, has crispy skin and moist meat inside.

The popular "yakitori ramen" tops a clear, light ramen soup with yakitori.

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At lunchtime, they offer a "dim sum set" with a choice of five kinds of steamed dishes, their specialty yakitori (grilled chicken), and either a mini ramen or Chinese rice porridge.

It is also popular that the ramen menu comes with fried rice. They also have Miso Ramen and green onion ramen.

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Minato-ken Sentoraru Kicchin Ten is a ramen restaurant inside Tennen Rajiumu Ryoosen Hana no Yu in the western part of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. It is a day-use bathing facility, but you can also come just for a meal without using the hot spring.

It is also popular for being able to enjoy beer along with gyoza and Kara-age, which are perfect after a bath.

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The signature dish is the ramen called “Tonkotsu O,” which features a cloudy pork bone broth that is said to be mild and light.

Another popular item is the “Tonkotsu King Hanabira Chashu,” with thin slices of chashu (braised pork) arranged like flower petals around the rim of the Rice bowl.

They also serve abura soba (soupless mixed noodles), a dish with no soup where spiced dashi broth, noodles, and toppings are mixed together in the Rice bowl before eating. The thick noodles have a strong wheat flavor and pair well with the seafood dashi.

It is recommended to customize it to your taste with vinegar, mayonnaise, chili oil, and more.

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What you can have at lunchtime is kaidashi ramen (shellfish broth ramen). It features an original soup carefully made from beef tail broth with added asari (manila clam) stock.

It comes with asari and plenty of green onions, and the noodles are flat and curly. The soup clings well to the noodles, and it is said to be light yet full of umami.

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They also offer a set with ramen and Awaji shirasu gohan (rice topped with whitebait from Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture).

The shirasu gohan is said to have just the right level of saltiness even without adding soy sauce. Many people seem to put it on a renge (Chinese-style soup spoon) and enjoy it together with the ramen broth. The pairing of shirasu and the shellfish-based broth is said to be excellent.

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Fukuryu Saikan, about a 2-minute walk from Motomachi Station, is a Chinese restaurant on Nankin Nishi Road, which runs along the west side of Nankinmachi, Kobe City's large Chinatown.

The red awning and entrance make it easy to spot. The interior also features Chinese-style decor, and table seating is available on both the first and second floors.

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The head chef is from Hong Kong and also honed his skills at restaurants in mainland China, with Peking cuisine as his specialty. This restaurant lets you enjoy authentic Chinese flavors.

At lunchtime only, they offer set meals with ramen, fried rice, and xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).

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The lunch ramen lineup includes dishes like "fukahire-men (ramen topped with shredded braised shark fin)" and "chashu-men (ramen with roast pork)".

A popular choice is the "tantan-men (spicy sesame ramen)." Reviews say it has some heat, while keeping a good balance of tanginess and umami.

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Chuka Soba Kumanome is a restaurant located along the Yamate Kansen road in Sumiyoshi, a residential neighborhood at the eastern edge of Kobe City. It operates as a ramen shop during the day and an izakaya (Japanese pub) at night.

The interior is simple, and the compact dining area has about 12 seats. It has a casual atmosphere that makes it easy to drop by.

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The lunch menu has two options: "chuka soba (Chinese-style noodles)" and "curry ramen." The "chuka soba" is the more popular choice.

The ramen is said to recreate the taste the owner remembers from eating at street stalls as a child. It seems to be a rich, umami-packed bowl made with soup from Akita Prefecture's Hinai jidori (Hinai free-range chicken).

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On weekday afternoons, you can try the limited-quantity Kumanome-donmen Rice bowl noodles. Under the ankake ramen with its thickened soup, there is also rice.

To keep the soup from soaking into the rice too quickly, grated yamaimo (Japanese mountain yam) tororo is poured over the rice, making this a dish that shifts from ramen to a Chinese-style Rice bowl.

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Menya Isshin Ion Sutairu Umie is a ramen shop in the basement food court of AEONSTYLE umie, located on the seaside of Kobe Station in the waterfront sightseeing complex.

It is in an area lined with several food shops, and you can eat at the table seating in the shared space.

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The signature dish is "chuka soba (Chinese-style noodles)." This ramen uses additive-free noodles made at a noodle factory in Kobe and soy sauce produced in Kobe.

It features a rich soy sauce-based soup made from a chicken bone broth and finished with back fat. If you want something lighter, you can also order it without the back fat.

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They also serve ramen with niboshi (dried sardine) broth and rich chicken bone broth soup. For an extra charge, you can also add toppings such as seasoned eggs, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), and green onions.

They also offer value set menus that pair ramen with half size fried rice, gyoza, Kara-age, and more, so you can enjoy a good deal.

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Menya Shiroboshi is a ramen shop located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, right in front of the south exit rotary at Koshienguchi Station. The shop is marked by its white lantern and white noren (traditional shop curtain).

It has a bright atmosphere like a cafe. There are seats on the first and second floors, so you can sit back and enjoy your meal.

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The signature dish is "Shiroboshi tonkotsu ramen (white tonkotsu pork bone ramen)." Its standout feature is the soup, made by slowly simmering pork bones from Kagoshima Prefecture for 16 hours.

After finishing the first serving of noodles, you can also order kaedama (an extra serving of boiled noodles) to add to the soup, a system that is also very popular.

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You can also try ramen made with a seafood based soup that blends niboshi (dried sardines) and other ingredients with dashi made from fragrant katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) sourced from a katsuobushi shop that has been in business for over 200 years.

They also serve a spicy, rich ramen topped with chili pepper based karashi miso (spicy miso), making this a place where you can enjoy ramen in many different flavors.

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Banri is a Chinese restaurant near Hanshin Koshien Stadium, the oldest baseball stadium still in use in Japan, located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.

This is a place that's easy to visit with family or in a group. On days when there are events at Koshien Stadium, they extend their business hours so you can stop by before or after the event.

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The menu is extensive, with about 15 kinds of ramen alone. The standard "ramen" is simple, with a mildly sweet and gentle flavor that is easy for even kids to enjoy.

There is plenty of variety, including bowls topped with chashu (braised pork) and lots of egg.

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The signature ramen is “Banri Ramen.” It is topped with fried meat and a thick soy sauce based sauce over ramen in a salt based broth.

Under the mildly spicy toppings and thick sauce is a light ramen. As the flavors slowly come together, diners say they can also enjoy how the taste changes.

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Mensakaya Karakara is located in Himeji City in the southwestern part of Hyogo Prefecture, about midway between Himeji Station and Himeji Castle, along Uomachi-dori, a street lined with many restaurants.

Open from रात? to the following morning, reviews say it is an easy place to stop by after drinks. There are counter seats as well as Sunken kotatsu seating where you can sit back and relax.

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You can enjoy Karamen (spicy noodles), a specialty dish from Miyazaki Prefecture, in Hyogo Prefecture. This ramen features a soup with the heat of chili peppers and the rich taste of garlic, along with beaten egg and springy noodles.

A key point here is that you can choose from different types of noodles, including bouncy konnyaku-men (konjac noodles), udon, and thin noodles.

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Another feature is that you can choose the spice level from non-spicy all the way up to "30-kara." Once you go over "20-kara," the soup turns bright red, and reviews say you can smell the heat as soon as it arrives.

Multiple reviews also say that after the spiciness, you get the rich flavor of the chicken-bone broth, which makes it really tasty.