Those who dream of ramen, your prayers have been answered: Shanghai now has something called ‘Ramen Arena,’ which sees seven, yes, seven, new ramen shops from different prefectures of Japan installed in a little village on the seventh floor of Joy City.
Here’s how it works; journey up the mall’s endless escalators and purchase a mandatory ‘VIP card’ from a ticket booth at the front entrance. Pay close attention to the map (pro tip: take a picture of it on your phone); you’ll need it to locate your ramen shop of choosing.
After getting your hot little hands on said card, enter through a little alleyway lined with kitsch trinket-selling shops, strikingly similar to a scene in Spirited Away to the wishfully imaginative visitor. Now for the hard part – deciding which kind of ramen to eat.
Hokkaido, Kyoto, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Yamagata are all represented at Ramen Arena, and there are seven more coming soon too. Each shop has a unique characteristic that it’s known for back in Japan, and you can spot the popular ones based on the lines outside.
Ebisoba Ichigen from Hokkaido (No.1), for example, makes an intense crustacean-flavored broth (obviously there was a long line of locals outside this one); Takeichi from Tokyo makes a famous chicken-based ramen (No.5); the Yamagata delegation adds crazy fried squid to their offerings. The fun really is in taking a chance and finding a new style.
As for us, we took our chances on Kyoto's Sāburano Shin (セアブラノ神, No.6), who are apparently famous for their rich pork fat-laden broth.
It was every bit as intense as that sounds, a super rich tonkotsu base, available in either shoyu or shio (soy/salt) flavors. Actual chunks of soft pork fat bob around cheerfully in the broth, flavoring it further. If the previous sentence disgusts you, you will not enjoy this ramen. We’d recommend something lighter like Furano Tomikawa (No.2) from Hokkaido.
They have great non-soup noodz as well!
All the shops operate independently, but based on the ramen we tried, the quality is good, only dampened if you look into how luxuriant they are back in their homeland (you'll need a VPN for that link). We suspect they're constrained by the RMB50-60 price limit and newly-trained local kitchen staff, but still, for Shanghai, it’s decent ramen that offers more than the same old tonkotsu etc. etc.
As with any decent ramen shop, expect queues. Ramen Arena has caught a lot of press with local diners, and as such, it’s a little hectic during weekends, though nothing unmanageable. Here’s hoping the quality stays consistent after the Japanese proprietors return home.
We bet old Ajisen, literally meters away, are delighted.
Price: RMB50/bowl
Who’s going: hordes of locals
Good for: ramen, ramen, and more ramen.
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