Top 5 Hachioji ramen shops! Hachioji is 40 km from central Tokyo, right next to the ever popular Mount Takao. Hachioji has fantastic ramen shops, as below!
If you hike up Mount Takao (Michelin guide recommended), you might as well grab some delicious ramen in nearby Hachioji. Here are my top 5 picks for ramen in the area.
1. Ramen EN (煮干鰮らーめん 圓)
Ramen EN is one of the highest ranked shops in all of Hachioji. Choose either a dark soy sauce or light soy sauce powered ramen. Both are excellent. They support a niboshi (dried sardine) soup that’s elegantly gentle and not that fishy in flavor.
Dark Soy Sauce Ramen
The top-shelf dried sardines are from Kujikuri in Chiba and they sprinkle chicken oil on top of the soup for extra savoriness. The thin, straight noodles from Hokkaido are wonderfully aromatic.
2. Chukasoba Iyasaka (中華そば 弥栄)
Iyasaka specializes in Hachioji ramen, which means a liberal amount of pork lard in the broth and diced onions as toppings. The pork lard makes it fattier than central Tokyo’s similarly classic soy sauce bowls.
Chukasoba with Egg
At Iyasaka, the taste of raw onions lingers on your tongue after each sip of the pork bone and veggie-based soup. The owner here was born and raised in Hachioji. As a child, he had a dream of one day opening up a ramen shop. I’m happy his dream was realized.
3. Chukasoba Goemon (中華そば 吾衛門)
Goemon is right around the corner from previous entry Iyaska. They too serve a Hachioji style bowl, going through 13 kilos (over 28 pounds) of diced onions a day!
Chukasoba
The pork bone and fish soup is less pork lardy than at Iyasaka. However, it’s still delicious. Plus, Goemon has been going strong since 1959. You definitely get this sense in the ramen shop and with the ramen itself. Locals love this spot.
4. Motsuke (ほっこり中華そば もつけ)
Ramen shop Motsuke is king in Hachioji. Their high-level ramen soup primarily features chicken and fish. Compared to EN (entry no. 1), there’s slightly stronger chicken flavor here. In other words, the niboshi (dried sardines) are more in the background.
Ramen + Extra Egg
To top it off, they use an aroma oil that’s fused with garlic and veggies. In addition, they use beautifully thin Hokkaido wheat noodles. For toppings we have pork, spinach and bamboo shoots, along with diced onions…because Hachioji 😃.
5. Toribian Miya Miya (鶏びあんSoba みやみや)
Toribian Soba Miya Miya serves a few different types of ramen. Their signature ramen is centered on chicken. There’s a deep chicken flavor coming from whole chickens and a bold soy sauce lighting the way. Also, it looks closer to a modern chicken bowl you’ll see in Central Tokyo.
Chicken Ramen with Egg
There’s low-temp cooked chicken and pork chashu, and hosaki menma (top half of the bamboo shoot). The chopped up green negi (spring onions) are also contemporary. Great, modern bowl.
These bowls in video form:
I’ll eventually expand this to 10 Hachioji ramen shops out in Hachioji! Got some more I want to feature (Tantan, Hatsufuji and Azuki)!