Kamunabi (神名備) serves award-winning, filling ramen in Nishi-Nippori, Northeast Tokyo. It's hard to miss the gigantic slab of pork!
Kamunabi, Ramen Since 1999
Kamunabi has remained relevant since first opening in 1999. Since then, this Tokyo ramen shop has won multiple awards and legions of fans. They've been on Tabelog's Top 100 Tokyo ramen shop list every year since 2017.
The closest station to them is Nishi-Nippori (the Yamanote Line).
A Ramen Tower
Their signature ramen is powered by shoyu (soy sauce). It's bold and salty. It's also quite sweet, brought on by a generous use of mirin.
The soup is a combination of pork bones, chicken bones, kelp, and bonito fish flakes. Let's say that it's in between light and heavy. Where the meal gets heavy is with the humongous slab of chashu pork. It literally takes up half the bowl.
It looks as if it's about to topple and the other toppings are trying to run away. These other toppings include white and green negi (spring onions). The bean sprouts bring down the soup's saltiness and are a nice crunchy contrast to the towering slab of pork.
The hill of garlic chips also add some fireworks to the soup. The soft-boiled egg costs extra (normally the case). The noodles are medium-thick and wavy. In addition, they're old-school - more eggy in flavor.
Parting Notes
Kamunabi serves both shoyu (soy sauce) and shio (salt) ramen. Both are additive, chemical seasoning free. If you want even more pork, there's the chashumen. You'd best come with a tower-sized appetite though.
They don't use ticket machines to order. You tell the staff what you want. On top of that, I noticed a sign requesting that people don't take videos of themselves eating. The concern is that customers walking behind will be in the video.
But the staff are very friendly and the ramen is filling! In summary, there's a giant reason why Tokyoites keep flocking to Kamunabi. For ramen in Nishi-Nippori, consider visiting them.
Shop Hours: Wed-Fri: 11:45 am ~ 2 pm // Sat, Sun: 12 pm ~ 2 pm / 6 pm ~ 8 pm (close on Mon and Tue)