Menya Shishimaru: Lobster Ramen by Nagoya Station

Nagoya isn’t a city you typically associate with ramen the way you might Tokyo or Sapporo. But Nagoya hits hard. So does Shishimaru (麺家 獅子丸). It sits just a few minutes’ walk from Nagoya Station, which is both its biggest asset and the reason there’s almost always a line out front.

The shop is consistenly on Tabelog’s best 100 ramen list for East Japan), which tells you this isn’t just a tourist trap riding on foot traffic. The noodles are made in-house using Japanese flour and Okinawa salt, and the chef brings a background in both French and Japanese traditional cooking. This makes for some unique bowls.

Their main menu anchors around two signatures: a tori paitan — rich, creamy chicken broth — and the ise-ebi (lobster) ramen, which is what I went for. I’ll get to the tori paitan eventually, but the ise-ebi was the pull on this visit.

Shishimaru - On the Lobster Ramen

Ise-ebi (伊勢海老) is Japanese spiny lobster, and if you’re picturing a Western lobster bisque situation, recalibrate. Ise-ebi is smaller than your typical Atlantic or Maine lobster, and the flavor skews sweeter. It's closer to a large prawn than what most people associate with “lobster.”

That sweetness comes through clearly in the soup here, and it makes for a noticeably different experience from, say, Ebimaru in Jimbocho (Tokyo), where the lobster ramen leans much more into that rich, bisque-forward direction.

This bowl is lighter in that sense, but don’t mistake it for subtle. The soup is sweet, deeply flavored, and finished with a hand mixer. This aerates the broth into a frothy, milky-white foam — what’s sometimes called espuma-style (エスプーマ系) in ramen circles.

As for noodles, they’re on the thinner side, which suits the soup well. Toppings are solid — pork chashu, the usual suspects. You’re not getting lobster on top; the ise-ebi is in the broth, which is where it counts.

In short, Menya Shishimaru ramen is worth it if you’re passing through Nagoya. If you’re catching a shinkansen out of Nagoya Station, the timing couldn’t be easier. Just build in queue time. Map LInk