Nobunaga! A Ramen Shop For Savory Chickens
It was a wet and windy spring day in Tokyo, perfect for a bowl of ramen for lunch. But where to go, with the hundreds of decent ramen shops everywhere you look? Well, I narrowed down my selection to an area within walking distance of Tokyo station because I was meeting a friend there later in the afternoon.
I scanned Google Maps for some ramen joints around the area, and found Nobunaga in Chuo City, near Ginza. Its rating was through the roof, and the reviews were almost all outstanding. So, that was it. I was on my way...
My journey put me on the Hibiya line with a stop at Kayabacho station. Nobunaga was only a two minute walk from there.
It was around 1pm, and no line outside. Bad weather will certainly dampen people's enthusiasm, to my benefit. I walked right in, used the machine to order, and was seated immediately. Yeah baby!
The first thing you will notice about this place is that it is very new looking. The staff greet you in both Japanese and English, and help you navigate the ordering machine, which resembled the ones you now see often at McDonalds and other fast food joints. I hit the English button and from there on ordering was easy. Paying by credit card was easy too.
The menu is not very large, so you don't have to agonize too much about what to order. Their signature dish is the chicken based ramen. One version has all the "extra toppings" while the other is more plain (and under a thousand yen!). There are spicier offshoots of those two also on the menu, a few tsukemen choices, and a list of additional toppings to choose from. I got the garlic and onion chips.
Within 10 minutes my bowl as handed down to me at my counter seat. Wow, it looked absolutely gorgeous. I could smell the garlic too, which I love in ramen.
So here's the thing. Yes, it is ramen. It looks like ramen, but then again, when you start eating it, you get the sense that it is more like a really good bowl of chicken noodle soup. The ramen noodles were a little thicker than most, and delicious. A generous portion of sliced chicken was very tasty and fresh. The broth was a bit thicker than I am used to, but tasty nonetheless. I could see how they earned their steller reputation.
So my first ramen excurison of 2025 was a success! The ramen at Nobunaga was top notch, though different than your typical shio, shoyu, or miso ramen places. I would definitely go back again and try one of their spicy bowls.
