Suzunoki

A local ramen shop in Saitama might not come across as much to some, but to the people of Tokorozawa City, Suzunoki is one of the best ramen-ya to have ever existed. Everything from their signature dishes to the limited-edition ones are impressive, to say the least. Suzunoki makes everything from scratch — the soup for the shio and shoyu ramen is made out of chicken and seafood broth combined together; the noodles are not machine-made but kneaded and cut by hand, giving them deeper levels of texture; and toppings like chashu are carefully prepared to complement the soup and noodles. You can expect a ramen bowl featuring seafood such as oysters during peak season. The man behind the counter has mastered techniques of either extracting the maximum flavors to be made into broth or preparing ingredients to present them in the best possible manner. It's safe to say Suzunoki is among the best places in all of Japan to try classic ramen, with enough innovative touches to satisfy even the most well-versed connoisseur.