By Nicholas Vroman

Ramen — real ramen, not the packaged noodles of one’s college days — is a humble dish hoisted to high culinary art. In Japan, the specific time and place where ramen began is lost to history, but by the early 20th century, the particular versions were being perfected. Milky white pork-based tonkotsu defined the style of Kyushu. On Honshu, the lighter fish and chicken broths either flavored with salt (shio) or shoyu ruled. Meanwhile in northern Hokkaido, thick miso broths kept locals warm through the cold winters.
Throughout Japan, one can find all the basic styles and regional variations nearly everywhere. In Tokyo, which boasts thousands of ramenya, there have always been far too many choices, but most follow traditional lines. Over the last decade, though, there’s been a bit of a revolution under way, with creative ramen cooks trying out new ideas and redefining what ramen can be.
One can generally place the beginnings of the ramen revolution at the feet of Takeshi Yamada, who opened the first of his chain of local ramen shops in Nishi Shinjuku in 1998. The original Menya Musashi is a mecca for ramen lovers. The beautiful Showa retro trappings and the boisterous and friendly patter of the cooks and servers created a new/old style that made ramen shops trendy, rather then dowdy. Menya Musashi’s dashi (broth) tends toward an old-fashioned Tokyo style, heavy on the taste of fish. Apart from making exemplary traditional shio and shoyu, each of the 15 different branches of Menya Musashi has their own in-house and seasonal specials. A recent trip to Shibuya’s Menya Musashi Bugotsu Gaiden featured gaiden tsuke soba, a beautiful bowl of chilled noodles topped with a mix of greens — mizuna and leeks — a couple of sinfully fatty (and tasty) slabs of roast pork and an egg yolk!

Menya Musashi Shibuya Bugotsu Gaiden - Gaiden Tsuke Soba

Maybe because the real estate’s cheaper or because there’re more folks moving there, the west side of Tokyo seems to be where the biggest experimentation in ramen is taking off.
Case in point is Setagaya’s Bassanova, a very hip place that specializes in green curry ramen. With the rich tradition of noodles from all over Asia, it seemed an obvious idea to meld Thai curry with Japanese (via China) noodles. Tradition in Japan is sometimes a little tough to break with. However, when Bassnova unveiled its cross-cultural revelation, it took off like a rocket. They also make a hot and sour Tom Yum soba that rocks!
But the most famous of the new ramen houses is Ivan Ramen. Also located in Setagaya, it’s the brainchild of New York expat, Ivan Orkin. He took the ramen world by storm in 2006 with his simple establishment that made some of the best and most authentic ramen in town — by a foreigner, no less! Part of the secret to his success, beyond his perfect dashi, was making (and experimenting with) noodles in-house.  Also, along with the traditional toppings of menma (reconstituted dried bamboo shoots), garlic and shoga (pickled ginger), he offers such things as roasted tomatoes. Ivan just opened a new shop, Ivan Ramen Plus, where he’s soldiering on with even newer ideas, like a healthy vegetable soymilk dashi that’s as rich and fulfilling as tonkotstu.

Ivan Ramen Plus ­— Shoyu Ramen

A handful of new restaurants are giving new ideas to what ramen can be. Like all great food traditions, ramen continues to grow and adapt. History will be the final judge of what the early 2000s have wrought, but there’s no better time than now to try some of the newest and most revolutionary ideas in the world of ramen.

Nicholas Vroman is a writer, photographer, musician and cultural explorer, originally from Seattle, now living in Tokyo. He writes on film, music, food, travel and culture. With his wife, Virginia Sorrells, he writes the blog, Ajimi.net