Shanghai has hundreds of ramen shops, but which ones are the best? I tried a dozen of them, and these six ramen shops made the cut!
Ramen Mitsuyoshi 满吉
Address: 501 Liyuan Lu 丽园路501号
Tel: 13817979653
Hours: Daily, 11am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-9pm
Address: B211, K11, 300 Huaihai Zhong Lu 淮海中路300号K11购物中心B211
Tel: 13817979653
Hours: Daily, 11am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-9pm
Ramen Mitsuyoshi started off with one store on Mengzi Lu in 2019, a cozy counter with a dozen seats. There are now six locations in Shanghai due to a recent expansion.
Ramen Mitsuyoshi was love at first bite for me, and after I had all the others on this list, I still rank this ramen shop at the top. The brand also has ties to Bib Gourmand winning ramen shops in Japan.
The noodles are cooked a little al dente, which I prefer. My favorite is the black garlic (¥50), followed closely by the original tonkotsu (¥50), pork bone broth soup base.
The original Mengzi Lu is my go-to, but the options are limited. The K11 and Qiantan Taikoo Li store has more broth options, including ones with chicken stock as a base. There’s also one in Raffles City that does izakaya bites in addition to ramen.
Ramen Bari-Uma 霸吗拉面 (Closed)
Address: LG2, Arch Walk Mall, 179 Maotai Lu 茅台路179号金虹桥LG2
Tel: 64048782
Hours: Daily, 11am-9pm
Address: B1-T104, Westgate Mall, 1038 Nanjing Xi Lu 南京西路1038梅龙镇B1-T104
Tel: 18621515638
Hours: Daily, 10am-9:30pm
Bari-Uma is one of the biggest ramen brands from Hiroshima, founded in 2003. They have more than 30 branches all over the world, and apparently the pork bone broth is made and packaged in Japan, then shipped to all their stores to ensure that the product remains consistent.
There are two locations in Shanghai, Arch Walk Mall, which opened in 2018, and Westgate Mall, 2020, where they offer many variations of ramen, pork bone broth, chicken broth, spicy/not spicy, and dry.
The signature is the pork shoyu broth (¥48, 霸吗味玉拉面) with thick-cut chashu and egg. Pretty delicious—nothing more to say other than it’s a solid bowl of rich broth with noodles.
Kingichi 無双东京
Address: 252 Guangxi Bei Lu 广西北路252号
Tel: 15316170825
Hours: Daily, 11:30am-9:30pm
Kingichi opened during the pandemic years. Their shop is the simplest of this list, as they only serve four kinds of ramen, tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), and chicken karaage. Their chasiu is thick and has a nice bite, and the soup in the pork bone base is delicious.
The tonkatsu is also excellent, made with iberico pork. The spicy broth is nice, but it’s got quite the kick, so go with caution. It is pricy, perhaps due to its location, which is a stone’s throw away from Nanjing Dong Lu.
Shichi Shou 柒鉦·日式豚骨拉麵
Address: 182 Yuyao Lu 余姚路182号
Tel: 18621838775
Hours: Daily, 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm
Shichi Shou is a ramen shop in Jing’an, near Tonglefang. Downstairs is counter seating, and they have a lot more seating on the second floor.
Like most ramen shops these days, they do a dan dan-style ramen, adding sesame paste and stir-fried ground pork as a topping. It’s their signature ramen. It’s pretty tasty, and worthwhile if you’re a fan of dan dan mian.
The black garlic is good, but I found it a little oily. The spicy version is also good, and they allow you to do it at half or double the spice, if need be. They’re generous with chashu, two thick slabs, lightly torched. All ramens are ¥47.
Kamimachi 神町 (Closed)
Address: 2/F, 127 Chengdu Nan Lu 成都南路127号2楼
Tel: 33300127
Hours: Mon-Thu, 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm; Fri-Sun, 11am-3:30pm, 5pm-9:30pm
Kamimachi is kind of like a café. I say that because they also serve yoshoku dishes like hamburger steak and pork chop curry rice, donburi, and side dishes in addition to ramen.
Their signature is the chicken broth (¥52, 鸡白汤酱油), which is mighty rich and delicious. They also give the option of soy sauce vs salt to season your ramen. The shoyu ramen (¥50, 清汤盐味) is also tasty.
The fried pork chop (¥48) is juicy and enjoyable, but not as good as the one at Kingichi.
Mensho Ramen 麺屋庄野·麺や庄の
Address: 1/F, Fengsheng Li, 281 Maoming Bei Lu 茂名北路281号丰盛里1楼
Tel: 62152399
Hours: Daily, 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm
Mensho Ramen is a franchise of the popular Tokyo outposts of the same name. The one in San Francisco is even listed in the Michelin Guide as a selected restaurant, hence all the plaques on display. There are three locations; the one in Xintiandi shares the space with a unagi brand called Man Man.
They call themselves a “creative ramen specialty store,” which could explain their lamb broth and clam broth ramen noodles.
Their signature is the lamb, which tastes quite intense, or as a friend put it, it’s like eating a Xinjiang-style ramen. The clam one is light, but still flavorful, and the white truffle chicken broth was the overall winner. They also come with some pretty interesting toppings like wontons, lamb tenders, and chashu. Good as an option to change up your ramen diet.
By the way, the unagi rice was aite, but not my favorite kind. The unagi pieces weren’t very fatty or gelatinous. It’s OK in a pinch.
