Chuka Soba Inoue @ Tsukiji

Bowl of pipping hot shoyu ramen in chicken broth (Y650), very comforting on a cold crisp morning.

There are quite a few ramen shops facing the main street of Tsukiji outer market. You can't miss this one as it is (I think) the biggest occupying 2 shop lots. Read about this place in the internet and also a friend who made a trip last year attested their good cheap ramen. Needless to say, since it came highly recommended I just had to try it.

They serve only one kind of ramen generously topped with spring onions (negi), slices of pork (cha-shu) and bamboo shoots (menma).

Think the owner is the man on the LHS. He makes the noodles and the other man on RHS helps with collecting money. Its self-serve so once you pay, you take your bowl of ramen on the tray and eat it on the tables provided. There's a water dispenser at the side if you need a glass of water. What also made this place different was having to slurp the ramen standing up - yes standing ramen!! No chairs around. If you are one of those proper persons who must sit and eat, then perhaps this place is not for you.


This is how I ate mine - with lots of Shichimi Togarashi red pepper....what can I say, I have a stubborn affinity with hot spice!
Want to know something else, by the time I finished my bowl of noodles, standing - 4 other persons had come, slurped and gone. I know I'm not a slow eater but compared to the locals I guess I am!! Thankfully it was not peak time so it was not bustling full and I could take my time and enjoy my bowl of ramen.


So if you are planning on visiting the fish auction at Tsukiji or want a tasty bowl of ramen for breakfast, do give this a go.


Chuka Soba Inoue
4-9-16 Tsukiji
Open: 04:30 – 13:30.
Yes they open very early. Can confirm this as I saw the stall open and ready to serve customers before 5am on my way to the fish auction.