Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta

Restaurant Details

What’s in a name? According to the late Chef Onishi Yuki, legacy.

When he first founded Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta in Sugamo, he felt as though calling it ramen — with its mere 100 years of legacy — didn’t do enough justice to the legacy of noodles in Japan. Udon and soba had far longer histories, he reasoned, and ramen was also previously known as shin-soba. As such, he decided to call his restaurant Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta.

The restaurant, after Onishi passed away in 2022, was revived and now lives in Yoyogi-Uehara, just outside the station and one stop from Yoyogi Park. It’s still arguably the city’s most famous ramen shop.

But whatever you choose to call what’s in each bowl, be it soba, ramen, or something else entirely, there’s no denying the quality of the noodles and ingredients inside. Chef Onishi saw ramen as something with infinite possibilities, and this philosophy is reflected through a bowl of slurp-worthy noodles that is inspired by every angle of the world. Truffle oil, house-made soba and use of unconventional ingredients like parmigiano reggiano cheese and A5-rank wagyu beef are used with intention.

His unmatched skill at making the standard broths of shio and shoyu ramen continues to live on among his staff members, and they are rightfully popular items on the menu, too. But Tsuta Ramen was first put on the map — and the Michelin Guide Tokyo — by its black truffle ramen.

It doesn’t exactly still exist in the same state as it did back in 2015 when it first won its Michelin Bib Gourmand, but black truffle wontons keep the legacy alive and remain the most popular side dishes to order.

Michelin Guide accolades:

2015: Bib Gourmand

2016 - 2019: 1 Michelin Star

Ramen Walker GP accolades:

2013 - 2015: 1st place in Tokyo and nationwide

Ramen Walker GP Hall of Fame