Matsuyama Sea Bream Ramen Manpuku 松山鯛拉麵萬福久 (Matsuyama, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Our 16-hour stay in Matsuyama was about to draw to a close, but we still had one last attraction pinned on the map — Matsuyama City Castle (松山城). As a perfectionist, I really wanted to check it off my list, so without thinking twice, we got the team to the cable car station right underneath the famed castle.

But little nugget insisted we grab a quick lunch first.

Matsuyama is famous for its sea bream dishes because its home prefecture, Ehime, yields Japan's largest hauls of red sea bream, giving the city direct access to incredibly fresh, high-quality fish. Because of this, red sea bream-themed restaurants can be found everywhere in town.

Matsuyama Sean Bream Ramen Manpuku (松山鯛ラーメン万福久), a sea bream broth ramen specialist was just around the corner where we parked our car.

By noon, the ramen shop was already filling up nicely.

Thick sea bream shio ramen (880 yen) — The broth was nearly clear, yet rich in fish flavor and collagen. 

To my pleasant surprise, it wasn’t overly salty like I first expected. Rather, it was quite easy on the palate.

The noodles were clinging to the broth beautifully, absorbing the essence of the sea bream-based soup as they went.

A bamboo shoot ribbon!

The small slice of velvety sea bream fillet that was soft and delicate.

The pork belly char siu was pretty smoky although not as intense as the one we had yesterday.

The marinated soft-boiled egg was pretty nice.

All in all, the star of the ramen was the sea bream broth, absolutely bursting with flavor. The sea bream slice, char siu, bamboo shoot, and egg were enjoyable, but it was the broth that truly stood out — nothing short of the highlight.

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: ￥￥

Address: 3-6-4 Okaido, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-0004, Japan

Closest Tram Station: Okaido

Tel: +81 (0)89-931-8122

Website: https://w-harmony.jp/shop/manpuku/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 5:00pm (Wed - Mon)