Mugen Ramen Tsim Sha Tsui 無限ラーメン 尖沙咀店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I was seeing my hairstylist on the National Day holiday to get my hair done this morning. Things got off to an early start, and I was finished by around 2pm just before most restaurants closed for lunch.

I decided to take a short walk to Hook Fook Street to check out the dining options and found exactly what I was looking for — Mugen Ramen (無限ラーメン). Just a simple, satisfying bowl of ramen.

Mugen Ramen is an incredibly popular ramen brand from Osaka, famous for its unique, ultra-creamy beef-bone paitan broth (牛骨白湯). Much like my favorite chicken paitan ramen, Mugen’s rich, collagen-packed beef broth is whipped until the surface becomes smooth, airy, and velvety white, almost like cappuccino foam.

Rich beef broth ramen (牛骨白湯) ($98) — This came with spring onions, green onions, bamboo shoots, aburi belly and thin sliced wagyu sirloin.

The broth was the obvious star here. It was absolutely packed with collagen making it thick and creamy without feeling overly oily. 

The rich, velvety beef broth coated the noodles perfectly.

Aburi pork belly (火炙叉燒) — Succulent and full of flavors.

Thinly sliced wagyu sirloin — It wasn’t as well-marbled or as generously portioned as it looked in the photo. Nevertheless, the beef was pretty soft and tender.

Marinated soft-boiled egg — This was extra but it was well worth the price tag. Just beautifully done.

Now I’m really regretting all those times I walked past their Shinsaibashi store on Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street without stopping in.

Food Rating: 6.9/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 2 Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 5528-3469

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 11:00pm daily 

Ramen Ginza Onodera Pop-Up at Nadaman (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Ramen Ginza Onodera (麺 銀座おのでら) is an acclaimed ramen brand from Tokyo’s Onodera Group, celebrated for its French-influenced approach to traditional Japanese ramen. Their menus are conceptualized by Executive Chef Keiichi Terada. They’ve just recently launched an exclusive 5-month collaboration, running from July 31 through the end of the year at Nadaman (灘萬日本料理) Kowloon Shangri-La (九龍香格里拉).

The pop-up is hosted in one of Nadaman’s newly renovated private dining rooms, which has been transformed into a sleek, dedicated ramen haven.

The restaurant prepares signature recipes on-site using noodles and a complex chicken broth that’s shipped directly from Japan.

Their ramen is offered in Shoyu (soy sauce), Shio (salt), and spicy broth styles. Each bowl is generously topped with slow-cooked pork chashu (煙豚肉叉燒), tender roasted duck chashu (燒鴨叉燒), and an ajitama egg. Lately I’ve been especially hooked on shoyu ramen, so I knew exactly what I wanted — Special Soy Sauce Ramen ($148).

The broth was surprisingly light in volume, yet still rich and packed with deep poultry flavor.

True to its French fine-dining lineage, each bowl is served with a small side of homemade herb butter. Diners are told to enjoy the clean, pure flavor of the broth first then sink the herb butter into the soup midway through. That creates a richer, creamier transformation without losing the essence of the original base.

The bamboo shoot was thick-cut and juicy.

The seasoned soft-boiled egg was spot on, and even the presentation looked perfect.

The smoked pork char siu (煙豚肉叉燒) was tender, and slightly chewy in a good way with subtle smokiness

The grilled duck char siu (燒鴨叉燒) was succulent with a deep gamey duck flavor. It tasted a little better than the pork char siu but that's coming from a grilled duck lover.

My only complaint was the noodles: they didn’t absorb the broth’s essence as well as I expected.

I didn't get the chance to try their truffle pork wontons and mini charsiu rice bowl, both of which are supposed to be famous. I guess those will have to be my next mission.

Food Rating: 6.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Nadaman Japanese Restaurant, Kowloon Shangri-La, Lower Level II, 64 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2733-8751

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm daily

Mugi to Tori 麥×鷄 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

We finally got our rental car back to the car rental company. Since it was already getting a little late for lunch (around 2:00pm), we decided to go to a familiar favorite for today’s meal.

Mugi to Tori (麦×鶏) is a wildly popular ramen shop in Osaka, especially known for its “foam-style” Tori Paitan — a creamy chicken-broth ramen that has become a fan favorite for both locals and tourists.

The shop features a modern, clean, and bright interior. With primarily bar seating, it’s a comfortable spot for both solo travelers and families.

The menu focuses on classic ramen and tsukemen (dipping noodles), with a range of broth variations. There was also a seasonal chilled sweet corn ramen available.

As much as their standard tori paitan was an obvious hit, there was no question what we’d be ordering for lunch this afternoon: their signature sea urchin chicken ramen (Mugi x Uni / 麦x雲丹).

Right before serving, the rich, collagen-packed chicken broth is whipped with a hand mixer until it becomes a smooth, airy, velvety white foam — almost like a cappuccino. The result is a broth that tastes incredibly flavorful and luxurious without feeling heavy.

This is the ultimate crowd-pleaser for seafood lovers.

Fresh sea urchin paste is blended directly into the foamy chicken broth, creating a rich, sweet, umami-forward flavor profile — decadent yet surprisingly light compared to some other broths on the market.

The soft-boiled egg wasn't bad.

Thick-cut bamboo shoot

The chicken breast was again very tender and juicy.

The thin sliced pork shoulder loin offered a totally different mouthfeel.

What really stood out, though, was how beautifully the noodles cling to the broth. Every bite felt pure joy — rich, smooth, and perfectly balanced.

Overall, this was the perfect start to our Osaka stay: a hearty, satisfying bowl of ramen to kick things off.

Food Rating: 7.4/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 3-1-16 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0081 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi 

Tel: +81 (0)6 6121-7601

Website: www.instagram.com/mugi_tori

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily

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)

Seto Kiseki 瀬戸ノきせき (Takamatsu, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Seto Kiseki (瀬戸ノきせき) wasn’t on our itinerary this afternoon, but we stumbled upon the shoyu (soy sauce based) ramen specialist while we were on our way to visit Shikoku Village (四國村). 

After a quick stop at Shikoku Village, it was already time for lunch so I figured I’d just add this place to our agenda. After all, we have yet to plan a lunch spot.

Sharing the same complex with Setouchi Golf Centre, Seto Kiseki is a family-run ramen place specializing in their soy sauce broth ramen. They have four versions of the soy sauce broth, each with a slightly different twist.

Fried rice (720 yen) — I love having Japanese-style fried rice at a ramen shop. It always comes with so much “wok hei” (鑊氣). 

While it didn’t have the same variety of ingredients especially meat comparing to a Chinese-style fried rice, it still hit the sweet spot with lots of diced onions and scrambled eggs to go alongside the shredded char siu. This was very very tasty (though slightly oily).

Niboshi Shoyu Ramen (煮干醬油拉麵) (900 yen) — This soy sauce broth was simmered with dried sardine, so it tasted almost like a fish soup. 

The sweet notes were really deep, so it wasn’t surprising that it left a nice lingering aftertaste.

The clear broth also worked beautifully with the thick noodles.

The bamboo shoot wasn’t bad.

The smoky char siu caught me a little by surprise too. The only downside: we only got one thin slice per bowl.

Eggs (味玉) were extra and I thought it was slightly overcooked so the egg yolk wasn’t runny enough.

After the meal, we were all given a complimentary ice pop. They were made with different fruit juices, and I had one with grapefruit juice. I could honestly say that it’s just perfect for a sizzling hot like today. Really thirst quenching.

That’s all the time we had for lunch. Now, time to buckle up cuz we have one last destination in Takamatsu — Ritsurin Garden (栗林公園).

Food Rating: 6.3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2420-1 Yashima Nishimachi, Takamatsu, Kagawa, 761-0113, Japan

Closest Train Station: Katamoto

Tel: +81 (0)87-841-3818

Website: https://www.instagram.com/seto_kiseki/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm, 5:30pm - 10:00pm daily