Tasty! (Photo: Tomoko Kamishima)

Hakone-Yumoto Tai Ramen "Sai"

The best-tasting ramen in Hakone…but it’s not cheap!

Tasty! (Photo: Tomoko Kamishima)
Tomoko Kamishima   - 2 min read

What is Tai-Ramen?

Tai is sea bream and it is quite tasty. Grilled tai has been enjoyed at every happy event in Japan since the days of old. The broth from tai tastes very delicate and graceful. Since the soup at this ramen shop near Hakone-Yumoto Station is flavored with either salt or soy sauce, you can choose the type you like according to your taste.

Details of Tai Ramen

The topping is two slices of grilled bamboo shoot, sliced zucchini, seaweed, long green onion, and one slice of tai sashimi (raw fish). First, please sip the soup. You might feel it is too mild. But after eating the noodles, when you sip the soup again, you’ll notice the deep flavor. The noodles are not thin but they are perfectly shaped so as to absorb or catch a lot of the soup. And you will also realize that each topping is a perfect match to the noodles. Enjoy the different taste combinations of noodles and toppings! If you want to add spice, try adding the Yuzu-kosho (pepper flavored with aromatic citron). It is also very nice. At the end, I drank off the soup in a gulp. If you order a set, bite the rice ball first, and then put it in a soup. It is so tasty that you won’t be able to resist slurping it all down.

How to order

At first, buy a ticket from the machine to the right of the entrance as you get off the elevator. They have tai-shio (salt based soup), tai-soy (soy sauce based soup), with or without a rice ball. Some photos are attached to the buttons. The Tai-Ramen is 850 yen, and the set with rice ball is 1200 yen. When you sit down at a table, a waitress will come and collect your ticket.

Access

Starting from the Information Center, go straight and pass four shops on the left. You will see a steamed bun shop, Marushima Honten (丸嶋本店). Go into the bun shop and use the elevator in the back of the shop. The ramen shop is on the third floor. There is also a blue sign on the street in front of the shop that you can look for.

Tomoko Kamishima

Tomoko Kamishima @tomoko.kamishima

Japan is a small island nation, but we have a huge number of surprising things to discover here. Many of these delights can be found when you step off the main street onto small side paths. I really enjoy studying about and researching various aspects of traditional Japanese culture, and then sha...