After finding out that Yokohama had a ramen museum, we figured that no Ramen Tour through Japan would be complete without a visit. The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum boasts being the world’s first “food-themed amusement park.” In reality, it was just a bunch of ramen restaurants in one place that charges admission.
Although the first floor did have a small museum and gift shop, the highlight of the museum was the two basement floors that were modelled after the streets of Shitamachi, an old town in Tokyo in the year of 1958, the year that instant ramen was supposedly invented. The two floors collectively showcased a total of 9 ramen restaurants that each featured ramen from a different region of Japan.
I originally thought that the ramen museum was like a food court, where we would each be able to buy ramen from a separate restaurant, take them out, and eat together in the tables in the courtyard. Unfortunately, we learned that each restaurant was independent, and we weren’t able to take the ramen out of each restaurant. It was also disappointing that each person had to buy a bowl at each restaurant, so we all had to decide on one place to eat together, or pick different places and eat alone.
Ev and I decided to eat at Shina Soba-ya, which had a chicken shoyu base ramen. I thought that we made the right choice because I was still full from lunch and this ramen’s was not overly heavy or oily.
Overall, I was really disappointed in the ramen museum. There are so many great ramen shops in Japan that I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to go here unless you’re already in Yokohama.
Shinyokohama Ramen Museum ♦
2-14-21 Shinyokohama, Kohuku-ku,
Yokohama-City, 222-0033, Japan
Closest Station – Shin-Yokohama
11:00-22:00; entrance fee 310 yen