I didn't have any expectations while walking towards this awesome gem for lunch today. But my expectations immediately rose when I saw this place had a line up. (Picture below has no line since I took it after the rush, plus it was raining.)

And upon a quick inspection, I understood why but my understanding would be more comprehensible upon finishing my bowl.

This is a tiny shop with only spots for 7 people to eat at any given time. Yes, you read that right, only 7. As of writing, this has been the smallest ramen shop I have visited to date.

When you walk in, you are greeted by the ticket dispenser where you make your selection of food. The shops’ most renowned bowl is the Shio (salt) ramen so that is indeed what I went with. I also went ahead and added an egg, too. I was feeling hungry so I ordered a small buta (pork) donburi and yup, that was a promising way to start.

Because we couldn't sit down right away, we sat in a small waiting area in front of the main window. One of the staff members came over and grabbed our order tickets and sat us when a spot came up.

Since it was lunch, at a tiny shop, you don't waste time with chatter. When your bowl comes, you get down to business and eat. And when you’re done, you leave promptly so others can enjoy their bowl. However, that didn't stop me from taking a few shots of the experience.

When this place is open, it's only open for 3 hours during lunch so I can only imagine it's a fairly hectic 3 hours.

Upon receiving my bowl, I was thinking a nice subtle soup was in store for me, but to my surprise, that broth packed an explosion of flavours. The salt was there with an amazing blend of chicken and fish flavour that I haven't witnessed before. I really had to take a few sips of the soup at the start just to really take it all in.

I am under the belief that this place makes their own noodles and if so, more kudos to them. The noodles had the right amount of chewy texture and when mixed with some broth and a bit of chashu, wow, just wow. That homemade chashu isn't your standard run of the mill chashu either. It's got that flavour of homemade love that encourages you to keep coming back for more.

I am glad I ordered the egg with my soup, but if I had to call out the weakest link, it would have been this part. While it looked the part, it's flavour didn't intrigue me enough. When I go back, I will probably add an extra piece of chashu instead.

I will be definitely be going back here and without a shadow of doubt, if you are in Okazaki and need a ramen fix, you won't be disappointed. Within 10 min walk of Okazaki Station, even just stopping on your way to somewhere else is worth the detour time.