Ramen¥shintenchiDaily 11:30-15:00, 18:00-22:00; closed Wednesday
Bakudanya is the Shintenchi shop that pushed Hiroshima tsukemen beyond the city: cold noodles dipped in a chilli and seafood-stock sauce you grade yourself.
Signature: Hiroshima tsukemen
Order: Hiroshima tsukemen, choosing your own heat level
Tip: The dipping sauce comes in graded heat steps, so order low on a first visit and add chilli powder at the table.
Ramen¥ebaDaily 11:30-13:30, 18:00-23:00; closed on the 1st, 12th, 13th and 26th of each month
Chukasoba Youki has cooked one dish in Eba since 1958, and its soy and pork-bone bowl is exactly what Hiroshima people mean when they say chuka soba.
Signature: Chuka soba
Order: Chuka soba, the only thing the kitchen makes
Tip: The Eba flagship shuts on the 1st, 12th, 13th and 26th of each month, so check the date before crossing the river.
Ramen¥otemachiMon and Wed-Sun 11:00-15:00, 18:00-22:00; Fri-Sat dinner to 00:00; closed Tuesday
Musashibo serves Hiroshima's broth-free tantanmen a short walk from the Chudenmae tram stop, ordered by vending machine and graded by heat at no extra cost.
Signature: Shirunashi tantanmen
Order: Shirunashi tantanmen, stirred thirty times before eating
Tip: Heat runs on a four-step scale with level two as the house standard, and stepping up costs nothing extra.
Ramen¥minami-kuDaily 11:30-15:00; dinner 17:30-22:00, Fri-Sat to 00:00; no dinner service on Tuesday
Mongoi-tei in Tanna builds a chicken, pork and seafood broth finished with dried fish and prawn oil, one of Hiroshima's busiest late ramen rooms.
Signature: Seafood tonkotsu ramen
Order: The seafood tonkotsu ramen with extra dried-fish oil
Tip: The Tanna flagship sits south of the centre near Ujina, and it runs lunch every day but shuts the dinner service on Tuesdays.
Ramen¥nishi-kuDaily 11:30-22:00; closed Sunday
Tsubame Ramen works a small Higashi-Kanon room in western Hiroshima, a neighbourhood chuka soba counter rather than a stop on any visitor circuit.
Signature: Chuka soba
Order: Chuka soba, the shop's soy-and-pork standard
Tip: Service runs unbroken from 11:30 to 22:00 on every day except Sunday, which is the one day the shutters stay down.
Ramen¥minami-kuTue-Sat 11:00-15:30, 17:00-20:00; Sun and holidays 11:00-19:00; closed Monday
Rai Rai Tei is a plain Minami-ku noodle room in Hiroshima with a split lunch and dinner service and a queue that forms without any signage at all.
Signature: Chuka soba
Order: Chuka soba at lunch, before the kitchen breaks at 15:30
Tip: The kitchen closes between 15:30 and 17:00 from Tuesday to Saturday, and the whole shop shuts on Mondays.