¥¥¥¥RamenShintenchi
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.
OrderHiroshima tsukemen, choosing your own heat level
TipThe dipping sauce comes in graded heat steps, so order low on a first visit and add chilli powder at the table.
¥¥¥¥RamenEba
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.
OrderChuka soba, the only thing the kitchen makes
TipThe Eba flagship shuts on the 1st, 12th, 13th and 26th of each month, so check the date before crossing the river.
¥¥¥¥RamenOtemachi
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.
OrderShirunashi tantanmen, stirred thirty times before eating
TipHeat runs on a four-step scale with level two as the house standard, and stepping up costs nothing extra.
¥¥¥¥RamenMinami Ku
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.
OrderThe seafood tonkotsu ramen with extra dried-fish oil
TipThe Tanna flagship sits south of the centre near Ujina, and it runs lunch every day but shuts the dinner service on Tuesdays.
¥¥¥¥RamenNishi Ku
Tsubame Ramen works a small Higashi-Kanon room in western Hiroshima, a neighbourhood chuka soba counter rather than a stop on any visitor circuit.
OrderChuka soba, the shop's soy-and-pork standard
TipService runs unbroken from 11:30 to 22:00 on every day except Sunday, which is the one day the shutters stay down.
¥¥¥¥RamenMinami Ku
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.
OrderChuka soba at lunch, before the kitchen breaks at 15:30
TipThe kitchen closes between 15:30 and 17:00 from Tuesday to Saturday, and the whole shop shuts on Mondays.
¥¥¥¥RamenEkimae
Wadato works a Hakata-style tonkotsu bowl beside Hiroshima Station, open through the afternoon at weekends and until 23:30 for the last-train crowd.
OrderThe house tonkotsu ramen on thin straight Hakata-style noodles
TipWeekends run straight through from 11:30 with no afternoon break, but the shop is shut all day on Mondays.
¥¥¥¥RamenMinami Ku
Mongoi-tei keeps its Tanna counter open to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it the practical late ramen bowl in southern Hiroshima.
OrderSeafood tonkotsu ramen with the dried-fish oil
TipWeeknight dinner stops at 22:00 and Tuesday has no dinner service at all, so only Friday and Saturday run genuinely late.
¥¥¥¥RamenShintenchi
Bakudanya sells Hiroshima tsukemen for under 1,000 yen in Shintenchi: cold noodles with cabbage, cucumber and a chilli dipping sauce you grade yourself.
OrderHiroshima tsukemen
TipHeat runs on a numbered scale, and asking for a lower number costs nothing and keeps the sauce readable.
¥¥¥¥RamenEba
Chukasoba Youki in Eba has sold one bowl of Hiroshima chuka soba since 1958, and it remains among the cheapest good lunches anywhere in the city.
OrderChuka soba
TipThere is nothing else on the menu, so the queue moves quickly even when it runs out of the door.
¥¥¥¥RamenOtemachi
Musashibo sells Hiroshima's broth-free tantanmen from a ticket machine in Fujimi-cho, with every heat level priced exactly the same as the rest.
OrderShirunashi tantanmen
TipBuy the ticket before you sit down, and stir the bowl hard before the first mouthful or the chilli oil stays at the bottom.
¥¥¥¥RamenMinami Ku
Rai Rai Tei is a plain Minami-ku noodle shop in Hiroshima where a full bowl of chuka soba still lands comfortably under 1,000 yen at either service.
OrderChuka soba
TipLunch service stops at 15:30 from Tuesday to Saturday and the shop is closed on Mondays, so plan around the break.
¥¥¥¥RamenNishi Ku
Tsubame Ramen feeds western Hiroshima a cheap soy-and-pork chuka soba from a small Higashi-Kanon room a few minutes from the Tenmacho tram stop.
OrderChuka soba
TipThe shop runs straight through from 11:30 to 22:00 every day except Sunday, when the shutters stay down.