Takayama City in Gifu prefecture, Japan (also known as Hida Takayama) is tourist destination that has slowly begun to gain popularity for foreign visitors. The unique combination of rural Japanese charm, beautiful traditional townscape, and plethora of sightseeing spots to choose from makes Takayama a truly special destination to add to your Japan travel itinerary.

The city of Takayama is also known for a number of delicious local cuisine options, including Hida Beef and various traditional Japanese snacks like Mitarashi Dango. What you might not know is that you can enjoy delicious ramen here as well! Takayama ramen is a popular style of ramen in Japan, and is the perfect option for both lunch and dinner while visiting Hida Takayama.

You might be surprised to discover that, while Takayama ramen is one of the most famous ramen in Japan, it doesn’t have Japanese origins. Takayama ramen is a noodle meal that was created by the city’s Chinese street food vendors and it became so popular, it’s now an important part of the Hida Takayama food scene.

The dashi broth used in Takayama ramen is made by boiling chicken bones in water with bonito flakes and vegetables for extra flavor. Because of the limited space available to them for preparing food, the Chinese food stall cooks would add the soy sauce to their broth as it cooked. That’s a tradition that’s still continued in the preparation of Takayama ramen dashi today.

The best Takayama ramen dashi broth can take many hours to prepare. Once it’s ready, it’s ladled over soba, a wrinkly Chinese wheat noodle, before toppings like bamboo shoots, leaks, spring onions, egg and thin slices of seasoned roast pork are added. Because of the type of Chinese noodles used, we often call Takayama ramen Takayama soba. Whatever name you call it by, it’s always delicious.

Hida Takayama is a city in the mountains of the Gifu Prefecture and a must-visit for many reasons. Among Hida Takayama’s virtues are its Old Town with its Edo period wooden houses, its temple and its many museums. The nearby Shinhotaka Ropeway gondola ride is popular with visitors too and the perfect way to see Japan’s third highest mountain, Mount Hotaka.

There are many places you can eat Takayama ramen in Hida Takayama, but we would like to introduce you to our personal favorites. They’re all a bit different and unique, and all worth a visit during your time in Takayama!

Keep reading for our favorite places to eat Takayama Ramen when visiting Hida Takayama, Gifu!

The Takayama ramen at Menya Shirakawa is so good there are often people queuing at the door half an hour before they open. When you go inside Menya Shirakawa, the first thing you’ll notice is the appetizing aroma. It will make your mouth water in anticipation.

Here at Menya Shirakawa, they serve only one ramen dish. The dashi for the ramen is made with beef rather than chicken, which is another reason it’s so unique and popular. We love the quaint décor of this noodle house as much as their ramen. Their collection of maneki-nekos, lucky cats, is fun, but can be mesmerizing if you stare at the moving arms for too long. There’s so many of them!

The dashi at the Takasago Chuka Soba is, for us, what makes their ramen outstanding. Here they use dried sardines rather than bonito flakes and Hokkaido kelp as well as vegetables to make their broth. They’re ingredients that give the dashi a very distinct flavor and have made it a famous ramen even in Japan. It’s so good, they’ve even made TV programs about it!

You can go to Takasago Chuka Soba any time of year, but we love to go in winter. The dark wood and bamboo interior make it feel cozy when it’s cold outside, while a few sips of their tasty dashi warms you from head to toe.

Yayoi Soba is one of the oldest noodle houses in Hida Takayama. The ramen they serve is cooked to the same traditional recipe that has been used since they first opened. When something is so good, there’s no need to change it!

Yayoi Soba’s specialty is the pork they use to top their dashi. They marinate it in a special sauce for two hours before slow-roasting it. It’s exceptionally tasty and they’re very generous with their servings too. If you don’t want to eat pork then you can choose the tofu which they marinate in soy sauce before deep frying it. It’s a pleasant alternative to have, and rare in ramen shops!

If you are starting to think Takayama food is all about ramen, while it may seem that way, you’ll be missing out! Le Midi is a French-style bistro that specializes in dishes made from Hida beef. Le Midi also operates a mini-noodle house offering elevated versions of Takayama ramen topped with Hida beef or wild boar.

Hida beef has been voted one of the best in the world at the Wagyu Olympics and when you try it, you’ll know why. We save Le Midi and their Hida beef ramen for special occasions as it is, understandably, more expensive than other Takayama ramen, but definitely worth the trip.