This Malden ramen shop is a spinoff of a popular market that attracted customers with its “ramen Sundays.” Now, Ebisuya Japanese Noodle House is a direct source for that same ramen, including spicy and non-spicy miso versions.

Once a beloved ramen destination in the Super 88 Food Court, Pikaichi has since settled into Medford as its permanent home. Pikaichi serves eight types of ramen, two of which have a vegetable-based broth. Heat-seekers should opt for the spiciest ramen on the menu, the jigoku ramen; the word jigoku means “hell” in Japanese and is adopted by ramen shops to describe the spiciest variety on its menu. It comes with an ultra-spicy shoyu broth. For a milder pick with a hint of citrus, try the yuzu shio.

Tsurumen, located in Somerville’s Davis Square, is a no-frills spot with a short menu that focuses on Osaka-style ramen. Try the paitan ramen, which has a thick, cloudy, chicken-based broth (paitan means “white broth” in Japanese) and comes topped with pork chashu and scratch-made noodles. Though the shop was initially designed to be impermanent, Somerville folks have charmed the owners enough that they decided to stay after 1,000 days.

The first of three locations of this Japanese chain to open in the Boston area, Santouka in Cambridge offers a variety of classic Hokkaido-style ramen with choices such as tonkotsu shio, shoyu, miso, and specialty options like tonkotsu toroniku ramen: toroniku, a rare, tender cut of pig’s cheek, is served on the side. There is also a vegetarian option made with a soy-based vegan broth, menma kikurage mushrooms, soy sauce-marinated fu (or wheat gluten), and umeboshi. Santouka also has two other locations in Back Bay and Allston.

This award-winning ramen can be traced all the way to Kagoshima, Japan, where it became known for its freshly made noodles and chicken-and-pork broth, claiming accolades in Japan and the U.S. It offers three signature tonkotsu-based ramen dishes (spicy, rich, and light) and two miso broth-based vegetarian ramen dishes.

Isshindo had big shoes to fill, taking over the space of the beloved Pikaichi at Super 88. (Fortunately, Pikaichi didn’t close for good; it relocated to Medford, and it remains among the area’s best ramen spots — see more details above.) But in its first few years — it opened in 2019 — Isshindo has hit the ground running, impressing with its range of broth offerings, from the creamy and rich tonkotsu (pork bone broth) to the tangy shio to the umami-forward miso, there’s a bowl for every taste.  

Sibling to Tora Japanese Restaurant, an excellent Chinatown restaurant focused on sushi and kaizen don (a bowl of rice topped with typically raw seafood), Tora Ramen serves a concise menu that features black garlic tonkotsu ramen, spicy miso ramen, and a few others, with snacks such as pork gyoza and crab croquettes also available.

This tiny Coolidge Corner ramen shop opened in late 2015, hidden inside the Arcade building, and features a selection of nine ramen options under the Sapporo-style umbrella, including the spicy gankara miso, the sesame-based tan-tan, and more. Two of the main components of the ramen broth (kaeshi, the soup base and dashi, the soup stock) are freshly made in-house. The team has also opened Gantetsu-Ya, a casual takoyaki and okonomiyaki shop in the same building. Just like other ramen hotspots, this place is small and can get busy quickly; go in small groups.

Originally from New York, this small ramen chain has two local outposts in Somerville’s Assembly Row and South Bay Center in Dorchester, as well as one sister restaurant Yakitori Totto, a restaurant specializing in grilled chicken. While much of the Boston ramen scene focuses on pork bone-based tonkotsu broths, it’s all about the chicken at Totto; there are three variations of a chicken paitan (white, cloudy broth) ramen on the menu, as well as a vegetarian option.

With sister locations in Boston’s Back Bay and in Waltham, Hakata’s Quincy spot is a popular choice for its ramen, featuring a dozen options, most of which are made with a pork bone-based broth. Also on the menu: sushi burgers and sushi burritos.