A six-minute walk from Ekoda Station into a quiet residential corner of Nerima leads to a shop known for its chicken shio (salt) ramen. Menya Kintoki won the salt category of the TRY (Tokyo Ramen of the Year) awards' established-shop division four years running from the 21st edition (2020-2021), and was selected as a Michelin Guide Tokyo Bib Gourmand five years in a row from the 2015 edition. Its twin signatures are a crystal-clear chicken shio ramen and a soupless dandan noodle rooted in the owner's Chinese-cuisine training.
What kind of shop it is
The official TRY website describes the soup as a "high-clarity broth drawn from minced chicken simmered without ever boiling" — delicate in style yet deep in chicken flavor. Owner Yamaguchi trained at a Chinese restaurant before going independent, and according to an interview article on San-tatsu (published by Kotsu Shimbunsha), he chose Ekoda because a town with three universities would never run short of hungry people.
The accolades are ongoing: on top of the four consecutive TRY salt-category wins, the 25th edition (2024-2025) placed the shop 4th in salt and 3rd in the soupless category of the established-shop division.
What to order
Start with the signature shio ramen: a transparent broth full of chicken umami paired with custom medium-thick straight noodles from Mikawaya Seimen (per San-tatsu). Toppings go beyond chicken chashu and tender bamboo shoots — fluffy shrimp dumplings and chicken dumplings are the house touch. It was the ajitama (seasoned egg) shio ramen that took first place in the salt category at the 21st TRY awards.
The other headliner is the soupless dandan noodle, a dish only a Chinese-cuisine-trained owner could make, which ranked 3rd in the soupless category at the 25th TRY awards. The shop has placed in both the salt and soupless categories of the TRY awards. A shoyu (soy sauce) ramen is also on the official menu. As of April 2026 media reports, the shio ramen is ¥1,200 and the soupless dandan ¥1,100.
Tips for visiting
The shop is about 6 minutes on foot from the north exit of Ekoda Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. It runs two service windows, Tuesday through Saturday (lunch 11:00-14:30, dinner 18:00-20:30), with Saturday lunch only and closures on Sundays and Mondays. Since it closes once ingredients run out, arriving early in the lunch window is the safest bet.
Temporary closures, schedule changes, and limited menus are announced on the official X account (@kintoki0330), so check the latest posts before you go.