Founded in 1953, Ide Shoten, a Japanese-style Chinese soba restaurant has been around for decades. It is one of the representative restaurants of Wakayama ramen known throughout the country.

Ide Shoten was catapulted from culinary anonymity on 1 January 1998. Out of tens of thousands of ramen restaurants, it was picked as the country’s most delicious during a high-profile New Year’s Day broadcast of the popular television show, TV Champion. This high-level proclamation paved the way for the restaurant’s soaring popularity (even today, there are 30-minute queues every weekend) and is widely credited with sparking a ramen boom across Wakayama City.

As for the secret to Ide Shoten’s competition-slaying popularity, the list of reasons cited by fans is as long as it is appetite-whetting: the rich fusion of long-stewed pork bones and soy sauce; the fine balance of flavours in the broth; the thin and straight noodles; the deep flavour of the chashu (roast pork).