Kim Kay
aka: Ramen Mistress

Kim is a freelance journalist based in Tokyo, Japan. She specializes in the connection between food, culture, and travel.

Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Prior World, Tokyo Weekender, byFood, and Savor Japan. She has also been a guest on various podcasts as well as short-form video content focused on Japanese cuisine and tourism.

Learn more about Kim.

Publications and Projects

This light, and those noodles, I’m in heaven ✨🌲

The concept of a Japanese “drive in” is basically a retro roadside station restaurant, often in beautiful natural surroundings. Most are only accessible by car, but luckily the famous oceanside Gono Line runs down the Akita coast.

Champon style ramen is a creamy seafood and pork broth loaded with sauteed vegetables. I’m shocked how they can offer such a satisfying bowl for ¥900.

🍜 Seafood Champon Ramen
📍Driver Restaurant Umi
🗺️ Akitashirakami Station, Gono Train Line, Akita
⏰ 10:30am-6:30pm, closed Wednesdays

#japan #japantrip #travel #train

Your sign to always add gyoza or extra wontons ✊

#fyp #reels #funny #advice

These are the best breakfast ramen I’ve had so far in 2026, all around the greater Tokyo area. The cheapest on the list is only ¥790 ($4.99 at the time of writing), proof that you can still get a great bowl of ramen in Tokyo for under the ¥1,000 threshold.

There’s tons of breakfast ramen out there, but I personally like each of these for the atmosphere, quality of noodles, and cost performance.

There’s even one that is a legitimately good bowl inside Narita airport, which speaks volumes for Japan’s ramen scene. Nowhere else in the world do I get excited about airport food. So pin that one for your early morning departure.

Let me know if you’ve been to these, or any other excellent breakfast ramen out there.

#ramen #tokyo #foodguide #japan

Not all ramen is created equal 🙂‍↔️

Did you know that there’s a soupless version which swaps out the heavy broth for a sesame paste, and tops the noodles with scrambled eggs, minced ham, and diced veggies? It’s one of my most refreshing styles, and something I always crave when looking for more of a “noodle salad” feeling.

And since it’s chilled, the noodles are extra bouncy.

I had this one at Torisoba Zagin, which has branches in both Tokyo & Osaka.

#reel #fyp #noahkahan

Nothing wrong with holistic healing 🫳

#reel #fyp #funny #therapy

If I’m gonna chit chat, I’m ordering tsukemen. Here’s why.

📍 Tsukemen Sho つけめん章
🗺️ Bashamichi Station, Yokohama
⏳ 11am - 3:30am, closed Sundays

#foodie #food #cooking #advice

In my opinion, miso ramen is one of the hardest to get right. Sometimes it tastes, dare I say, like vomit, and other times it’s just an oily bowl of tonkotsu with some miso paste swirled in for saltiness. To make a good miso, and I know I’m incurring the wrath of miso gods like @ramen__lord, I think it takes a helluva of a skillset (which he has).

So when I heard Kudan Nakaji, a ramen shop in Tokyo, had some interesting bowls of miso using oysters and monkfish, it’s un understatement to say my interest was piqued.

Their red bowl uses “hatcho miso” which actually makes up for just about 10% of all domestically produced miso in Japan. It’s super dark and concentrated, and traditionally from Nagoya. To top it off, Nakaji’s red miso ramen adds oysters to their soup base, as well as a few other types of miso, resulting in a crazy complex bowl. This was not what I ordered, but do have genuine curiosity about.

Their white miso is what I chose, and much milder and arguably a little sweet, which is a defining factor in white miso traditionally. But again, Nakaji goes a little wild and adds peanut paste, butter, and—wait for it—monkfish liver. That was actually the reason I jumped at the chance to try this bowl; whenever I go to izakaya in the winter time, I order “ankimo” which is monkfish liver. It’s seasonally famous for winter and is a pretty hard taste to describe. Imagine a smooth paté with a slight briny element. Perfect combination for white miso, actually!

Their noodles are classic miso style ramen noodles, thick and wavy with a chewy texture.

Verdict? Yes. Particularly in cold weather. Come here. It’s good.

Nakaji gets super crowded around lunch thanks to the office buildings in the area, so try to get there either before or after the noon rush.

📍 Kudan Nakaji, Kudanshita Station
📅 Open daily till 9pm (Sundays are lunch only)

#miso #fermentation #japan #japanesefood

A fact of life 😭🥲😆
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#humor #fitnesshumor #gym #nutrition

He’s a rockstar visionary with more unique bowls of ramen than an artist has paintbrushes.

The shop (two stops from Tokyo Station) is a bit intimidating, down a staircase and with all black walls, but the chef is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. Every week he pioneers crazy ramen inventions ranging from mochi bonito and pepper ramen, to Kobe beef ramen, to even sea urchin and clam ramen!

The tragic thing would be to only visit the shop once; he makes so many unique bowls you need to try as many as possible.

🍜 Limited edition cold corn & pesto, with crushed nuts and whole tomato
🍜 Clear black throat sea perch using four different salts

📍 Yatagarasu in Suidobashi @yatagarasu_ramen
⏰ Closed on Sundays
📝 10 counter seats & 2 tables

#tokyo #japan #japantrip #japanesefood

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Find my recent bowls on Instagram

@ramenmistress

Kim Kay aka: Ramen Mistress

Publications and Projects

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Find my recent bowls on Instagram

Freelance writer of Japan food, beverage, and culture.

Kim Kay
aka: Ramen Mistress