Vegan Miso Ramen at Noodle Stand Tokyo / ヌードルスタンドトーキョー - Harajuku

*The bowl is completely vegan, I personally added the meat via a second ticket.*

Tokyo Noodle Stand has been making waves with their vegan ramen bowl in an incredibly accessible location in Harajuku. Although the vegan miso ramen is not their main item, it surely is their most famous bowl. Their main item is a classic shoyu ramen which they call TOKYO Chukasoba, which can be ordered in regular ramen form, as well as in tsukemen form. Another specialty item is their gyusujinikomi mazesoba (牛すじ煮込みまぜそば), which is a Japanese style beef tendon stew served as a mixing noodle bowl. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, imagine a goulash on top of ramen noodles and you’re close.

The original toppings of the vegan ramen bowl consist of a soy based soboro (fake minced meat), chick peas, cashew nuts, marinated tomatoes and some broccoli. For my personal taste, I think this is lacking some more protein, but then again I would probably make that point for most vegan food.

The noodles are thin and slurpy, working quite well with the very thick and creamy soup. The soup itself is completely vegan, of course, made with soy milk, coconut milk and vegetable oils. I thought I could taste some sesame oil, but it’s difficult to put my finger on it. The miso tare harmonizes well with the coconut, giving me ideas to make some Thai curry and miso fusion stuff at home.

All vegans can disregard the following point below.

*Yes, I added some meat. No, it’s not originally part of the vegan bowl.*

As the bowl itself felt like it was lacking some protein, I decided to add 3 slices of thick chashu to the bowl for 400 Yen. The meat itself was well prepared, melting away after a few effortless chews. No complaints, but no revelation either.

By now, their classic shoyu ramen and tsukemen bowls are the only ones I have not had so far. However it is difficult to justify going for them, when their unique specialty bowls are that great.

I can easily recommend Noodle Stand Tokyo for all vegans and vegetarians out there, who want to try a hearty miso ramen. For non-vegans and non-vegetarians, it’s still worth a trip for their gyusujinikomi mazesoba, however I would recommend a “proper” miso ramen bowl at a different shop, if you want to try the original miso ramen flavor.