★★★★ 五行 (Go-gyou) - Tokyo

Go-gyou is from Hakata city located in the southern island of Kyushu. Hakata ramen is famous for its tonkotsu soup, but Go-gyou takes tonkotsu and gives it a unique flair. Their signature dish is the 焦がし味噌ラーメン (burnt miso ramen).

The Soup - as you can see from the picture, is black. That is until you run your spoon through the soup and reveal a creamy miso broth underneath the thin layer of burnt black oil. The soup starts out as a rich tonkotsu soup, then the burnt miso, which I am told is fired at just the right temperature in a Chinese wok, is added to the soup. The burnt miso adds flavor and aroma to the soup that is totally addicting.

The Noodles - are medium thick straight noodles. Cooked slightly on the firmer side and chewy.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, mizuna (a Japanese spinach like vegetable), naruto fish cake, and a boiled egg. None of the toppings have a lot of flavor, but instead absorbes the flavor of the soup really well. The cha-shu was on the drier side but after sitting in the soup a while was quite delcious.

Overall - I highly recommend this out of the ordinary ramen. The soup is the star of this ramen while the noodles and toppings complement it perfectly. The soup is served very, very hot, expect burnt tongues after your meal here. Go-gyou is located in Roppongi but requires quite a walk from the subway station, expect long lines during lunch and dinner hours.

http://chikaranomoto.com/gogyo/ng.html