Afuri Nakameguro Ramen is one of the famous ramen chain restaurants in Japan. In this post, I will introduce the location, waiting time, menu/prices, and taste of Afuri Ramen.
I visited the Nakameguro River during the cherry blossom season in March. After enjoying the cherry blossoms, I chose to have lunch at Afuri Ramen Nakameguro. Afuri Ramen is known for its clean chicken broth-based ramen, especially the one with yuzu.
Afuri Nakameguro Location / Operating hours:
- Location – Japan, 〒153-0051 Tokyo, Meguro City, Kamimeguro, 1 Chome−23−1 中目黒アリーナ 1F
- Operating hours – 11:00 ~ 23:00
The location is very close to Nakameguro Station, and it can be easily found on the 1st floor of the building across from the station. Afuri Ramen has a total of 7 chain stores in Tokyo, including popular tourist destinations such as Shinjuku and Roppongi.
Afuri Nakameguro Waiting:
When I went, it was during the cherry blossom season, so there were a lot of people around Nakameguro River. Therefore, there was a fairly long waiting line when I arrived shortly after the restaurant opened at 11 am. I had to wait for about 30 minutes before being seated.
The menu had pictures and English, making it easy to choose.
Afuri Ramen is divided into three styles: Shio (salt), Shoyu (soy sauce), and Ratan (spicy soy sauce), and there are also menus with yuzu added. There was also vegan ramen available. In addition to ramen with soup, they also sold Tsukemen-style ramen, where noodles are dipped into soup.
Lastly, there were rice menus that could be eaten with ramen, including five styles such as adding meat or sauce.
I ordered the set menu, which included the representative menu, Yuzu Shio Ramen, and rice with chashu (roasted pork).
Menu ordering and payment are done through a kiosk. Interestingly, cash payment was not possible, so various easy payment methods such as Line Pay were supported besides credit cards.
When ordering ramen, you can choose between basic noodles and thick noodles, and you can choose chashu and chicken as toppings. I chose basic noodles with chashu toppings.
After ordering, you wait in the restaurant on the chairs until your turn. When it’s your turn, the staff will guide you to your seat. The seats are in a bar-like shape near the kitchen, and each seat is separated by partitions, making it great for solo dining.
There was a small space to put bags or luggage behind the seat.
Yuzu Shio Ramen:
Yuzu Shio Ramen was light and clean, not as salty as other Japanese ramen I had, and the taste was great. If you’ve tasted ramen elsewhere and found it too salty, then you will be satisfied with the ramen here. The taste of yuzu was not strong, but subtle, so there was no repulsive feeling, making it great.
The noodles were thin like basic noodles, but surprisingly elastic and matched the soup well.
Finally, the chashu on top of the chashu ramen was excellent. The smell of chashu being continuously roasted in the kitchen was also great. The chashu was roasted to be soft and greasy, and sweet soy sauce seasoning was added. I regretted ordering a small portion, and I should have ordered more.
Chashu Rice:
This is the chashu rice that came with the set menu. There are many great reviews of this menu, so I had expectations, but personally, it was disappointing. The meat was not too greasy or soft, and I preferred the chashu on top of the ramen more. If I were to go again, I would order regular rice and add chashu for ramen.
That’s it for now on introducing Afuri Ramen, a ramen restaurant near Nakameguro River. The restaurant had seats in a bar-like shape, so it was great for solo dining. As there are multiple chain stores in Tokyo, we recommend finding a location close to you and trying it out. Thank you.
