In Sapporo, but not miso.

3 Sapporo Ramen Shops with a Light, Refreshing Broth

"We only make shoyu and shio ramen," says the owner of a shop with just two items on the menu. No miso, no chilled ramen in summer, and definitely no gyoza or fried rice. Behind this single-minded focus lies a strong desire to serve ramen for just 500 yen. Add more menu items, and food waste increases. Ramen is everyday food, and he wants people to be able to eat it for around 500 yen. That's the conclusion reached by the owner after 40 years making ramen in Asahikawa and more than 20 years in Sapporo. "This is the flavor that was mainstream around the 1950s," he says, "a ramen you could eat every single day"—and in that taste, you can't help but feel the depth of the history he's lived through.

Before opening her shop, owner Ms. Nakajima was a homemaker. She couldn't forget the delicious niboshi (dried sardine) ramen she tasted on a trip to Tohoku, and started making it at home—which is how the shop came to be. Driven by a single wish, "I want people to taste the ramen I loved eating in Tsugaru," she experimented tirelessly, and word of mouth spread gradually as she served it to friends and acquaintances. Her signature soup is made by slowly simmering a generous amount of niboshi, tasting along the way until it's just right. The noodles are hand-kneaded into curls, one serving at a time. The flavor built through this careful, one-by-one process, combined with her humble nature—she never pushes recommendations, saying "please enjoy it however you like"—is what keeps customers coming back.

A five-minute walk from Nishisen 9-jō Asahiyama Kōen-dōri Station. Tucked quietly into a residential neighborhood, this ramen shop plays mellow reggae inside, with a faint aroma of niboshi drifting through the air. Mokuyobi is that kind of unpretentious ramen shop. The quirky name (meaning "Thursday") comes from the time the owner worked at a curry restaurant called "Curry Damashii Destroyer" and would borrow the space to serve ramen on Thursdays, the restaurant's regular closing day. Even though niboshi broth can vary in flavor from batch to batch, the ramen here is always delicious thanks to the owner's daily trial and error. Come enjoy a casual yet delicious 500-yen bowl of ramen at lunchtime—any day, not just Thursdays.