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Alex Leaming

Denver’s 17 Essential Ramen Shops

Soul-soothing broths and noodle combos around town

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Fall has arrived, and cold-weather cravings are soon to follow. Ramen is now a smash sensation across the U.S. In Denver, fans wrap around the block waiting for ramen popups, and reservations fill up fast for ramen throw-downs among area chefs. A trend that hit the Mile High City a few years ago shows no signs of slowing down.

Here is a handy guide to the hottest, flavor-filled bowls of ramen in Denver right now.

Don’t see your favorite? Leave a comment below, or send us a tip to denver@eater.com.

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Hana Japanese Bistro

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This welcoming Northwest outpost concocts four versions of shoyu-style ramen, complete with fish cakes, slices of scallions, hunks of crab, and seaweed amidst twists of chewy noodles.

Yelp

Udon Kaisha

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Lafayette’s mom-and-pop noodle and sushi bar takes great pride in its time-tested soups. Popular favorites include the spicy pork ramen noodles with seaweed and bean sprouts, and the house special with egg and chashu pork.

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Sakana Sushi & Ramen

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This relaxed suburban eatery specializes in light varieties from shio to shoyu and spicy miso. Creative additions include creamy vegetable and curry ramen with stir-in options such as butter, corn, or Japanese fried chicken.

Yelp

A small but ever-evolving menu by Tommy Lee means a line wrapped around the block for spicy broth, noodles packed with umami, and clever toppings. Soon the famous spicy chicken bowl with creamy sesame broth and a soft egg will be available in Wash Park, where a second noodle house is set to open this winter.

Domo Japanese Country Food Restaurant

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Inside a rustic atmosphere, this Japanese restaurant builds on dashi-based broths, a soy milk, and curry broth. Domo offers varieties of ramen with toppings like eel and sukiyaki beef. Don’t miss the saucier ankake broth, or the tsukemen, a deconstructed ramen, with the soup served on the side.

TripAdvisor

Former Japon chef-owner Miki Hashimoto took his ramen restaurant to the Prospect neighborhood with Tokio, which opened three years ago in the retail strip adjacent to Prospect Park. The neighborhood eater serves classic, contemporary Japanese cuisine, and locally inspired varieties, such as the shio with pork, fish cake, white soy sauce, green onion, pickled bamboo, and more.

TOKIO GALLERY

Miyako Ra-men Spot

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Without trying too hard, this no-frills strip-mall noodle shop has a small but traditional ramen selection, with a list of sides and snacks such as gyoza and fried oysters to make it a full meal.

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Osaka Ramen

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This lively soup shop from Jeff Osaka delivers rich, complex ramen with chicken, pork, or veggie varieties, as well as Japanese small plates. The basement-level dining room and bar is modern and action-packed.

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Capitol Hill’s snug Asian noodle house features East-meets-West ramen from Frank Bonanno, with creative combos such as its signature lobster (a menu staple for years) with miso broth, poached shell fish, edamame, beurre blanc, and scallions.

Ace Eat Serve

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An ode to Asian cuisine, this Uptown haunt always offers some iteration of a hearty bowl of ramen. Chef Thach Tran is known for creative interpretations of the classics like a lobster miso broth ramen with prawn and brown butter lobster dumplings, pea shoots, and tempura seaweed.

Facebook

From the brothers behind Sushi Den, Ototo’s kitchen includes a robata (fireside) grill with traditional Japanese charcoal, a raw bar featuring the freshest catches of the day, and a noodle station. The made-to-order ramen ranges from vegetarian to tonkotsu ramen with garlic crisps and pork belly inside a 48-hour-cooked pork broth.

James Florio Photography

Corner Ramen

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In the former Daddy Bruce's B-B-Q, Corner Ramen now serves hot and spicy soup from this quiet Cole noodle shop. Find traditional preparations along with lobster ramen featuring corn, arugula, and a poached egg in a fragrant seafood broth.

Yelp

Katsu Ramen

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Aurora’s traditional Katsu Ramen — sister restaurant to Sushi Katsu –- serves a chilled ramen with slices of omelet and barbecued pork in a creamy sesame-ponzu sauce, along with a curry ramen made heartier with chunks of chicken and pork. Try the ramen and rice bowl combo with soup, three-piece gyoza, and a variety of bowls including fried rice and beef curry.

Alex Leaming

Misaki @ Superior

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Helmed by veteran sushi chef Jesus Silva (Silva’s Fish Market, Sushi Sasa), Misaki @ Superior and its sibling, Misaki at Stanley Marketplace, offer three ramen bowls: tonkotsu, tan tan men, and vegetable ramen. Each bowl of piping hot broth is piled with noodles and toppings like chili threads, green onion, and egg.

Ramen at Misaki @ Superior
Misaki @ Superior

Sera's Ramen Enclave

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Sera Nguyen offers a wide variety of ramen dishes at her 32nd Street space. There’s a miso ramen, Saigon curry ramen, an oxtail ramen topped in enoki mushrooms and aslice of fish cake, the menu is full of Nguyen’s non-traditional takes on the popular Japanese soup.

Sesame Pork Belly Ramen at Sera’s
Sera’s Ramen Enclave/Facebook

Nobu-trained chef Bill Espiricueta has a temporary ramen shop called Gaijin at Zeppelin Station’s No Vacancy space, and it’s serving three different ramen bowls. There’s a miso ground chicken version with togarashi butter, tonkotsu with braised pork belly, and a gingery vegetable mushroom version with tofu.

Ramen at Zeppelin pop-up Gaijin
Julie Rodriguez

Izakaya Ronin

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Slurp Chef Corey Baker’s award-winning chicharrón tonkotsu ramen at this RiNo restaurant. Available both within the sushi lounge and the subterranean Moguri bar, this flavorful bowl can be enjoyed late-night on the weekends.

Late night noodles at Izakaya Ronin
Laura Young/New Denizen Blog

Sakura House

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Tucked away in Larimer Street’s Sakura Square, Sakura House serves a selection of ramen dishes, most of which cost less than $10. Stir fried vegetables, tofu, seafood, and tender slices of meat top chewy noodles in hot miso broth.

Ma Bo Ramen at Sakura House

Hana Japanese Bistro

This welcoming Northwest outpost concocts four versions of shoyu-style ramen, complete with fish cakes, slices of scallions, hunks of crab, and seaweed amidst twists of chewy noodles.

Yelp

Udon Kaisha

Lafayette’s mom-and-pop noodle and sushi bar takes great pride in its time-tested soups. Popular favorites include the spicy pork ramen noodles with seaweed and bean sprouts, and the house special with egg and chashu pork.

Facebook

Sakana Sushi & Ramen

This relaxed suburban eatery specializes in light varieties from shio to shoyu and spicy miso. Creative additions include creamy vegetable and curry ramen with stir-in options such as butter, corn, or Japanese fried chicken.

Yelp

Uncle

A small but ever-evolving menu by Tommy Lee means a line wrapped around the block for spicy broth, noodles packed with umami, and clever toppings. Soon the famous spicy chicken bowl with creamy sesame broth and a soft egg will be available in Wash Park, where a second noodle house is set to open this winter.

Domo Japanese Country Food Restaurant

Inside a rustic atmosphere, this Japanese restaurant builds on dashi-based broths, a soy milk, and curry broth. Domo offers varieties of ramen with toppings like eel and sukiyaki beef. Don’t miss the saucier ankake broth, or the tsukemen, a deconstructed ramen, with the soup served on the side.

TripAdvisor

Tokio

Former Japon chef-owner Miki Hashimoto took his ramen restaurant to the Prospect neighborhood with Tokio, which opened three years ago in the retail strip adjacent to Prospect Park. The neighborhood eater serves classic, contemporary Japanese cuisine, and locally inspired varieties, such as the shio with pork, fish cake, white soy sauce, green onion, pickled bamboo, and more.

TOKIO GALLERY

Miyako Ra-men Spot

Without trying too hard, this no-frills strip-mall noodle shop has a small but traditional ramen selection, with a list of sides and snacks such as gyoza and fried oysters to make it a full meal.

Facebook

Osaka Ramen

This lively soup shop from Jeff Osaka delivers rich, complex ramen with chicken, pork, or veggie varieties, as well as Japanese small plates. The basement-level dining room and bar is modern and action-packed.

Facebook

Bones

Capitol Hill’s snug Asian noodle house features East-meets-West ramen from Frank Bonanno, with creative combos such as its signature lobster (a menu staple for years) with miso broth, poached shell fish, edamame, beurre blanc, and scallions.

Ace Eat Serve

An ode to Asian cuisine, this Uptown haunt always offers some iteration of a hearty bowl of ramen. Chef Thach Tran is known for creative interpretations of the classics like a lobster miso broth ramen with prawn and brown butter lobster dumplings, pea shoots, and tempura seaweed.

Facebook

OTOTO

From the brothers behind Sushi Den, Ototo’s kitchen includes a robata (fireside) grill with traditional Japanese charcoal, a raw bar featuring the freshest catches of the day, and a noodle station. The made-to-order ramen ranges from vegetarian to tonkotsu ramen with garlic crisps and pork belly inside a 48-hour-cooked pork broth.

James Florio Photography

Corner Ramen

In the former Daddy Bruce's B-B-Q, Corner Ramen now serves hot and spicy soup from this quiet Cole noodle shop. Find traditional preparations along with lobster ramen featuring corn, arugula, and a poached egg in a fragrant seafood broth.

Yelp

Katsu Ramen

Aurora’s traditional Katsu Ramen — sister restaurant to Sushi Katsu –- serves a chilled ramen with slices of omelet and barbecued pork in a creamy sesame-ponzu sauce, along with a curry ramen made heartier with chunks of chicken and pork. Try the ramen and rice bowl combo with soup, three-piece gyoza, and a variety of bowls including fried rice and beef curry.

Alex Leaming

Misaki @ Superior

Helmed by veteran sushi chef Jesus Silva (Silva’s Fish Market, Sushi Sasa), Misaki @ Superior and its sibling, Misaki at Stanley Marketplace, offer three ramen bowls: tonkotsu, tan tan men, and vegetable ramen. Each bowl of piping hot broth is piled with noodles and toppings like chili threads, green onion, and egg.

Ramen at Misaki @ Superior
Misaki @ Superior

Sera's Ramen Enclave

Sera Nguyen offers a wide variety of ramen dishes at her 32nd Street space. There’s a miso ramen, Saigon curry ramen, an oxtail ramen topped in enoki mushrooms and aslice of fish cake, the menu is full of Nguyen’s non-traditional takes on the popular Japanese soup.

Sesame Pork Belly Ramen at Sera’s
Sera’s Ramen Enclave/Facebook

Related Maps

Gaijin

Nobu-trained chef Bill Espiricueta has a temporary ramen shop called Gaijin at Zeppelin Station’s No Vacancy space, and it’s serving three different ramen bowls. There’s a miso ground chicken version with togarashi butter, tonkotsu with braised pork belly, and a gingery vegetable mushroom version with tofu.

Ramen at Zeppelin pop-up Gaijin
Julie Rodriguez

Izakaya Ronin

Slurp Chef Corey Baker’s award-winning chicharrón tonkotsu ramen at this RiNo restaurant. Available both within the sushi lounge and the subterranean Moguri bar, this flavorful bowl can be enjoyed late-night on the weekends.

Late night noodles at Izakaya Ronin
Laura Young/New Denizen Blog

Sakura House

Tucked away in Larimer Street’s Sakura Square, Sakura House serves a selection of ramen dishes, most of which cost less than $10. Stir fried vegetables, tofu, seafood, and tender slices of meat top chewy noodles in hot miso broth.

Ma Bo Ramen at Sakura House

Related Maps