Yohshuu Shonin is a ramen shop, and part of a growing chain with over ten branches and counting. Normally this would be a recipe for culinary indifference and stupefyingly boring decor, but Yohshuu Shonin defies the odds to deliver a dining experience that's fun, cheerful and surprisingly delicious given the standard ramen shop prices.

What greets you is a storefront that is shockingly out of place on this slick and cool section of Meiji-dori, fronted by tall buildings. Yohshuu Shonin itself seems like part of a movie set for a Chinese film set in the 1960s. Even the address stenciled on the front of the building is rendered using Chinese words instead of Japanese, but you can still recognize "Ebisu" in the alien verbiage.

The menu is at once intriguingly tempting and comfortably familiar. Intriguing because all the ramen dishes presented have Chinese flavorings and ingredients, but familiar because they are almost all noodles in huge bowls with soup - well, it's "ramen" isn't it?

Perhaps the most unusual bowl of noodles at Yohshuu Shonin is the Abura Men. This is noodles in a bowl without the soup, though in keeping with local sensibilities, a large bowl of clear broth is served with this dish on the side. In this dish, noodles are different than ordinary ramen noodles; slightly darker, thicker and chewier. Together with them are julienned negi, chashu, and za-tsai pickles, along with long strips of deep-fried wanton skin. Before eating, stir it vigorously to bring up the tasty sauce at the bottom of the bowl. The price of this feast is just 660 yen.

Like most all ramen shops, fried gyoza is also on the menu, but Yohshuu Shonin's version (350 yen) is a cut above average, with more meat and less fat in the filling. There is also a small plate of shrimp wanton (300 yen), served with a heady sauce that contains fermented fish sauce and a bit of hot pepper, and topped with a handful of fresh chopped negi. Plus, small dishes out of the dim sum hit parade, including shiu mai, steamed shrimp dumplings, pork buns and more are available, averaging 250 yen each.

by Bryan Harrell