Taiho Ramen ("Cannon Ramen"), established in 1953 in Kurume City, is also the birthplace of J-pop’s “eternal idol” Seiko Matsuda, musician Fumiya Fujii, and actress Rena Tanaka. In fact, locals sometimes refer to the local joint as “Kurume Ramen” because it’s such a popular restaurant in the area.

Serving up bowls of its own tonkotsu (pork stock broth) ramen, for which Fukuoka is famous, Taiho Ramen wouldn't have a leg up over the competition without these three key features.

The first reason why Taiho Ramen is in a league of its own boils down to none other than the broth. The restaurant claims that since its establishment in 1953, the iron pot used to cook the pork broth has never once been left empty. That means that when you take a sip of the broth, you’re literally tasting a recipe that has been quietly simmering for decades, which results in an unbelievably divine depth of flavor.

It’s a bit shocking, to say the least, when you first hear that the iron pot used to cook broth at Taiho Ramen has never once been empty in the past 60 years. But that fastidiousness extends to their noodle making as well. Taiho has truly perfected the art of making the ultimate handmade noodles to complement their outstanding broth. The straight, thin noodles are dripping with flavor when slurped up with the tonkotsu broth.

Finally, the third reason Taiho Ramen is exceptional, even by Fukuoka standards, is because everything in the bowl is perfectly in harmony with everything else. Each individual ingredient is crafted with extreme care, and then they’re assembled in such a way that makes you want to personally thank whoever thought up this divine combination of ingredients in the first place.

You can sense just how much time and love went into preparing your particular bowl of ramen as you down the soup with satisfying slurps. Once again, this is not some mass-produced bowl of instant cardboard—this is the true form of ramen, which elevates the dish to altogether new levels.

So there you have it: three convincing reasons to visit Taiho Ramen the next time you’re in Fukuoka Prefecture. If you happen to be in Oita or Saga Prefecture, then you'll be happy to know that you can visit the Taiho Ramen branches there as well!

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