かおたんラーメン えんとつ屋 南青山店

This tiny hole in the wall sits in a ramshackle building at a street corner right outside Hardy Barracks near Roppongi in downtown Tokyo. We decided to check it out after we saw a line outside one day. Not sure what time they close, but one of the employees told me they close early the next morning and refused to give me a specific time.

They have English menu which is a bonus for us. We ordered miso ramen, shoyu ramen, chashu ramen, and wonton min. Miso ramen came with a huge serving of noodles and bean sprouts along with ground meat and some vegetables. The noodles had a nice texture and the broth was very hardy, perfect for a cold rainy evening.

4 of us also shared 2 orders of gyoza, which were meaty on the inside & crispy on the outside.

The place can only sit 12 people so come when it's slow, or prepared to wait. Lucky for us, Ramen shop etiquette is to eat and leave without spending a lot of time talking after work so we got seats after about 10 minutes standing in the freezing rain. Well worth the wait!

The shack on the corner of the street with some really good ramen and gyoza! It is right across the street from Hardy Barracks. We didn't want to walk to far and decided to check it out from the previous review posted.

An English menu is available. My daughter and I shared an order of gyoza and each chose a different ramen.

I ordered the miso ramen. It had ground pork, sliced carrots, mushrooms, and green beans. It was one of the best ramen I have ever had. My daughter had the regular ramen and the broth was also good. It had sliced pork, bamboo, and green beans. She also ordered a hard boiled egg with it.

Overall fast, decently priced, and delicious.

Crazy good gyoza.

Super little spot, as everyone says, don't be put off by the exterior, the food's fabulous.

They were also able to tell us what our son could eat. He's allergic to milk, butter, cream & nuts. (Not that ramen usually have any of these in them!)

Both kids had ramen, one wonton soup, the other with many extras.

Himself and I had the gyoza plate each - fab choice! So, so delicious!

And they even cheerfully rigged up a baggie for our son's leftover soup to take home... brilliant & friendly.

There are a lot of great Ramen joints in Tokyo but here is a pretty famous one. Classic taste. Some of the best ramen and GYOZA you can find in the city. It's a tiny place so will be packed often. Not a great place for a big group.

Wow. This place took me back of old Japanese. We enjoyed Shio ramen and tan tan ramen.

It was amazing experience!

It's a shack.

It's literally a wooden shack.

It's been here for like 30+ years, really close to Roppongi (one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Tokyo) and a graveyard.

If you're a big guy, you might have some trouble navigating inside. Because it's a shack.

The food is awesome. My favorite was the tantanmen, full of garlicky goodness. But they have a lot of good food here. I could eat that gyoza all day with beers. There's an almost Chinese feel to it, like you're eating at the roots of ramen. In the early 1900's. In a shack. It's open really late, too.

Sometimes for laughs, I'll go on Google Maps and find it just to see how out of place it looks. If you're a Tokyo native there are probably far better, newer places to eat but not only is the food damn good enough for me, the atmosphere of it is... unique.

Eat at the shack.

My family and I were staying in Hardy Barracks, an Army lodging in the Roppongi District, and the Japanese gentleman who handles the check-in told us that the best ramen in Tokyo was right across the street. Kaotan Ramen is a very unpretentious little shack with only a couple large tables. It looks like it has been there for centuries, with really aged artifacts and simplistic furnishings making up the decor. The aroma emanating from the kitchen was incredible, and when we were served our food it was beautifully presented and indescribably delicious. I had the spicy minced pork ramen, others had the wonton and sliced pork ramen, and we also shared a plate of gyoza, or dumplings. The broth was so savory, and each bowl was full of yummy veggies, and mine had a hard boiled egg also. Everyone said that it was the best ramen they had ever had. The gyoza were also delicious, nice texture and a spicy filling. I will have to agree with the gentleman who recommended this place. It is by far the best ramen that I've ever had.

This place is really small, and definitely a hole in the wall. BUT it was easily one of the best ramen's I have ever had. The workers are nice and you can tell its family run. The menu is even hand written and translated. The broth was something I've never tasted before, not your usual tonkotsu or shio/miso.. I don't know what it was but it was magical. The noodles the broth everything was so good! Please please support small family run businesses like this one but also its so damn worth it!

Service good. Certain items on menue were not available when I ordered. Didn't love what I finally got but it hit the spot.

Excellent. Place looks pretty ratty on the outside but once inside it has a bit more charm. I had the gyoza and and a spicy minced pork ramen (big servings, could have easily just had the ramen) which was the best i had during my Tokyo visit. A little different from your ordinary miso ramen - give it a try!