Musoshin Ramen

Hiding just off the main drag in Roncesvalles, this restaurant is not like other ramen-yas. For starters, none of them can bake like Chef Aoi Yoshida, who turns out trays of perfectly formed Japanese milk bread and other sweet treats. Her house-made noodles, bundled into every bowl, are also a cut above most. But perhaps the most fascinating part of this restaurant hides in the broths. Whereas a typical tonkotsu ramen favors heart-stopping, porky richness, the style here is a vegetable base that is both lighter and leaner and yet equally savory. In a testament to both her own talents and to modern technology, Yoshida learned both noodle and ramen craft by video chatting with an old friend who runs this restaurant’s original location in Kyoto.