Tabelog ratingSakurai Chuka Soba Ten (櫻井中華そば店) is a small shoyu ramen shop near JR Hodogaya Station, in a quiet residential part of Yokohama. Its clear broth combines chicken and pork with a separately prepared fish stock. The house-made noodles are hand-crushed, wavy and flat in the Shirakawa style: soft, chewy and slippery. The pork is hung and roasted over charcoal in a dedicated oven, and the soft-boiled egg uses Jujakuran eggs from Isehara, which have deep-orange yolks. The shop won the Tabelog Award Bronze in 2021 and 2022 and has been on Tabelog's ramen "100" lists every year since 2019.
The noodles come up in almost every review, and some regulars return for them alone. The shoyu chuka soba is the most praised bowl, described as layered with a clean finish, and many diners drink the broth to the last drop. The shio version has its own following. Reviewers single out the smoky roast pork and the egg. The aburi yakibuta-don, a rice bowl topped with seared chopped pork, is a popular side. Limited bowls such as the black-vinegar and black-sesame cold ramen and the newer wonton ramen also draw praise.
Not everyone is won over. A minority finds the bowl understated, and several regulars feel the broth lost depth after a renewal. Some received overly soft noodles, and one diner found a small fly. The pork is firm rather than melting, which divides opinion. Strict queue rules prompt angry one-star reviews, and one English-speaking visitor felt overlooked in favour of regulars and found the stools cramped.
Between 2024 and 2026 reviewers paid around ¥1,100 for the basic shoyu chuka soba, ¥1,250 with egg and ¥1,450 for the fully loaded tokusei. Shio was about ¥1,150, wonton ramen ¥1,350 and tokusei tsukesoba (dipping noodles) ¥1,500. The pork rice bowl cost ¥380, and a large noodle portion added ¥150. Expect to spend ¥1,000–1,999 at both lunch and dinner.
Most reviewers consider it fair value for such a carefully sourced bowl, and the ¥380 pork bowl is often called a bargain. A few think it is pricey for the neighbourhood and that extra nori is poor value.
- Getting there: a 2-minute walk (about 180 m) from Hodogaya Station, East Exit, on the JR lines.
- Payment: cash only, via a ticket machine that takes notes up to ¥10,000. Credit cards, electronic money and QR payments are not accepted. Buy your ticket before joining the queue.
- Booking: reservations are not accepted; walk in and queue. Weekend openings see waits of 20–30 minutes or more, while weekday evenings and mid-afternoons are often wait-free.
- Queue rules: your whole party must be present in the queue. Lunch last order is 14:30, enforced to the minute, and the shop may close early if ingredients run out.
- Seats: 12 in total, 8 at the counter and two tables for two. No private rooms or private hire.
- Smoking: entirely non-smoking.
- Parking: none at the shop; coin parking nearby.
- Children: welcome (school-age children), with a kids' menu.
- Other: water is self-service.
