Hopeken

This standing-only ramen shop on Gaien Nishi-dori is open 24 hours a day throughout the year – presumably because there'd be an uproar among loyal customers if they tried to close the place even for an hour. Hopeken's tonkotsu (pork bone) soup looks fatty but turns out to be surprisingly light and sweet; try the basic ramen (¥700), a well-balanced mix of thick noodles, crisp bean sprouts and chunky chashu pork slices, or unleash your inner carnivore on the meat-laden chashumen (¥950). If you don't have a date in the evening, follow the example of the regular customers and add some garlic and black pepper to yours, for a perfectly, potently flavoured bowl.