Bariuma
41 Cockburn Street
This Japanese ramen chain started in Hiroshima and the Cockburn Street outpost is the only branch in Europe. Above ground, it’s a noodle connoisseur’s shop with packets of daishi and dry noodles to buy. Descending downstairs, it’s a labyrinth of rooms where steaming bowls of ramen come topped with melt-in-the-mouth pork. It’s one of the most authentically 21st-century Japanese dining experiences in the city. 

Hakataya
122 Rose Street Lane
Tucked down one of the laneways off Rose Street, Hakataya is reminiscent of a Japanese izakaya. Unfussy yet stylish inside, it offers casual classics like donburi rice bowls alongside a decent selection of ramen. Their signature miso–based pork ramen is subtle and warming.

Ikigai
29-30 South Bridge
With restaurants on South Bridge and Nicolson Street, it’s always worth trying to get a walk-in table at Ikigai (no bookings). The speciality is steaming bowls of ramen in slow-cooked rich dashi and the tantanmen has a brilliant spicy kick, perfect with a cold Asahi beer. The menu delves into fusion with coconutty bowls of Malaysian laksa noodles.

Maki & Ramen
37 Leith Street
They have numerous sites around the city, but it’s Maki & Ramen’s Leith Street branch that first fully embraced the no–frills joy of ramen. Those that like their noodles super–spicy can try rust–red hell ramen while black tonkotsu ramen is so garlicky you could ward off vampires. Their bigger branch in St James Quarter across the road serves the same hearty noodles and usually has plenty of room.

Mirin
9 Albert Place
The noodle soups with slow-cooked broths are delicious. Hand-ripped noodles are topped with distinctly Scottish ingredients: wild boar and black pudding ragu, for example. The continent-hopping small plates menu is also worth a look. Barbecued broccoli on creamy sweetcorn and miso custard, with chilli oil and crispy corn kernels, is outrageously good. Mirin is small, so definitely book.

Pho Viet
15 Dalry Road
The ceiling is adorned with glowing lanterns and faux botanica, embracing the romance of Hoi An’s backstreets. Melting beef brisket stews in big, fragrant bowls of Pho and the vermicelli noodle salads offer a refreshingly light alternative for the noodle-lover. Plus, they do a selection of Banh Mi sandwiches, perfect for lunch.

Satoru
45 St Patrick Square
This is Japanese cuisine as it should be: a select menu specialising in one delicacy. In Satoru’s case, it’s tempura and udon noodles. Light and crispy battered prawns and vegetables are the star of the show, topping warm bowls of thick noodles. The décor is simple yet effective, just like each perfectly presented dish.

Vietnam House
1-3 Grove Street
Spicy, soupy bowls of Huế-style noodles and fresh summer rolls cover the spectrum of Vietnamese cuisine at this cosy restaurant. There’s an extensive Pho selection too, topped with traditional raw beef and beef balls, or even fishcakes. BYOB or sip a hot lotus tea.

Also try... Pomelo, which always has a hand-ripped noodles dish on the ever-changing menu, the two Ting Thai Caravan sites with their deliciously light and zesty Pad Thai, and Sichuan House’s array of stir-fried noodle dishes packed with flavour on George IV Bridge.

This TipList is taken from Eat & Drink 365, our sister mag recommending the best in restaurants, bars, cafés and more across Edinburgh. Want a copy? It’s available online or across all good stockists in Scotland’s capital.