For those of you who are unaware, Kyushu ramen stands out in Japan as one of the richest and heartiest noodles around due to their broth which has been cooking for hours, and therefore has a very immense flavour derived from using either chicken or pork bones. This Kyushu style ramen currently can only be found at the Thamrin Nine Basement building in Jakarta. Being their first chain, and rather a successful one at that, it has been harvesting some serious attention due to their hearty bowl of noodles.

Once you are at the basement of this building, you cannot miss this restaurant as it looks like it has been plucked straight off from the streets of Tokyo and you will be quite right in describing its interior and decor as very ‘Japanese’ - snuggly, minimalists and with a total seating of about 40 – 50 people max.

Overall the menu is pretty straightforward with 10 different types of ramen available with your choice of chicken or pork broth. Their most complete and special ramen set is the Mukashi Ramen with a generous portion of noodles that comes with 2 hard boiled Tamago eggs, spring onions, sprouts and seaweed. From the first slurp of the cloudy broth which is the miso soup, you are on your way to ramen noodle heaven.

If you think slurping is rude then you might find it difficult to enjoy your meal here as the slurping just comes naturally due to the delicious noodles. There is something very different about the noodles at Yamagoya Ramen. The thickness of the noodles is slightly thinner than soba noodles, yet the texture is very similar. Also it shares a similar taste like Indonesian egg noodles except it feels far more light and organic, which comes as no surprise why the locals dig this.

Aside from the noodles, it is almost mandatory that you order their Gyoza as an appetizer or side or even as a savoury dessert. There's certainly no better coupling than dumplings and noodles in any Japanese restaurant.

A real special place with great service and great value for money.