Ramen Burger at Lotteria Japan

Lotteria is a fast food chain in Japan that is often overshadowed by its big rivals McDonald’s and MOS Burger. Lotteria always has an interesting menu with a great variety of choices and some unique burger selections. This month they released their latest creation: The Ramen Burger.

The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger has been developed in collaboration with the famous Japanese ramen restaurant chain “Menya Musashi”. The chain is popular for its ramen broth which is made from katsu dashi (bonito stock). The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger features such ramen staples as disposable chopsticks, ramen broth, and even an option for “Kaedama” or a second serving of noodles. The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger is on sale for a limited time only from May 20 until mid-June.

The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger

What’s in the Menya Musashi Ramen Burger? It consists of ramen noodles that have been seasoned and lightly grilled (in replace of your traditional patty). It is topped with mayonnaise and chashu (barbecued pork) in sweet brown sauce. The ramen broth is made from katsuo dashi (bonito stock).

ramen noodles topped with mayo, sweet brown sauce and chashu

The famous ramen broth made from katsuo dashi

The Menya Musashi Ramen Burger is available for 634 yen (USD$6.30) and extra noodles (kaedama) will cost you 100 yen (USD$1) each.

How does it taste? It doesn't taste as bad as we expected. The ramen noodles are tasty but a little oily and remind us of yakisoba. I thought they would be more カリカリ (crunchy). The sauce is probably the best part of the burger with the mayonnaise and sweet brown sauce proving to be a tasty combination. The chashu is fatty just like good chashu should be and the ramen broth is very good and has a strong flavour. We ended up eating half the burger and then putting the rest of the noodles and chashu into the ramen broth to enjoy it that way. Two different types of meals in one.

The Ramen Burger in all its glory

A great way to finish the burger with the noodles and chashu in the broth

What do you think? What you be willing to give the Menya Musashi Ramen Burger a try?

Ramen Japanese Noodles

Ramen is the most popular noodle dish in Japan. One big bowl of ramen gives you a full meal and it is quick, easy and very economical. Ramen noodles are made from wheat flour mixed with salt, water and egg.

The secret to eating ramen is that you must eat quickly before the noodles absorb the soup and lose their texture. Typically it takes about 10 minutes to order, eat and be on your way.

Everyone has their favourite style of ramen. Popular restaurants in Japan have long lines of people outside and can sell out in 1-2 hours.


There are three main types of ramen broth:

• Soy base (shoyu)
• Salt base (shio)
• Miso base

Soy based ramen is based on a chicken and vegetable stock with plenty of soy sauce added giving it a salty, savoury, light taste.

Salt based ramen is made with plenty of salt and a combination of chicken, vegetables, fish and seaweed. The soup is light and clear.

Miso based ramen was developed in Hokkaido in the north of Japan and uses a lot of miso giving it a thick, slightly sweet hearty soup.

Shoyu (soy based ramen)

The soup for the ramen is made by slowly boiling various combinations of meat, fish and vegetables for between 6 to 24 hours. The secret for really good ramen soup is a closely guarded secret by the top ramen chefs in Japan. Chefs experiment in the search of new flavours and soup bases / stock.

Typical toppings for ramen include:

• Bamboo
• Spring onions
• Boiled eggs
• Sliced pork (チャーシュー)
• Dried seaweed

Ramen is popular all over Japan and each region has its own unique speciality.

Sapporo in Hokkaido is famous for its rich miso ramen

Tokyo style ramen consists of thin curly noodles served in a soy flavoured chicken broth

Yokohama ramen consists of thick noodles served in a soy flavoured pork broth

Hakata ramen from Fukuoka in Kyushu has a rich, milky pork bone broth called tonkotsu

There is even a ramen museum and ramen town noodle theme park in Yokohama, where you can see the history of ramen in Japan, and sample ramen from around the country.

Miso ramen