6 Readers' Choice award-winning St. Louis ramen picks

Shroomed Out | Nudo House
Raise your eyebrows all you want when we tell you the MVP of the menu at Nudo House – your Readers’ Choice pick for Favorite Ramen – is the vegetarian Shroomed Out. The rich, creamy mushroom broth boasts layers of addictive umami flavor. Tender slices of king oyster mushroom, sweet, tangy strips of menma (bamboo shoots) and a golden, custardy ajitsuke tamago (ramen egg) truly deserve a chef’s kiss.

Tonkotsu | Ramen Tei
Tonkotsu has become the de facto mascot of American ramen, and Ramen Tei’s version is the platonic ideal of the style. Pork bones simmer for 48 hours, resulting in a milky, intensely savory broth. Perfectly charred chashu-style pork is arranged neatly floating alongside menma, scallion, roasted garlic-chile oil, ajitsuke tamago and a slice of nori (dried seaweed) for a picture-perfect bowl.

Roasted Black Garlic Tonkotsu | Nami Ramen
How can you possibly improve a bowl of tonkotsu? Top that sucker with roasted black garlic oil. Nami Ramen’s irresistible take on the classic comes with tender, braised pork, minced onion, menma and bean sprouts.

Spicy Miso | Blue Ocean Restaurant
Sweating it out over a hot, spicy bowl of ramen in between gulps of ice-cold beer is one of life’s simple pleasures, and there’s no dish we’d rather perspire over than Blue Ocean Restaurant’s spicy miso. Fiery red broth is decked out with ground chile, slow-roasted pork belly, pickled ginger, scallions, naruto (fish cake) and menma with a final drizzle of hot chile oil.

Champon | Robata Maplewood
Diners love Robata’s build-it-your-way ramen menu, which has options to add everything from extra eggs to kimchi to whole pork gyoza to your soup, but we’re happy with the champon seafood ramen as-is. Chewy chunks of scallop, shrimp and squid swim in the pleasantly light, salty pork broth with sautéed vegetables, bean sprouts and green onion piled on top.

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Readers’ Choice Favorite Ramen
Nudo House, 6105 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314.370.6970; 11423 Olive Blvd., Creve Coeur, 314.274.8046, nudohousestl.com
Ramen Tei, 14027 Manchester Road, Ballwin, 636.386.8019, Facebook: Ramen Tei
Nami Ramen, 278 N. Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, 314.833.6264, namiramen.com
Blue Ocean Restaurant, 6335 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314.726.6477, blueoceanstl.com
Robata Maplewood, 7260 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314.899.9595, robatamaplewood.com