This Brilliant Museum Belongs on Every Ramen Lover’s Bucket List
Ahh, ramen. It’s a collegiate staple (so inexpensive! So delicious!) and a hearty dish that’s adored by many. You can enjoy it as a spicy soup that’ll warm you up on a cold day, in an Instagram-worthy bowl, or even use it as a cooking hack (it’s true!) to upgrade whatever meal you’re making. But there’s another way to celebrate your love for the instant version of the amazing noodle — visiting the CUPNOODLES MUSEUM in Japan.
The super cool spot, designed as an interactive experience to stir up (pun totally intended) your creativity, will take you all the way back to 1958, when the very first chicken ramen was made. Museum visitors are treated to a total rundown on how the instant noodle became a popular sensation pretty much overnight and went on to earn its notoriety.
As we’d expect, taking in all the info at CUPNOODLES isn’t like the typical museum trip. Among the exhibitions you can experience? An “Instant Noodles History Cube,” which showcases more than 3,000 different packages of ramen from the last 50 years, a CUPNOODLES mini factory where you can design your own cup and concoct your own soup (from 5,460 crazy flavor combos) and a Noodles Bazaar that boasts eight varieties for taste testing. Yum.
As if that wasn’t enough to delight even the most serious ramen fan, the museum also provides heaps of information about Momofuku Ando, the man behind the magical noodle. From a recreation of the work shed where he spent years experimenting in hopes of finding palette perfection to a 58-meter long panorama that details his life and six themes of thinking, you can easily follow and understand the passionate journey he took to create one of today’s best-known foods.
Feeling uber-bummed that you don’t have a trip to Japan on the books anytime soon? Don’t fret: You can still live vicariously through the people photographing the museum on Instagram and whip up some innovative ramen-based indulgences at home.
What’s the most unusual museum you’ve been to? Tag us in your Instas @BritandCo!
(Featured photo via Getty)
