A young Japanese man travels to Singapore to learn the history of his parents in Ramen Shop. Masato (Takumi Saitô) is a young man working in his father’s ramen shop in Takasaki. Following his father’s sudden death, Masato finds the journal of his Singapore born mother and he decides to travel to Singapore to find out his family history.
Ramen Shop is a family drama about a young chef learning about the history about how his Japanese father met his mother in Singapore. Journeying to his mother’s hometown, it isn’t long until Masato finds his uncle and learns of the estranged relationship Masato’s mother had with his grandmother, who didn’t approve of her daughter marrying a Japanese man. To help improve their relationship, Masato hopes to come up with a special ramen recipe to give to his grandmother.
It is easy to assume from the title that Ramen Shop is a film that is entirely about food. However, this quickly turns out to not be the case, since even though there is a fair amount of food porn in the film, Ramen Shop is ultimately a film about a family coming together through their love of cooking. Even so, it is not recommended to watch this film on an empty stomach.