Locating vending machine style ramen shops

I'm thinking of those lunch places where you pick a number and pay in a machine for your meal ticket. Do these places have a name and is there a directory out there of all locations of this type around Tokyo?

Would be great if there was a phone app or a website mapping them out.

Many, if not the majority, of Ramen-ya in Tokyo have vending machines. If you want several together to choose from, go to Ramen Street in Tokyo Station.

Dale

it would be much harder to find a ramenya which doesn't have have a ticket vending machine.

As mentioned in the comments above, ramen restaurants with meal-ticket machines are quite common.

I'm not aware of a directory that specifically deals with restaurants of this type, but if it's just a list of ramen restaurants you're after, Tabelog's not a bad place to start. Ramen listings for the Tōkyō metropolitan area:

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/rstLst/ramen/

The Ichiran ramen chain uses those machines - you could give them a try as well.

https://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/food-report-ic...

http://www.ichiran.co.jp/english/html/map.html

Do the menus have english as well? If not am I correct in understanding that if you push the top left button you will get the most basic bowl of Ramen? Kinda of a shame if we can't read what our options are.

You'll be able to see which is the most basic ramen by the cost of each bowl. Most places I've been in have small photos of the bowls next to the buttons to press. If you're not sure, walk a little more until you find one that has photos. I'm sure you won't have to walk too far.

There's this ramen place right outside Akihabara station (can't remember the name, unfortunately) which serves really good ramen. They have an "English menu available" sign outside the door. It's vending machine style with only Japanese words, but they have an English menu to help you. You can also customize your ramen by filling up a form, with the aid of English translation given on a separate sheet of paper.

Thanks all. I was thinking maybe those restaurants were part of a chain or specific category of restaurant or something. I'm thinking of those that sell Japanese curries as well not only ramen.

What I like about them is the ease of ordering of course, where you have the photos and pick the number. No Japanese language needed.

Some, but not all, of the vending machines have pictures on the buttons. I have to say that the majority do not have pictures. Brian, from Ramenadventures, usually advises to choose the top left button, which is commonly the "house" ramen.

Dale