Ramen is going upscale at a Tokyo restaurant, where a bowl of gourmet noodles go for 10,000 yen, or over $100. <br /><br />The piping hot ramen at Fujimaki Gekijyo takes three days to prepare, blending Chinese soup stock and tom yum, as well as over 20 ingredients. <br /><br />Owner Shoichi Fujimaki says the high price, over 10 times normal menu fare, stems from seeing the noodles as cuisine, not fast food. <br /><br />[Shoichi Fujimaki, Owner,Fujimaki Gekijyo]: <br />"If there's a ton of them everywhere, of course, the price will go down. Here is the only place in the world that people have this soup. I believe that this is indeed the No. 1 noodle soup in the world." <br /><br />Fujimaki initially priced its ramen at about $30, but later created an even higher-class bowl, with dining only possible by reservation. <br /><br />Ramen restaurants dot Japan, but this has only encouraged customers such as Hideko Furusawa to splurge on Fujimaki's luxury noodles. <br /><br />"Ten thousand yen is certainly expensive, as normal ramen shops cost a thousand yen or even less. However, I think that's sometimes better to come here and spend ten thousand than to go to another place and spend a thousand ten times." <br /><br />Fujimaki plans to expand his business overseas, with a Los Angeles-area restaurant eyed for August. <br /><br />But he says the price will be under $100, keeping Tokyo with the ritziest ramen around.
