Five noodle chains, compared by the numbers

Ramen, udon, soba and champon — the genre where calories and salt refuse to move together.

The genre where calories and salt part ways

Sugakiya’s ramen is just 379 kcal — yet carries 6.8 g of salt, 90% of the Japanese daily target in one bowl. Ringer Hut’s Nagasaki champon: 611 kcal, 7.4 g. “Light” and “low-salt” are different questions in this genre.

The five chains

Meal averages: Sugakiya 355 kcal, Ringer Hut 600, Hanamaru Udon 697, Yudetaro 734 and Yamaokaya 1,171 — where even the morning ramen is 1,021 kcal. Plain soba stays light (Yudetaro’s mori at 373 kcal).

Leave the broth, and mind the gaps

Published salt figures assume you finish the broth; leaving it saves 2–3 g. Only two of the five chains disclose salt at all (Ringer Hut, averaging 4.5 g, and Sugakiya, 2.6 g) — an absent figure does not mean low salt.

Figures in this article are aggregated from the 30,399 items across 191 chains we publish (as of 2026-09-18). Reference values follow Japan’s Dietary Reference Intakes (2020).

Written by

Okazaemon (runs tabecal)

Sales job, late twenties. Lost 18 kg over three years without giving up eating out, with one rule: 20 g+ protein and 10 g or less fat per meal. Checks every chain’s officially published nutrition data daily. Not a nutrition professional — consult a doctor or dietitian for medical decisions. About the operator →

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