ESO Ramen Workshop (a tiny new shop from the Neighborhood Ramen team) serves pristine handmade noodles and exceptional slow-cooked broth in Queen Village. There are only six seats, so it's ideal for a solo meal when you want to get up close and personal with a bowl of gyokai tsukemen on Thursdays and gyokai tonkotsu on Fridays and Saturdays. To dine on Thursdays, you have to make a reservation in person, but on Fridays and Saturdays, it’s all first come, first serve, so be prepared to wait.

If you’ve ever driven past Race & 9th, you’ll notice a line growing around the corner. And no, it’s not people forming up to play minigolf at Franklin Square—everybody’s waiting for fantastic ramen from Terakawa. One of our favorites is the mildly spicy tan tan ramen that’s bathing in spicy miso and chicken broth, minced pork, bean sprouts, and chopped scallions.

The tonkotsu ramen at Tomo Sushi & Ramen is the perfect cloudy soup for every cloudy day. At this Old City BYOB, you can get rich and creamy broth topped with bamboo shoots, scallions, red ginger, but it’s the pork base and tender pork belly that steal the show.

We don’t know if it’s the broth, thick slabs of pork belly, or the chewy noodles that make the cha su ramen from Da-Wa: Joseph’s Sushi and Ramen one of our go-tos. OK, it’s all of it. From the sauce flowing with chili oil to the smokiness of roasted corn, it all comes together to make a soup that’s just spicy enough for you to feel some heat but not so overpowering that it takes away from its buttery pork-flavored broth.

This Japanese spot is convenient when you’re near the Italian Market or when you don’t want to choose between shoyu, tonkotsu, miso, and shio. With juicy chicken and crunchy vegetables swimming in the bowl, the spicy chicken shio version will make you forget about whatever you were doing before you walked in the door.

If you love spicy food, come to this Manayunk spot for bowls of the spicy katsu ramen. The deep-fried pork loin is great for sopping up every drop of their fiery signature sauce, but we recommend having a drink on hand.

Center City's Aki Nom Nom Ramen is one of few ramen spots in the city offering outdoor seating. Whether you’re inhaling the fragrant Karai Tonkotsu on their outdoor setup or taking it to go, the earthy spice of the black garlic oil and the rich and milky broth make this a dish that’s hearty and silky smooth.

One of our favorite dishes at this Chinatown restaurant is the Megumi spicy miso ramen. With curly noodles, heaps of cabbage, fried burdock root, onion, and chashu swimming in the bowl, the only time you’ll pause while eating is deciding whether to use your spoon or chopsticks for the first bite.

The soft wavy noodles in the Zenbu No-Se Ramen at this University City spot are great for making sure you get those extra drops of broth with each bite. And this tonkotsu broth option feels like it has more toppings than South Street has bars. There’s marinated chashu pork, corn, menma, red pickled ginger, kikurage, a half-boiled egg, naruto, nori, sesame, and scallions, all sprinkled with roasted garlic oil on top.

There’s something about eating a bowl of ramen that makes us feel like we’re getting a warm hug from the Phanatic (in a totally safe and nonthreatening way, of course). And that’s exactly how we feel when eating Yamitsuki’s veggie miso ramen. This bowl is long-weekend level restorative, with salty and miso flavors coming through in every spoonful of the broth that’s covered in sweet corn, scallion, bamboo, and bean sprouts.