Japi Ramen

What Japi Ramen is

Japi Ramen is a twelve-seat ramen bar inside Mercado Lázaro Cárdenas, a small neighbourhood market in Colonia Del Valle Norte, in the Benito Juárez borough of Mexico City. It opened in November 2024 and calls itself a barra de street food japo-mexa: Japanese dishes rebuilt with Mexican ingredients. The name is the Mexican spelling of “happy”, and the chef’s line is that the place is a serious kitchen whose aim is to make you japi.

The format is a market counter. You sit on stools facing the kitchen, the chef and his cooks work in front of you, and the menu is a short list of starters, three ramens, a couple of sandos and a few drinks. Food press in Mexico City covered it through 2025, with Chilango, Food and Travel and La Gula all running features, and it turns up on the ramen route lists that ramen fans post on social media. It holds no Michelin Guide listing or award as of September 2026.

Who cooks here

Ricardo Carranza has more than fifteen years in professional kitchens. He studied film before switching to cooking, then trained and worked in Spain for seven years. Back in Mexico he cooked for the culinary team that fed Cirque du Soleil’s Japanese crew, which is where the Japanese side of his repertoire comes from, and he worked with chef Lula Martín del Campo in HSBC’s executive dining rooms. He also develops recipes and content for food brands. Japi Ramen is his own project and he is usually behind the counter.

How the menu works

Everything is à la carte and the menu fits on one board. The starters are meant to be shared and the ramens are individual.

• Starters (65 to 70 MXN): roasted edamame, gyozas, okonomiyaki Mexa with pork belly, and a vegetarian okonomiyaki.
• Ramen (190 to 195 MXN): Pica Pica (spicy, Mexican chile), BBQ (Asian barbecue ribs) and Verde (green curry).
• Sandos: a katsu sando with peanut cream and brûléed mustard on beetroot bread, and a sando brûlée.
• Other: udon carbonara with pork belly, and a menú del día on weekdays at around 125 MXN when offered.
• Drinks: Michelada Japi (matcha lemonade with beer, piquín chile and nori), Calpis Tinto (Calpis, sparkling water and red wine), a colour-changing whisky cocktail, beer and soft drinks.
• Dessert: mango sago.

Dietary notes: the vegetarian okonomiyaki and the shiitake esquites are the meat-free anchors; the broths lean on pork, so ask before ordering ramen.

What I ate

When I filmed in September 2026 I cooked several of the dishes with chef Carranza at the counter, as part of a collaboration with @coolinary__. The dishes we made and ate:

• Okonomiyaki al pastor: the Japanese pancake with pork belly, udon noodles and melted cheese inside.
• Esquites de shiitake: the Mexican street corn cup with shiitake mushrooms in place of corn, served with a crisp Japanese rice toast.
• Edamame flambéed with vodka, then seasoned with Clamato and salsas, michelada style.
• Calpis Tinto to drink, which tastes like a tinto de verano with a Japanese accent.

My reaction, for the record, is that it was one of the best ramen bars I have eaten at in the city, and people do travel across town for it.

What it costs

Prices below come from Chilango’s August 2025 feature and the Reservandonos listing, and match what I saw in September 2026.

Item	Price
Roasted edamame	65 MXN, about 3.50 USD
Gyozas	70 MXN, about 3.50 USD
Okonomiyaki Mexa or vegetarian	70 MXN, about 3.50 USD
Ramen Pica Pica or Verde	195 MXN, about 10 USD
Ramen BBQ	190 MXN, about 10 USD
Menú del día (weekdays, when offered)	about 125 MXN, about 6.50 USD
Beer	45 MXN, about 2.50 USD
Dessert	40 MXN, about 2 USD

A bowl, a shared starter and a drink comes to roughly 300 to 350 MXN per person, about 15 to 20 USD. It is one of the cheaper chef-run counters in the city, and prices move, so check the board.

Do you need a reservation

Twelve seats means yes on weekends. Japi Ramen accepts bookings through Reservandonos and through its Instagram, @japiramen. Weekday lunch is easier to walk into. Note the hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 12:30 to about 17:30 (Reservandonos lists 17:45), closed Monday, no dinner. The market itself closes in the late afternoon, so the last ramen goes out well before 18:00.

Getting there

• Address: Mercado Lázaro Cárdenas, Pedro Romero de Terreros 55, local 2, Colonia Del Valle Norte, 03100 Benito Juárez, Mexico City. The market sits on the corner with Adolfo Prieto.
• Metro: Eugenia (Line 3), about ten minutes on foot; División del Norte (Line 3) is a little further.
• Metrobús: Line 1 on Avenida Insurgentes Sur, stop Colonia del Valle, then about ten minutes east.
• Walking: around fifteen minutes from Parque Hundido and twenty from the World Trade Center.
• Parking: street parking in Del Valle is easier than in Roma or Condesa, and the market has no dedicated lot. Ride apps drop you at the market entrance.

Before you go

• Lunch only. Doors open at 12:30 and the kitchen is done by late afternoon. Do not plan a dinner here.
• Closed Monday.
• Market setting. You eat at a counter with stools, market noise and no air conditioning. Dress is whatever you are wearing.
• Cash is welcome. Market stalls in Mexico City often prefer cash; bring pesos and ask before assuming the card terminal works.
• Small groups. Twelve seats means a table of six takes half the room. Come in twos and threes.
• Sell-outs happen. Popular dishes run out on weekends. Arrive early if you want the okonomiyaki.
• Pair it with the neighbourhood. Del Valle is quieter than Roma; the market has produce and fonda stalls worth a look before you leave. For more ramen and Japanese counters in the city, see Wanwan Sakaba in Colonia Juárez.
• Check the hours before you go. The hours on this page come from the venue’s public listings, which drift, so confirm on Google Maps or the venue’s own channels before a special trip.

Watch the visit

The reel above is the cooking session at the counter, dish by dish. For every place I have covered in the city, open my Mexico City map or browse the Mexico City recommendations.