The Ramen Girl

Abby, an American girl, flies to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend Ethan. He reveals he must go to Osaka for a business trip and may not be back for a while, then breaks up with her. Left in a foreign city, Abby struggles with sudden separation and the choices ahead.

Abby visits Maezumi’s ramen shop, only to be told in broken English and gestures that they’re closed. She starts crying, and the chef signals for her to sit. He then serves her a bowl of ramen that she instantly loves, marking the start of a new connection.

While she eats, Abby hallucinates the Maneki Neko, the beckoning cat, encouraging her to come closer. When she tries to pay, the chef and his wife refuse, signaling that hospitality matters more than money. The moment foreshadows her path with the shop.

The next day she returns and sits at the counter for another bowl. She and another patron break into uncontrollable giggles, lightening the mood of the otherwise quiet shop. The moment deepens her bond with the place and its people.

The following day the shop is out of ramen, and Abby insists on helping. She is assigned cleaning tasks at first, enduring a grueling start as she shows persistent resolve. After a night spent resting in the back, she wakes with a renewed desire to master ramen making.

Over the following weeks, Maezumi shifts Abby from cleaning to waitress, giving her a chance to win the hearts of regular customers. She attracts two older women and a male laborer in his 30s who develops a crush on her. Her perseverance begins to transform the shop’s dynamic.

On a rare night off, Abby goes to a nightclub with Charlie and Gretchen and meets Toshi Iwamoto. The two quickly form a connection and fall in love as they share their dreams. The romance becomes a central thread in Abby’s journey.

Abby notices Maezumi crying over letters and photos from Paris. His wife explains that the photos are of their son Shintaro, who left for France, and that Maezumi and Shintaro have not spoken in five years. The revelation deepens the family’s internal pain.

Toshi must go to Shanghai for three years on business and asks Abby to accompany him. She declines, confessing she cannot leave the ramen world behind. They share a bittersweet last kiss before he departs.

Abby learns to make ramen, but Maezumi laments that it lacks soul. Maezumi’s mother tells Abby she’s cooking with her head and that tears should be added to the ramen. Abby cooks with emotion, serving four customers who all cry in response as Maezumi tastes and grows emotional upstairs.

Maezumi brags that Abby’s ramen will earn the Master Chef’s blessing. The Master arrives, tasting the rival’s ramen and granting him the blessing while Abby’s Goddess Ramen, with peppers, corn and tomato, earns praise but is told she still needs more time and restraint. The shop faces uncertainty, but Abby remains determined.

Maezumi declares that the shop needs a proper successor and names Abby as that successor. She departs for America to start anew, carrying the lantern that hung outside the shop for 45 years. A celebration precedes her departure, sealing her future as the ramen’s custodian and bridge to a wider world.

A year later in New York City, Abby’s shop The Ramen Girl opens with a lantern outside. A photo of Maezumi and his wife with their son in Paris hangs inside. An employee reveals that a man named Toshi wants to see her, and he arrives having quit his job to pursue writing music; they kiss as they reunite.