UMA UMA 博多うま馬-Sukhumvit 39
18, 5 Soi Sukhumvit 39, Klongton-Nua, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
UMA UMA earns repeat visits on the back of one honest bowl: thin Hakata noodles in a slow-cooked pork-bone broth that has been refined since 1953. The izakaya half of the menu, especially the torikawa and motsunabe, is what separates it from the tonkotsu crowd elsewhere on Sukhumvit. In my view, that dual identity makes it the most complete Japanese comfort-food stop on this stretch.
The origin is straightforward: in 1953, a ramen shop called Wu Maru opened in Fukuoka's Hakata district. Decades later, the next generation renamed it Uma Uma Ramen, a name that echoes the original while playing on the Japanese word for delicious. That 70-plus year lineage is what the Sukhumvit 39 kitchen carries into every bowl it sends out.\n\nWalking in, the first thing you register is the smell of pork bone stock that has been running all day. Counter seating faces an open kitchen, and the room is compact enough that you hear the skewers hitting the grill before you see them. The pace is direct: orders move quickly, service is attentive without ceremony, and the aesthetic leans into the functional izakaya format rather than any decorative idea of Japan.\n\nThe signature bowl arrives as Hakata tradition demands. Thin, straight noodles sit in tonkotsu broth built on slow-simmered pork bone and finished with fatty chashu, kikurage mushrooms, bean sprouts and a runny egg. Broth temperature and noodle texture are the two details this kitchen visibly takes seriously. The restaurant's own positioning since opening has been "Original Hakata Ramen and Izakaya," which signals that the bowl is only half the point.\n\nOnce dinner hours begin, the menu shifts its weight. Torikawa, Hakata's grilled chicken skin, comes out rendered and crisp. Skewer options span chicken, pork belly, meatballs and bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms. For groups, the motsunabe, a Fukuoka-style offal hotpot, is the obvious anchor order. Beer, spirits and alcohol round out what is clearly designed as a post-work destination rather than a quick lunch counter.\n\nOne practical note worth knowing before you plan: the kitchen closes between 2:30 PM and 4:00 PM on weekdays. That gap is real downtime, not soft hours. Saturday runs a continuous 11 AM to 11 PM service and is the most flexible day if your schedule is uncertain. Parking is available on-site, which removes the usual Sukhumvit friction for anyone arriving by car.