Oodles of noodles that can't be beat

The Kyushu-style noodle house Invincible Ramen is not short of confidence.

This can be seen not only in the eatery's name, but also in that the servers wear T-shirts emblazoned with the characters for mian hun, or "noodle soul", while bowls are imprinted with wu di jia, meaning, "invincible family".

This Japanese restaurant also has an open kitchen on a slightly raised platform, which makes the assembly line of ramen cooks look like actors on a stage. Cooks slice, pour, stir and fling with flair. All that's missing is a taiko drummer.