I saw this film when I was a teen... and didn't get it.. but this time around, I could see the fun, zany, madness that makes this story about a noodle cook and her shop so charming and funny. The plot is pretty basic, a cowboy rolls into town to find a widow struggling to make a go of her Ramen shop. He has a fight with a group of locals, and figures that he's going to help out the widow and her son. They travel from Ramen shop to Ramen shop, and have adventures in eating... there is the gathering of soup makers, noodle cooks, and other helpers that all add their special skills and input to creating a great ramen shop. The film also has mini stories, some of them funny, some of them strange, and some of them sexy about food, cooking, and the culture of Japan and it's relation to food.... did I mention this film is Japanese? Anyway, a great film that is well worth revisiting.