Koyo Ramen recently made its debut on 609 E Main St in Purcellville, Virginia on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. As the new neighbor to Tropical Smoothie Cafe in the Blue Ridge Station center, it has piqued the curiosity of many. Residents of Purcellville and surrounding towns have flooded into its doors to try the highly anticipated specialty Japanese cuisine. One of the owners of Koyo Ramen also owns Purcellville’s beloved Thai restaurant, Finn Thai, which is across the street.

Koyo is a small sit-down restaurant with comfortable tables, chairs, and booths in the interior. This brand-new restaurant offers traditional Japanese cuisine, specializing in ramen. While their menu is almost fully filled with ramen bowls, they also offer a selection of rice-based dishes, appetizers, and an assortment of bubble tea options. Koyo is the only restaurant in Purcellville that specializes specifically in ramen. Their ramen menu includes a variety of options, such as their truffle ramen, spicy tofu ramen, vegetable ramen, and shio ramen. With a 4.5 star rating on Google reviews and Yelp, Koyo Ramen has had a successful start to their Japanese cuisine business. 

As described on Koyo’s website, the origin of ramen was hospitality. A man named Mitsukuni Tokugawa, is generally said to have been the first Japanese person to try ramen, after it was given to him by Confucianist Zhu Zhiyu as a thank you gift for his hospitality.

Mrs. Gutshall, a teacher here at Woodgrove, tried Koyo Ramen upon its recent opening. “My husband used to be stationed in Japan and Korea serving in the Navy, so my family eats a lot of Asian fusion type foods. Whenever we have a chance to try some genuine authentic flavors, we take the time to test them out,” she explained. Gutshall had a positive first experience trying Koyo Ramen: “The staff was very friendly and the menu was diverse. The food was delicious.”

Hospitality is a primary factor of an excellent restaurant, as it shines through the service and the food itself. The establishment of this new business helped to expand the cultural food variety in the area. In the town of Purcellville, Koyo Ramen continues to make this dish that originated from the important virtue of hospitality today.