Tampopo, uma jovem viúva, administra um pequeno e mal-sucedido restaurante de Ramen em um bairro da classe trabalhadora de Tóquio. Sua vida vira de cabeça para baixo no dia em que um cliente, Goro, um caminhoneiro com visual de cowboy e talento para a culinária gourmet, decide ensinar a ela a arte de cozinhar macarrão.
Nobuko Miyamoto is the eponymous lady who runs her small noodle bar always with the same regulars and... well it's all just a bit routine. That is until "Gorô" (Tsutomu Yamazaki) and his young sidekick "Gun" (Ken Watanabe) arrive and decide they are going to help her realise her dream to improve her shop. Her emporium also serves as the lynch pin for a few tangential stories that focus around her customers and their need for food - and not only for nourishment, either! My favourite has to be the old woman who insists of squishing the life out of his produce then not buying anything - much to the chagrin of the poor shopkeeper. There is also quite a fun tale of an housewife on her deathbed who rises, just before the end, to cook her family a delicious dinner; and of a gangster - clad in a white suit, who finds quite an erotic way to use his dinner, too. It is funny and quirky, this film, with some really engaging performances and the two hours it takes just flies by.
