Brittany Murphy stars in this romantic comedy as Abby a young American woman living in Tokyo who finds herself deserted by her boyfriend. Bored and isolated she ends up in the neighbourhood ramen shop where she decides that in order to give her life some much-needed direction she must persuade tyrannical master chef Maezumi (Toshiyuki Nishida) to take her on as his apprentice. But as their personalities clash and tempers simmer can this seemingly mismatched student and teacher ever collaborate to produce a bowl of the soup that must be made with love and tenderness?