In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.
After a married businessman has his way with a young prostitute he takes good soak in the bath. When he returns to the bedroom he discovers her bloody body. Suddenly two men enter the room with cameras proceed to blackmail him. At first they just want money but when they find out the businessman has a sexy wife she becomes part of the payment.
A woman who runs a bar with her older sister has her life disrupted when she has a chance meeting with an old lover.
