Why do Aya and Youko consider going to a ramen shop alone so amazing?

Question

Consider the following page from Kiniro Mosaic.

Some context, in case you don't know the series: The three girls are in high school. Karen is the blonde, Aya is the girl with black twin-tails, and Youko is the girl with short light hair. Karen is half-British, has never lived in Japan before, and still has some trouble with the language and culture. That's why she says "It might be something normal for you two Japanese people, but for someone like me, it was a big adventure."

It was shown earlier that Karen is pretty outgoing, but the joke here seems to be that Karen thinks going to a ramen shop is something that's only a big deal to her because she's foreign, and it turns out that it's also a big deal to natives Aya and Youko. But why do Aya and Youko consider this "amazing" and "grown-up"? Youko's line about fast food restaurants suggests there's some cultural reference concerning ramen shops that I'm missing.

Answer 1

Shall I assume that these characters are in high school or younger? In that case, yes, it not so common for high schoolers to hang out at a ramen restaurant compared to a fast food place like McDonald's or a family restaurant like Jonythan's where they can stay for a long time using the drink bar (all-you-can-drink soft drinks/juice/coffee/tea), study there, chat with friends, etc. Ramen restaurants are generally not upscale and, as you can see in the illustration, strangers may sit next to each other at bar-like seating, so this makes it convenient for middle-aged salarymen to eat lunch there alone (again, this is shown in the illustration). Ramen shops are not very conducive for having conversations, hanging out, and staying past when you empty your bowl. Thus, it's not a place that usually has a family or young people vibe.

If these characters are university students, it is less likely that the Japanese girls would consider Karen fearless, because university students tend to want to eat cheap and quick food, so ramen joints work for that, but it is still that case that many female college students wouldn't go to a ramen shop alone, and possibly wouldn't even go there in a group unless that group includes a male friend, because they will assume that the place will be full of college guys and older men. It's more common for Japanese university girls to eat at regular restaurants and cute cafés.

Answer 2

I think that's the joke. Aya and Yoko are acting excited because Karen said "You could at least sound interested", so there taking the advice and are now interested in the conversation (over-the-top interested mind you).