Men-ya Inoichi

This ramen restaurant is a well-loved local spot and a popular destination for international visitors. You need to stop by in person early after opening to reserve a time slot. As a starter, we received a small greeting from the kitchen in the form of roasted pork, flavorful and tender. The ramen itself was absolutely outstanding. The broth was rich and full-bodied, the wagyu soft and tender, and the noodles perfectly cooked. Probably one of the best bowls of ramen I’ve ever had. 100% recommended.

Came on 8 Oct 2025: arrived about 5 mins before opening and there is already a queue, took a ticket for 40 mins later and went to Nishiki Market for a walk while waiting. Ordered Dashi ramen (black and white) soup was really good and the kelp changes the soup flavours well. The Tofu is creamy and goes very very well with salt as recommended. Ordered their beer but kept drinking the soup instead, they serve pork cubes when you order beer. Worth the wait.

What a fun spot to get ramen! We stumbled across this place as it was close to our hotel, and I'm glad we went! I enjoyed the rice with pork and shumai (SO good!!!) even more than the ramen. Almost better than the food was the atmosphere - super friendly and welcoming staff with a great open concept dining area to watch dinner being prepared. We went early (about 4 pm) and put our names on a reservation list. This served us well.

Overpriced, disappointing ramen. The light soup is lacking flavor and the toppings are just fine. There are plenty of better ramen shops in Kyoto that are cheaper and have shorter wait times. Unless you line up before they even open, you'll be given a later reservation time to come back for, which I suppose is better than standing around doing nothing for an indeterminate amount of time, but the wait just isn't worth it. The shumai were good, and the atmosphere is great since you're able to watch the entire kitchen work.

By pure luck I “stumbled” upon this spot, not knowing its fame, around 11:15A and was lucky enough to get a spot at 11:30. It’s hard not to give them 5 stars, it was beautifully run place with super friendly and welcoming staff. Appetizer of choice were the shumai, which were mildly flavored and tasted excellent dipped in the accompanying soy sauce. Kobe beef with egg in black soy sauce was my ramen of choice - the noodles were thin and perfectly cooked, the broth itself I honestly wished I would have gone with their white version instead. It was too deep for my taste but again, well balanced and put together. While the routine was expectedly choreographed, I never feel rushed and it was also entertaining watching the one or other influencer film themselves joyfully while dining 😁 It was a great experience overall and one I would definitely come back, but not particularly wait in line for more than I already did. Ironically my souvenir shirt made up 70% of the bill.

Atmosphere and service were cool. Seats at the counter are available which is nice! The food though was underwhelming. I expected more of a Michelin Star Restaurant. Broth was pure simple and clean but Not an eye opening experience. The shumai we're too big and heavy in the meat side. Had no Special taste to them. Would not go again tbh.

I liked this restaurant in so many levels. Firstly, when you come to them, you notice a good organization level. For the place with such a big demand, they deal with it very well. We came around 12:40 and received a ticket for a lunch at 13:50. After walk in shops we came back to them and were directed to the queue. We waited in the queue for another 20 minutes and while this time they also took our order. The food was well explained and good. Very good experience

We headed to this place around 7:30 PM after our original choice had an overwhelming line. Unfortunately, we were disappointed to learn that they were fully booked for the evening. Turns out, reservations are taken around 5:30 PM for the whole night, and you need to queue early to secure a spot. So we did exactly that the following day and managed to get a reservation for 8:30 PM. We were seated around 8:50 PM and started off with their recommended shumai (pork dumplings). The portion was noticeably larger than what we usually get in Malaysia, and honestly, it was one of the best shumai I’ve ever had—juicy, flavorful, and perfectly cooked. This restaurant specializes in dashi-based ramen, a style popular in the Kyoto and Osaka regions. Dashi is a traditional Japanese soup stock typically made by simmering ingredients like dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi), dried kelp (kombu), and sometimes dried sardines or shiitake mushrooms. It forms the umami-rich base of many Japanese dishes, and in this case, gives the ramen its deep, savory flavor. We ordered one white soy and one dark soy sauce ramen. Each bowl came with a few tender slices of meat and a perfectly half-boiled egg. As a special touch, they provided dried kelp as a topping and recommended adding it gradually to subtly shift the flavor of the broth. Needless to say, both bowls were emptied within 10 minutes—it was truly heartwarming. We found out just before leaving that this spot is Michelin-recommended, which honestly came as no surprise. A fantastic place to try local-style ramen done right.