Kyoto Ramen Street, Isetan Kyoto Station 京都拉麺小路

Kyoto Ramen Street (京都拉麺小路) is a cluster of nine ramen shops at Isetan Kyoto Station. Located on level 10 of Isetan Department Store, the 9 restaurants are said to be a selection of famous ramen shops from all over Japan. It is a one-stop shop for different styles of ramen. These restaurants open till 10 pm, which is particularly useful in winter when it is hard to find a easily accessible place to eat after 8pm.

Here are pictures of the layout map of Kyoto Ramen Street, Isetan Kyoto Station (level 10). There is another floor of general restaurants on level 11. The department store closes at 8 pm. Access to the restaurant levels is available only by using a few specific elevators.

The Ramen Shops at Kyoto Ramen Street

Here are short descriptions of the 9 ramen shops based on information on the website.

Tsunatori monogatari (classic Sapporo miso).
Bannai Shokudo (bowls covered with handmade roasted pork fillet)
Taishoken (originator of original chilled noodles with dip)
Men-ya Iroha (Black soy sauce)
Menya Hanabi (originator of Taiwan maze-soba)
Masutani (originator of the ramen in pork back fat soy sauce)
KINSEI (ramen making use of Osaka’s dashi broth culture)
Ramen Todai (soy sauce made from a secret formula and rich pork bone soup)
Hakata Ikkousha (creamy pork bone soup)

The Kyoto Ramen Street at Isetan is a popular place at mealtimes, especially for dinner. We picked non-peak times to try a couple of the ramen shops.

Masutani @ Kyoto Ramen Street, Isetan

Masutani ramen is said to be established in 1948 and “is the birthplace of the ramen in pork back fat soy sauce”. We chose it as it has a nice traditional decor and seems to have a strong following in Kyoto. It had a long snaking queue when we passed by a day before. Ordering and payment was done at the machine outside the shop like many ramen shops in Japan. Once we paid and received the tickets from the machine we proceeded into the restaurant and were shown to our seats.

The dining area of Masutani was warm and cosy. The rich wooden finishes gave it a traditional restaurant feel. Three types of pepper – black, white and red were available for seasoning. We experimented with a bit of each and decided our favourite was the white pepper. It seemed to blend well with the light broth.

We decided on the regular ramen with sliced roast pork (850 Yen, picture above) and a small Chinese noodle (500 yen, picture below). I could not detect much difference between the two in terms of the broth which was light compared to the very heavy ones used in some ramen. I personally like my broth thick and heavy. But it is interesting to try something different like Masutani. One advantage is that one can taste the other ingredients better. Overall, a pleasant ramen which is reasonably priced.

Tsunatori Monogatari Kyoto Ramen Koji

Tsunatori Monogatari features classic miso ramen from Sapporo. It had apparently won a Miso Ramen competition broadcasted on a Japan national TV program. This ramen shop is casual and modern, like a canteen. It is quite a contrast from Masutani.

We ordered special ramen with garlic miso soup (picture above) and special ramen and hot miso soup (picture below, 1,200 yen each). Just like the decor, the ramen at Tsunatori were also very different from Masutani. You can almost feel the robust flaours from the photo below. Both versions were very good. The hot miso was not very spicy.

Kyoto Ramen Street Isetan Kyoto Station is a very convenient place to find ramen in Kyoto. With so many versions available, we wished that we had more time (and stomach space) to try the other shops.

Kyoto Station Building (West Zone), 10th Foor,
at the south side of the department store and DaiKaidan
Open 11:00～22:00 (Last order 21:30)
Closed days / Unscheduled holidays

Nishin Soba at Mimiu Restaurant Isetan Kyoto Station 美々卯 京都伊勢丹店

Kyoto Station is a huge place. It is not only a train station. There is a hotel, lots of restaurants and shopping can be found there. In just the Isetan department store alone there are many food choices. We decided to stop eating ramen and try one of Kyoto’s specialty dishes known as “Nishin Soba”. The main features of this dish are the herring placed on top of soba and the soup’s special stock made by boiling kelp, dried bonito and light soy sauce.

Mimiu is a restaurant with more than 250 years history. It currently focuses on Japanese noodles. You can find more information about them at the website We tried two types of noodles. The Nishin soba (1,155 yen) was the main reason for us to go to Mimiu. It was a lovely dish. The herring had been cooked in a sweet and salty manner and had a deep rich flavour. The soup was clear and clean tasting. It is a dish we want to eat again.

The tempura vegetables with soba was also a light Japanese noodle dish, but was not as memorable as the Nishin soba.

Mimiu Restaurant is located on level 11 of the Isetan Department Store Kyoto Station.

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The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog