Menbakaichidai

Great experience! The staff created playful atmosphere for their guests, and interacted very well even with the language barrier. They welcome international guests!
We got the fire ramen! The green onion broth is thinner than other ramen places, but it’s nice and light for a lunch. They have chili oil and paste to spice up your bowl, just in case. They’ll give you hair ties to tie up your hair and paper bibs to protect your clothes. Vvvv cool place.

Wow! This was one fine experience. It is off the beaten bath and there is a waiting line in front. There is tablet connected to a little printer that gives a number in the waiting line. There are selfie sticks ready to record the experience. The menu and the instructions are available in multiple languages. Everybody gets a paper bib (I wonder if there is such thing as fire proof paper!), people with bangs are given an elastic hairband with the color of their choice to ensure the hair is not caught in fire. The shelf below the counter holds water cups until the fire show is over. The ramen was delicious. I will definitely go again.

This was so cool! Not something you will ever see anywhere else. Plus they are so foreigner friendly which to be honest has not been the case in other places.

This place has the best service, entertainment and amazing tasting food. Soy based ramen too for all you fellow vegetarians. Owner and staff are so sweet, will speak in English – and will offer tips on places to visit while you are in Kyoto. Check it out – you won’t regret it!

Great for kids, don’t expect much from the food. The draw is the fire show, not the ramen. Bring your phone, they’ll film it for you :)

We absolutely loved everything from the staff to the delicious food. The ramen was the best I’ve had yet and the fire show was unforgettable.

Two words… Fire. Ramen!
Now, you may think… Fire Ramen would be spicy but it isn’t! When we first walked up to the place, there was a line. Now, being a tourist, my friend and I should’ve known it was a well known place and had to get there early. We made it to the cut off time of 2:15 and were the last batch of customers here. So, tip, if you wanna try this restaurant during lunch, get there at least at 1:30p.
When we first got in line, the owner was asking us how many people, what type of ramen we wanted. If it’s dine in, we can go right away but of course, we wanted the special fire ramen. He also asked where we were from. As we waited, we saw the doors closed twice and sometimes a scream here or there. My friend and I didn’t peek in cause we wanted to experience the Fire Ramen first hand.
Then…finally, they opened the doors to us! GASP! We thought we’d get in but alas, we didn’t make the cut. Sad =(. As we waited another 30 minutes and the patrons left, we finally got in!
There are a set of rules that you must follow when being in there. Just telling you this now cause they make all instructions VERY clear. Don’t touch the bowl when it’s oily, don’t take pictures when the oil is being poured. What’s awesome about this place, is that the owner thought of everything that is towards the tourist and customers! They even had several selfie sticks hanging behind the stove for the customers to take videos! Man oh man. After taking our cameras, they gave us a set of instructions. Flipped to the pages where there’s Chinese for Chinese speaking patrons, English for English. Very thorough! As we waited, the owner takes every precautions for customers to not be set on fire. Lol. My friend had a lot of baby hairs so… even when she put it up, it wasn’t enough. The owner even went over to her to tie her hair up! It was sooo hilarious to me. Anyways, finally, the fire came!
.gosh was that hot! It was literally in your face. I kept tipping my self further back cause the fire was so scary (I didn’t scream though.=P). After all the fire, they told us to start eating. It was delicious! The broth wasn’t too salty and was super flavorful. Could taste the pork and all the types of meats that he used. Yum! Noodles was perfectly al dente. Couple slices of pork.
Each set came with fried rice and we ordered another one where there’s gyoza. Everything was amazingly wonderful!
The owner, you could tell he had a wonderful personality with the way he treats his customers. He would joke with us and had his staff talk to all the customers. While we were eating, he was giving our phones back and told us to open our mouths and get some noodles and took a picture. Lol. Very wonderful sense of humor. Now, on to the above and beyond service…
He had his staff asked everyone set of customers where were they going for the day! Even though his staff didn’t ask us, he personally asked us (cause we were at the end of the table) where we were going. I told him we were going to the Fush-​ima Inari Shrine. He tells us that they close at sunset. Without asking. HE GAVE US DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO GET THERE! So thoughtful! Step by step instructions. He told us what bus to take, what station to get off, and what JR Line to take.
This was really one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. If anyone ever asks me what to do in Kyoto, I would tell them to come to this place. Experience and their kindness is something that you don’t find often. A+++++++++!
(one more thing… if you want to get a sense of the owner’s humor… his menu even had written down, «The owner may look angry but he’s not. He was born this way»…lol!)

The ramen was delicious, and the fire ramen cooking process made it even better! The owner and his team clearly enjoy entertaining their international and local clientele. To top things off, they gave us a copy of the boss’s self-​made «off the beaten path» temple and attraction recommendations for Kyoto. If ever in Kyoto, this is a must try!

So I was hankering to get moving around the city after a fantastic experience of watching monks ring in the bells for the new year. Woke up early and started moving to see the bamboo forest, kinkakuji, nijo castle, etc. After wrapping up the morning portion of our intense 2 day tour of Kyoto, we were hankering for a warm bowl of ramen and I had remembered reading about this joint which served up «fire ramen.» I realized it was not too far from Nijo castle and made my way over to this joint for opening time which was 11:30. We arrived 5 minutes before opening and saw the signs for the restaurant. It is kind of hard to miss the signs with pictures of fires and the «angry owner’s» face glaring at you.
The doors were promptly opened at 11:30 and they will ask if you are interested in the Fire Ramen or normal ramen. The answer is always Fire Ramen for those in doubt. The concept of the fire ramen is that they make a bowl of noodles and add in oils that when fire is applied, essentially creates a burst of fire that flares up. If eating the Fire Ramen, you are seated at the counter which looks like a battlefield with all the scorch marks. We were provided menus which had entertaining instructions in English which made it clear it was not the owner’s first rodeo in hosting non Japanese speakers. Decided to go with the combo which provided gyoza and two fire ramens. They obviously have strict rules on where to place your hands and flash photography which initially bummed me out but I realized these guys all had a plan. They have camera stands behind the counter and they will ask you for your phone so that they can record a video of the «event» happening. They were immediately bustling around helping us prepare for our meal and within moments we had our two bowls of ramen sitting in front of us with the master chef preparing the fire to be dropped. The whole ordeal seemed like a shuttle launch from NASA with a countdown in place. The owners pressed record on the camera and asked if we were ready. We put our hands behind our back and the owner made his way over to our bowls with a brief countdown and BOOM the fire was applied and the ramen exploded with flames. It was extreme heat and it was quite a cool experience which was all caught on camera. We of course applauded and then dug right into our bowl of ramen. I will be honest in that I thought this would just be a gimmick to get tourists in but the ramen was actually pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised by the broth and we definitely finished the bowl.
This was a great experience and something I recommend to others. The owners are super friendly and actually took the time to ask where we would be heading and provided directions and tips to keep in mind which I thought was extremely thoughtful. The owner also had a brochure he handed out which tapped into the secrets of Kyoto which stay away from the mainstream tourist attractions which I thought was a nice touch. Definitely a solid spot and will be back when I am in Kyoto.

Cuisine: ⁸⁄₁₀
Service: ⁹⁄₁₀
Décor: ⁵⁄₁₀
Value: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Overall: ⁸⁄₁₀
When you come to this ramen shop, food is honestly playing second fiddle, the overall experience engrosses you and therefore I had to give it 5 stars. Fire ramen !!!
When you show up, there is a row of seats outside for you to sit and wait for one of the counter seats inside the restaurant. If you just want to try some of their food, feel free to take a table and not bother waiting. However, you’ll be missing the most entertaining part of your meal at this #1 rated Kyoto dining location on Trip Advisor.
The menu is simple — ramen only, add dumplings or fried rice. Those are all your options if I recall properly. We opted for just the ramen, which is a bowl of semi-​firm noodles without much chewiness in a tonkatsu (pork bone) based broth. As toppings, it had two pieces of tender and delicious char siu along with a ton of scallions. Everything blended nicely and tasted fantastic.
However, like I said, the cuisine was secondary next to the fun atmosphere that the owner and staff have created. After ordering, they supply you with a large bib and a sheet of instructions. It basically tells you no to move during the fire ramen display and lean back as much as possible. Then a bowl of noodle is placed in front of each person and the owner comes by to ignite them on fire. We’re not talking about a dingy little flame here folks. It’s one of those that can burn your brows off if you get too close. What intense heat! Btw, the staff will ask before the show if you want to record a video of it all on your cell phone. If yes, they will strap your phone to a selfie stick like contraption hanging from the ceiling on the cooking side of the counter. Truly ingenious and thoughtful. Now you can enjoy your meal, which takes less time to slurp down than the prep time for the food and show. After the ramen is polished off, the owner and staff comes around taking goofy pictures with each group using funny signs. This was absolutely a blast. Don’t miss this restaurant if you visit Kyoto.

If you’re looking for an amazing restaurant to go to, this is it!
They literally set your ramen on fire. The chef took a torch and lit your bowl on fire. Then you eat.
For the video-​philes, they even set up selfie sticks for you to take videos of the entire experience. It’s so much fun.
Pretty good deal. You can pay around 1300 yen for a regular bowl of fire ramen, or pay 2000 yen for an entire set menu with fried chicken, fried rice, gyoza and even a souvenir pin with the chef’s picture and a funny quote.
How does it taste? It tastes like a pretty damn good bowl of ramen, one of the best. The fried chicken and gyoza are standard fare, but you didn’t come for that. You came to feel the searing hot flame.
One last thing. The chef was so nice to everyone. It was late after the meal, and he talked to each person and gave easy bus/​subway directions back to their respective hotels/​apartments. Japanese hospitality is so nice.
ProTip: Oh yea, be prepared to wait over an hour. We came late 8:30pm, and had to wait an hour. I’d imagine if you came earlier during the day, you would have to wait even longer.

What a spectacle. Definitely a must if you enjoy one of a kind experiences, and having your ramen placed on fire is definitely that. There are selfie sticks hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen as the owner allows videos to be taken during the whole process, as its definitely a moment you want to share and remember!

Absolutely incredible.
When I was reading the reviews, I had thought the fire ramen referred to the meal being spicy. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The food literally gets set on fire.
But this place is far from gimmicky, the Special Set meal is absolutely phenomenal. The flavors are bold, smoky, and passionate. A perfect representation of the owner whose love of Kyoto is understood with every savory bite.
This place is an absolutely must-​go if you are ever in Kyoto.

great spot if you are hankering for ramen — the extremely friendly and gregarious english speaking family duo has their famous fire ramen in which they create their unique flame infused ramen that is made right before your eyes, making the meal quite the spectacle. broth is excellent and noodles were just right. just remember to get the special set with gyoza and fried rice to complement the meal for a total of 2000 yen.

This is the infamous fire ramen place.
I came here on a Friday night and the place was randomly closed. Maybe call ahead and make sure they are open. I ended up going back on Saturday afternoon since everywhere online raves about this place.
They put on a pretty good show for you. They took my phone and put it in a selfie stick and recorded a video of the whole thing so that was really cool.
Your ramen literally goes up in flames so be careful, it’s HOT. They have lots of rules and procedures in place to make sure you don’t get burnt and it’s all in English.
I ordered the combo with ramen, fried rice, fried chicken and gyoza. As for the ramen itself, it’s pretty good but I’ve definitely had better. But the dumplings were delicious and the fried rice is a good filler!
Would recommend for the experience but no need to order a full combo. Order the fire ramen, have the experience but then save some room for the rest of the delicious places in Kyoto!

If you are ever in Kyoto this is a must go to place for ramen and a show. Came here after someone on YouTube showed a video of their famous fire ramen. The guys here are super friendly and funny. They open at 6pm and can only hold about 12 seats at the front counter for the fire ramen. The ramen is a green onion ramen. There is a lot of green onions. They speak some English. They have sign cards explaining what to do and what not to do, because some pyrotechnics is involved. They are also well prepared. They have hanging selfie sticks arranged behind the counter to film the show for you. It was pretty cool. Don’t worry you won’t get burned, they will make sure of it. Aside from the fire ramen, you can add a set meal that includes fried rice, Gyoza and/​or chicken karrage. It was a great experience, we had a lot of fun and highly recommend coming here, either walk or bike from kyoto station.