Beppu Reimen

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

Beppu reimencold noodlesBeppulocal specialtyManchuria

Photo: Setsukolo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Beppu Reimen is the kind of Oita food stop that locals recommend before any restaurant with a sign in English.

Beppu's cold noodles came back from Manchuria. A returnee opened a grilled meat shop in the town after the war and tried to reproduce the Korean naengmyeon he had eaten there, using what Kyushu had: buckwheat and wheat instead of the original starches, and a broth built on katsuobushi and dried sardine rather than beef. The result stopped being an imitation within a generation and became a local dish with its own rules.

Two lineages exist. The specialist shops serve a thick, chewy noodle in a clear cold dashi with cabbage kimchi and a slice of pork; the grilled meat restaurants serve a thinner, springier noodle as the closing dish after the meat. Both are eaten year-round rather than only in summer, and Beppu argues about which is correct with a seriousness the dish's short history does not obviously justify.

Eating essentials

Price range

A bowl of reimen typically runs under ¥1,000 — confirm current pricing at the restaurant

Best season

Year-round; eaten in winter as much as summer despite being a cold dish

Hours

Varies by restaurant; several open for lunch and dinner sittings only — confirm before travelling

Closed: Varies by restaurant

How long to allow

45 minutes – 1 hour

How to reach it

Directions

Specialist and grilled meat restaurants serving reimen are spread across Beppu City; the best known specialist shop is in the Ishigaki-higashi district, by car from Beppu Station. Hours and closing days vary widely — several open only for lunch and dinner sittings, and one long-established shop closes on Wednesdays. Confirm hours before travelling; queues are common at lunch in summer.

What locals order

**Decide which lineage you want first.** Thick noodle in a specialist shop or thin noodle after grilled meat. They are different dishes and comparing one to the other is how people end up disappointed. **The broth is Japanese, not Korean.** Katsuobushi and iriko rather than beef stock. If you know naengmyeon, this will taste wrong for about three mouthfuls and then it will not. **Year-round, not a summer dish.** Locals eat it in February. The shops do not treat it as seasonal. **Lunch queues in July and August.** The specialist shops are small and turn over slowly because the noodles are cut to order. Arrive at opening or after 1:30 PM. **It goes with the baths, not after them.** The standard Beppu sequence is a hot spring and then something cold, which is exactly the gap this dish was built to fill.

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