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Hiroshima Tsukemen

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

Researched and written by Hinato

Hiroshima tsukemencold noodleschilliShinkaenHiroshima City

Photo: bryan... / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · original

Hiroshima Tsukemen is the kind of Hiroshima food stop that locals recommend before any restaurant with a sign in English.

Hiroshima tsukemen has almost nothing in common with the thick-broth dipping noodles served elsewhere in Japan. The noodles are cold, the dipping sauce is a thin soy base sharpened with vinegar, sesame, chilli oil and a great deal of ground chilli, and the plate comes with boiled cabbage, cucumber, spring onion, chashu and often a boiled egg. It is closer to a cold spicy salad with noodles than to ramen.

It began at a Chinese restaurant called Shinkaen, opened in Hatchobori in 1954, where it was a summer-only item and was not called tsukemen at all but reimen. The style spread through the city and specialist chains followed from 2000. Heat is chosen at ordering and the scale runs from nothing to genuinely punishing, so asking for zero is a perfectly normal order.

Eating essentials

Price range

¥800–1,200 per serving

Best season

Year-round | Summer, as it was originally a hot-weather dish

Hours

Varies by shop | Bakudanya at Hiroshima Station 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Closed: Varies by shop

How long to allow

30–45 minutes

How to reach it

Directions

Served across Hiroshima City by specialist shops and Chinese restaurants. Shinkaen, generally credited as the origin from 1954 in Hatchobori, has since moved to Kawaramachi in Naka-ku. Heat level is chosen at ordering, from zero upward. Individual shop hours and rest days vary.

Beyond the guidebook

**Order the heat at zero if unsure.** The scale starts at none and goes a long way up. Nobody thinks less of a zero order, and you can add chilli at the table. **It is cold, and that is correct.** Chilled noodles and a cold, sharp dipping sauce. It started as a summer dish and the temperature is not a mistake. **Cabbage and cucumber come with it.** The vegetables are part of the dish rather than a garnish, which is why it eats lighter than any other noodle bowl in the city. **Shinkaen calls it reimen.** The originating shop never used the word tsukemen. If you go there, that is what to order. **The station branch opens until ten.** Bakudanya in ekie is the practical option late or with luggage, and it is one of the few places serving this until the evening.

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