Menbakaichidai Fire Ramen

The shop on Marutamachi-dori opened in 1984 as an ordinary ramen counter. About a year in, the founder, Miyazawa Masamichi, started pouring flaming oil over a heap of freshly chopped green onions, and that trick is now the whole business. It trades as Menbaka Fire Ramen these days, and his son Shin Miyazawa runs it.

What happens at the counter: a bowl of soy-sauce ramen, made from chicken bones and seafood, arrives buried under Kyoto's Kujo green onions. The cook ladles very hot green-onion oil over the top and it goes up in a column of fire. Before that you put on a paper apron, fold your arms behind your back and lean away from the counter. Nobody stands up, nobody touches the bowl, and you do not film it yourself: staff take your phone and record it for you. The flare is over in seconds and the onions come out scorched at the edges.

Be clear about the price before you go, because this is no longer a cheap bowl of noodles. Walk-in seats start at about 4,800 yen per person, and the booked lunch and dinner courses add dishes and cost considerably more. The ramen underneath is a plain, decent shoyu; you are paying for the show. The shop is fully cashless and does not take yen notes, but cards, IC transport cards and the main QR payment apps work. There are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free (rice-flour noodles) and pork-free versions, and children get a no-fire meal.

There are about 20 seats, all at the counter. Opening hours are 11:00 to 22:00 every day. Bookings are taken online through TableCheck only, for 11:00 to 15:30 and 17:00 to 21:00, and a card hold is required. Without one you may wait outside for a long time.

The shop is about ten minutes' walk from Nijo Castle. The closest station is Nijojo-mae on the Tozai subway line; from Kyoto Station, take city bus 50 to Horikawa-Marutamachi and walk about five minutes west.