Tsukemen Yumenchu

Tsukemen Yumenchu is a specialty tsukemen restaurant with over 10 years of history, located in front of Kyoto Pharmaceutical University in Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City. As specialty tsukemen restaurants are rare in Kyoto, it has long been supported as a hidden gem known to those in the know. Their signature dish is the "Rich Seafood Burnt Tsukemen". The dipping sauce is a unique creation, combining a soup made from chicken feet, chicken carcass, and pork bones, with a paste of simmered mackerel in miso and burnt seafood oil. This layering creates a rich, animal-based umami with a deep mackerel flavor and the sweetness of miso. The homemade extra-thick flat noodles (cut with a #10 blade) have a nearly square cross-section, offering a strong chewiness and rich wheat flavor that perfectly picks up the rich dipping sauce. Toppings are carefully prepared, including large slices of rare pork shoulder loin chashu, a soft-boiled seasoned egg, and fragrant menma (bamboo shoots) with a grilled char. If the dipping sauce cools down, you can ask for it to be reheated, and finally, enjoy the lingering flavor with a soup-wari (broth diluted with soup). In addition to the classic burnt tsukemen, they offer a refreshing tsukemen and a mildly spicy seafood tantan tsukemen, making up their three main pillars. And not to be missed is the "Aburi Butter Chashu Don" (seared butter chashu rice bowl) on the side. This luxurious bowl has more chashu than rice, making it a perfect match with tsukemen. The complimentary jasmine tea served in a pitcher also leaves a refreshing aftertaste.