The ramen restaurant Mensake Isshoan, which is headquartered in Okayama City, has earned high praise from the Michelin Guide and the Okayama Ramen Expo Grand Prix, among others.
In 2024, Isshoan opened Mensake Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki at Tenmaya Kurashiki, in front of JR Kurashiki Station.
Soup made with carefully selected ingredients, noodles made with care, and beautifully arranged toppings.
The stylish, appetizing appearance of the ramen is sure to draw you in.
The alcoholic drinks, snacks, and side dishes are also appealing.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes Mensake Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki special.
The information presented was current when this article was published in August 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Mensake Isshoan is a restaurant founded in Nakazange, Okayama City, where you can enjoy ramen and drinks
Mensake Isshoan (hereafter, “Isshoan”) is a ramen restaurant headquartered in Okayama City.
It opened its first location in Nakazange 1-chome, in central Okayama, and also operates Mensake Isshoan Seiten Yagura in Nakasendo, Kita Ward, Okayama City, which specializes in Kasaoka ramen.
The first location, Okayama Main Store, opened in 2018.
At Isshoan, ramen is called chicken Chinese noodles. Its features include a soup base with the savory flavor of mature chicken and the use of specially made noodles.
It earned a Michelin Plate in the Michelin Guide Kyoto, Osaka + Okayama 2021, and achieved excellent results in the Okayama Ramen Expo Grand Prix, placing first in 2021 and third in the Bizen area in 2022.
Tenmaya Kurashiki opened in 2024.
It is located on the sixth floor of Tenmaya Kurashiki, in an area with a cluster of restaurants.
The spacious interior has counter and table seating.
There are plenty of seats, making it easy for families and groups to visit.
Menu at Mensake Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki
Information as of July 2025. Prices include consumption tax.
The ramen at Mensake Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki comes in four main varieties.
- Chicken Chinese Noodles with Clam
- Chicken Chinese Noodles with Raw Soy Sauce
- Chicken Chinese Noodles with Salt
- Chicken Chinese Noodles with Raw Soy Sauce, Spicy Style
All are made with carefully selected ingredients and thoughtfully arranged, giving them a beautiful appearance.
There is also a wide selection of side dishes and value meal sets. There is a children’s menu, too, so families with children can feel at ease.
There are also great-value lunch sets.
As the name “Mensake” suggests, Isshoan offers not only ramen but also delicious snacks and a carefully selected range of alcoholic drinks.
Another feature is its focus on sake and chu-hi. The sake selection includes a “Sake Recommendation of the Day,” giving you something to look forward to on each visit. The three-sake tasting set is also recommended.
In addition, the Kurashiki location offers an all-you-can-drink menu, which is not available at Isshoan’s other locations.
Being able to enjoy it as a spot for a casual drink is another of Isshoan’s charms.
There is also a student discount.
Isshoan offers many other menu items as well. For details, see the official website.
Popular and recommended menu items
Here are some of the popular items and the restaurant’s recommendations at Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki.
Chicken Chinese Noodles with Raw Soy Sauce
Chicken Chinese Noodles with Raw Soy Sauce is a popular item that has been on the menu since the restaurant opened, and is its second most popular dish.
A beautiful ring of chicken oil floats on the brown soup. The animal-based stock used in the soup is apparently made only from mature chicken.
The toppings include mitsuba, green onion, extra-thick menma, a soft-boiled salted egg, and pork and chicken chashu cooked at low temperature. The green onion is cut into cylindrical chunks.
The noodles are thin, low-hydration noodles made to order by a noodle maker using a No. 22 cutting blade. Their firm bite is a point of pride.
The soy sauce has a slightly sweet, sweet-and-savory flavor that spreads across the palate, along with the deep flavor of chicken-bone broth.
The thin noodles have a firm bite, and their texture pairs well with the flavor of the soup.
It is also a pleasure to have two kinds of chashu, pork and chicken, so you can enjoy the difference between their flavors.
And because it is cooked at low temperature, its distinctive springy texture is enjoyable, too.
It was so delicious that I ate with gusto and finished it in no time.
As its name suggests, Chicken Chinese Soba, Raw Soy Sauce is a ramen that lets you fully savor the flavor of soy sauce—a real treat for soy sauce lovers.
It has a distinctly different character from typical soy sauce ramen.
Chicken Chinese Soba, Salt
“Chicken Chinese Soba, Salt” is a menu item that has been available since the restaurant opened, just like the raw soy sauce version.
The toppings are mitsuba, green onion, extra-thick menma, a soft-boiled salted egg, and pork and chicken chashu cooked at low temperature. The green onion is finely shredded.
A distinctive feature of the salt ramen is the colorful arare rice crackers. They make the dish look festive and elegant.
The clear, amber-colored soup is beautiful.
The noodles are the same thin, low-hydration type as in the raw soy sauce version.
The key to the deliciousness of the salt ramen is the seafood broth!
Broth is extracted from kombu, clams, bonito, round herring, mackerel, and dried sardines. Shiitake mushrooms are added as well.
The marriage of chicken and seafood broth creates a flavor that is light yet full of punch.
Of course, you can taste the chicken, too. Its flavor may come through more strongly than in the raw soy sauce version.
As you drink the soup, you can taste the chicken broth while complex, deep flavors unfold.
The chicken oil’s flavor also comes through, and along with just the right amount of saltiness, the soup has plenty of savoriness.
The soup also pairs well with the thin noodles, which have a firm bite.
I used to think of typical salt ramen as light in flavor and lacking impact. Isshoan’s salt ramen is light, yet full of savoriness, making it a satisfying bowl.
The salt ramen is said to be consistently popular and to have a loyal following.
Chicken Chinese Soba, Clam
“Chicken Chinese Soba, Clam” is Isshoan’s most popular menu item and the ramen that represents the restaurant.
It includes the toppings common to all the chicken Chinese soba varieties: mitsuba, green onion, extra-thick menma, a soft-boiled salted egg, and pork and chicken chashu cooked at low temperature. The green onion is finely shredded.
It is also topped with chopped fresh red onion and shredded nori.
As its name, “Clam,” suggests, the chicken soup is blended with broth from hamaguri clams, Manila clams, and freshwater clams.
It also uses house-made scallop oil as its aromatic oil. This creates a remarkably rich harmony of chicken and shellfish flavors.
The soup is a clear, pale beige. When you drink it, the savory chicken and shellfish flavors intertwine, creating a deep taste. It is so addictive that you keep taking another sip.
The noodles are medium-thick. They are custom-made using a No. 12 round blade and are used only for the Clam ramen.
The noodles’ springy texture pairs exceptionally well with the soup.
Eating them with the soup, nori, and onion lets you enjoy a different flavor.
There was also a garlic paste made with shelled shellfish meat on top of the nori, and powdered dried scallop adductor muscle on top of the chicken chashu.
![[Left] Garlic paste made with shucked shellfish, [right] powder made from dried scallop adductor muscles](https://media.kuratoco.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/15191712/isshoan-29.jpg)
As you gradually dissolve these into the soup, its flavor continues to change. You can tell they’ve taken care to make the ramen enjoyable right to the last bite.
I thought the chicken Chinese-style clam ramen was a very satisfying bowl.
Seared Mayo Mature Chicken Rice
“Seared Mayo Mature Chicken Rice” is a popular rice dish.
Mature chicken chashu marinated in soy sauce is coated in a sweet-and-savory sauce, seared until fragrant, and served over rice. It’s also topped with mayonnaise and chopped green onions.
I’d wanted to create a rice dish that would go well with salt ramen.
When I made the mature chicken chashu, I came up with mature chicken rice to go with it.
We’ve made a few minor changes over time, and only started adding mayonnaise recently.
The combination of the sweet-and-savory sauce, the fragrant seared flavor, and the crunchy texture of the mature chicken chashu is fantastic.
The more you chew, the more you taste the chicken’s umami, and the rice just keeps going down.
Seared Shime Saba Rice
“Seared Shime Saba (vinegared mackerel) Rice” is another popular rice dish.
Seared shime saba is served over vinegared rice, topped with chopped green shiso.
The idea for seared shime saba rice came from ramen shops in Wakayama Prefecture that serve hayazushi (pressed mackerel sushi).
When I was traveling around Japan, I tried it there and thought, “This is delicious” and “What a great food culture,” so I decided to incorporate the idea.
But making it as pressed sushi would be a lot of work, so I adapted it into a rice dish.
It has a refreshing flavor, but you can also taste the fragrant seared notes. It’s just right. It goes well with the shiso, and it’s delicious. The vinegared rice is only mildly tart.
Add a little wasabi for a sharp kick that adds a nice accent.
Seared shime saba rice is refreshing, so it pairs well with ramen.
Men-shu Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki serves stylish, carefully crafted ramen packed with the umami of mature chicken.
We interviewed Ono Hiroshi, representative of Ichiterasu Co., Ltd., the company that operates the restaurant.
Men-shu Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki Information
| Name | Men-shu Isshoan Tenmaya Kurashiki |
|---|---|
| Address | 6th Floor, Tenmaya Kurashiki, 1-7-1 Achi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-426-2639 |
| Parking | None Partner parking available at Tenmaya Kurashiki |
| Hours | 11:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. (last order 9:45 p.m.) |
| Closed | Irregular Wednesdays |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Not accepted |
| Seating | 41 seats total ・Counter: 7 seats ・Four-person tables: 4 ・Six-person tables: 3 |
| Smoking | Entirely non-smoking |
| Restrooms | Western-style restroom, accessible restroom |
| Families with children | Diaper-changing table Children’s tableware available Strollers welcome |
| Accessibility | Accessible restroom, elevator Wheelchair accessible |
| Website | Kurashiki City Ramen Izakaya “Men-shu Isshoan Kurashiki” |
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The low-hydration noodles are boiled until firm, so they gradually absorb the soup, changing in texture and flavor as you eat.
As the soup cools, seafood flavors such as shottsuru fish sauce emerge after the savory chicken flavor.
It is crafted so you can enjoy the changing flavors throughout the bowl of ramen as you eat!