Menya Nukaji

Shibuya's Popular Tsukemen & Craft Beer Shop

Operating Hours

11:00 to 16:00, L.O. 15:50 (Mon-Sat)

Closed on Sun

Budget

￥￥

Menya Nukaji is a hole-in-the-wall eatery with a loyal following. They specialize in both tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles) and craft beer, one of the rare ramen (ラーメン, Rāmen) shops with an extensive craft beer selection to go with it including Pale Ale, IPA, Stouts, Pilsner, and more. While once relatively off-the-beaten-path, it has become a lot nearer to the crowds after the opening of the nearby Shibuya Parco. Their speciality is their tonkotsu (豚骨, Pork bones) gyokai (魚介) tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles), which comes in a thick dipping broth together with cold noodles that slurp down easily. One of the standout features of the shop is that there is a complementary service of free-flow tamago kake gohan (卵かけご飯, Rice topped with egg) that pairs well with the leftover tsukemen dipping broth.

Menya Nukaji Review and Thoughts

Recommended

Menya Nukaji offers up a pretty good tsukemen with a nice rich dipping broth, and slurpable noodles. Not to mention, there's a complementary all-you-can-eat tamago kake gohan (卵かけご飯, Rice topped with egg) option for those big eaters. It's also more unique than the typical options that give you dashi (出汁) to pour into your remaining tsukemen broth. Menya Nukaji is definitely one of the more solid tsukemen options in Shibuya, and is just a stone's throw away from Shibuya Parco. We wouldn't rank Menya Nukaji as one of the best tsukemen we've had in Tokyo, but it's definitely a pretty decent choice.

Menya Nukaji's Story

Menya Nukaji was first founded by Hiroshi Nikui (貫井宏) in 2010 at Kamimachi, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, before shifting to its current location in Shibuya in 2014. The owner used to work at a record shop in the nearby Udagawa area of Shibuya, and decided that it was a place he was fated to open shop in.

One of the unique things is that the soup broth pot has never been emptied since the shop opened. Instead every day, new broth is added in and stirred together with the previous day's leftover broth, and bit by bit like this, richness and depth are created in the soup over time.

Craft Beer is also offered at the shop due to the owner's interests. The owner believes that his menu serves up "creative ramen", and craft beer is likewise, a form of "creative beer". He enjoys the wide variety and complexity of craft beers available, and the freedom of choice that it provides.

Menya Nukaji Menu Recommendations

つけめん

Tsukemen

¥1,100

Menya Nukaji's signature tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles) made with a tonkotsu (豚骨, Pork bones) gyokai (魚介) broth. The tsukemen comes with menma (メンマ, Fermented bamboo shoots), chashu (チャシュウ, Chashū, Roasted Pork), and negi (葱, Spring Onion).

辛つけめん

Spicy Tsukemen

¥1,150

The spicy version of Menya Nukaji's tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles) with all the same toppings

特製つけめん

Special Tsukemen

¥1,450

Menya Nukaji's signature tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles) with additional toppings of extra chashu (チャシュウ, Chashū, Roasted Pork), ajitama (味玉) and more.

卵かけご飯

Tamago Kake Gohan

Complementary Tamago Kake Gohan (卵かけご飯, Rice topped with egg) is available on request, and goes well with the tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles) dipping sauce.

ラーメン

Ramen

¥1,000

If you're not into tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles) and just looking for a regular soupy ramen (ラーメン, Rāmen) version of the dish, Menya Nukaji also offers the regular ramen version. That being said. it's far less popular than the tsukemen, so go for the tsukemen if you can.

味付けたまご

Ajitama

¥100

An ajitama (味玉) topping for the noodles, the default version doesn't come with ajitama on it, but the Special versions do.

クラフトビール - 瓶

Craft Beer (Bottle)

¥700

If you're into craft beers and want to try out some of the locally produced Japanese craft beers, you can dig into some of their selections here including Osaka Minoh Beer and Shiga Kogen Beer.