Jinrui Mina Menrui Tsukemen Specialty Noodle Shop

On April 27, 2025, Jinrui Mina Menrui, one of the most popular ramen restaurants in Osaka, opened a Tsukemen specialty restaurant. The restaurant is located right after getting off at Minamikata Station, on the opposite side of the railroad tracks from the Head  Shop of Jinrui Mina Menrui. The location of the store may immediately come to mind for some people because of the relationship between the store and a former pork cutlet restaurant called “Jinr i Mina Tonkatsu”.

Thirteen years after the establishment of Jinrui Mina Menrui, a tsukemen specialty restaurant opened, and I was naturally curious about what the restaurant would be like, so I went to Minamikata after work one weekday after noon. But when I actually went to the restaurant, there were a few things I did not expect…

It might be a little tough to wait in line… How long is the line at Jinrui Mina Menrui Tsukemen Specialty Noodle Shop?

I arrived at Jinrui Mina Menrui Tsukemen Specialty Noodle Shop around 2 p.m., after lunch time, and at this point, there were 15 to 6 people waiting in line from the storefront… 

Here is the first thing I did not expect. The entrance to the store faces a busy sidewalk, so if I formed a line, I would be in the way of passersby. Especially since it was raining on that day and all the customers, including myself, were waiting with umbrellas, the open umbrellas took away the space for pedestrians. In fact, there were several times when the umbrellas of passersby were in contact with the customers in line in front of me, and I had the impression that I was getting in the way. If this situation continued, we might eventually receive complaints from passersby.

Then, the second unexpected thing. Perhaps it was because the restaurant had just opened, but the customer turnover was very slow. On this particular day, it took a little over an hour from the time I started waiting in line to the time I entered the restaurant. Usually at ramen shops, a line of 15 to 6 people seems like it would take about 3 to 40 minutes to get in, but on this day, it took much longer to get in. With the umbrella situation, I honestly thought this would be a tough wait….

After overcoming these difficulties, I entered the store around 3:00 PM, the official closing time. The store space was quite cozy, with a total of 12 seats, including 8 counter seats and 1 table for 4 people. It is not the kind of restaurant where a large display can be placed inside, but as I expected, the background music was Mr. Children. This is a point that cannot be avoided as long as the restaurant has a sign that reads “Jinrui Mina Menrui“…

Finally, a big surprise… How was the Tsukemen Genten ordered at Jinrui Mina Menrui Tsukemen Specialty Noodle Shop?

Well, here’s what the menu at Jinrui Mina Menrui Tsukemen Specialty Noodle Shop looks like… 

The tsukemen are named after the main restaurant’s menu, which is quite conscious of the name. Genten, Macro, Micro… well, the flavors are completely different from ramen, with Tsukemen Genten being the royal seafood-pork bone broth, Tsukemen Macro having a citrus and spicy flavor, and Tsukemen Micro having a garlic and ginger flavor.

I chose the Tsukemen Genten from among these three flavors. The price was 1091 yen plus tax (1200 yen including tax)… 

After taking my seat, I waited for about 10 minutes, and the Tsukemen Genten was brought in front of me. You can’t see it in this picture, but there is actually a fire burning under the bowl of dipping sauce, and the common problem of dipping sauce getting cold in the middle of eating it has been overcome. I feel that this is a good thing. However, depending on the flow of air in the restaurant, the flames would come toward me, and I was a little scared that I might burn my hands.

Considering that the default amount of noodles in Ramen Jiro is 300 grams, those who are used to the Jiro/inspired visual style may feel that the amount of noodles is not enough.

That aside, let’s start with a sip of the dipping sauce… Compared to the so-called “mata-oma-kei” seafood tonkotsu, it is a little lighter, not so thick, and the pork flavor is moderate, while the seafood flavor is stronger. The sweetness of the soy sauce is very subtle, reminding me of the Ramen Genten. I thought that the “Jinrui Mina Menrui” style described on the menu might refer to this seasoning….

The noodles for this are flat, extra-thick noodles with whole wheat flour, probably because of their color. I picked one up and slurped it up, and it is a very firm and stiff noodle. These noodles are made 1.5 times longer than ordinary noodles, and some people may find them difficult to eat. In such a case, please use the scissors that come with the dipping noodles to chop the noodles into small pieces.

Next, I dipped the noodle in the dipping sauce and tried it, but the smooth surface of the noodle and the smoothness of the dipping sauce made the noodles and the dipping sauce not intertwine well… This should not bother you if the noodle is thin, but with extra-thick tsukemen noodles, it’s hard to cover it up. Also, in the latter half of the meal, the dipping sauce gradually became tepid. It didn’t get to the point where it became cold, but it seems that even if there is a fire burning underneath, it doesn’t seem to keep the soup perfectly warm.

Now, this tsukemen comes with two pieces of low-temperature rare chashu pork as toppings and… 

One piece of extra-thick chashu pork, which was excellent. It may be hard to convey in the picture, but it is probably about 5cm square, and in terms of size alone, it surpasses the pork commonly known as “Jiro-kei” or “Jiro-inspired” pork. When I tried it, I found that it was not quite “melt-in-your-mouth”, but it was cooked until tender, and the lean meat was full of flavor… I personally think that this chashu pork is superior to the extra-thick chashu pork that comes with the ramen at the Jinrui Mina Menrui Osaka Head Shop.

I was about to leave the restaurant after finishing my Tsukemen Genten, but there was one last big unexpected thing. The attitude of the female waitress was so…. I won’t go into the details here, but this was the first time I have been treated like this in many of the affiliated restaurant of Jinrui Mina Menrui I have been to, and it made me not feel that the tsukemen I had eaten just before was “good” anymore. Well, if you continue to eat around, this kind of thing happens from time to time, but to be honest, I don’t think I will go back to this restaurant… 

The main restaurant on the other side of the railroad tracks is as busy as ever… Jinrui Mina Menrui Tsukemen Specialty Noodle Shop is accessible from the nearest station, Hankyu Kyoto Line 

The main restaurant on the other side of the train tracks was as busy as ever on this day. I don’t have to tell you about the taste of the ramen, and I have never had any strange customer service in the many times I have used this restaurant… There may not be much that is new, but there is definitely a sense of security that you can feel good and eat good food. This time, the tsukemen specialty restaurant was a bit “hmmm…” except for the customer service, and the days and hours of operation are short, so I don’t think you should expect too much, at least for now.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant… 

P.S. If you are looking for delicious ramens in Osaka, please stop by this article below…