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Shirunashi Tantanmen

shirunashi tantanmenKisakuKunimatsuHiroshima Citysanshou

Hiroshima · Hiroshima City

34.3835°N, 132.4437°E

Soupless dandan noodles are a Hiroshima invention of 2001. The owner of a small shop called Kisaku had eaten the dish in Sichuan, been struck by the combination of chilli heat and the numbing of sanshou pepper, and spent a long time working out a version that Japanese palates would take. It worked, and the city now has well over a hundred shops selling it.

The method matters. The noodles arrive over sauce rather than in soup and you mix them thirty or so times before eating — shops post the number on the wall — and at the end you add rice to what is left. A second shop, Kunimatsu, published its recipe for free, which is a large part of why the dish spread beyond the city. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is what Hiroshima office workers eat at lunch.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Varies by shop | Kisaku 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Kunimatsu Nakamachi 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM and 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Closed: Kisaku closed Wednesdays | Kunimatsu Nakamachi closed Saturdays

Entrance Fee

¥600–900 per bowl | Rice to finish usually ¥100–200

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

30–45 minutes

Getting There

Access Information

Served at well over a hundred shops across Hiroshima City. Kisaku, generally credited as the originator with its 2001 version, is at Funairi-Sachimachi 5-13 in Naka-ku, open 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM, and 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM on Sundays and holidays, closed Wednesdays. Kunimatsu Nakamachi at Nakamachi 5-15 in Naka-ku opens 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM and 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Monday to Friday, and 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM on Sundays and holidays, closed Saturdays. Bowls are inexpensive and heat levels are usually chosen at ordering.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Mix it thirty times before you eat.** Shops post the number. The sauce sits at the bottom and an unmixed bowl is a completely different and much worse dish. **Order rice at the end.** Adding a small bowl of rice to the sauce left in the dish is the standard finish and most shops sell it for a hundred yen or two. **Choose your heat at the counter.** Levels are numbered and the default is not mild. Sanshou numbing is separate from chilli heat — some shops let you adjust both. **Kisaku takes a long lunch break.** Two till six, and it closes at seven in the evening. It is a small shop with short hours. **Kunimatsu closes Saturdays, Kisaku Wednesdays.** Between them almost every day is covered, and there are a hundred more shops if both are shut.

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