Taiwan-ramen chain Yaba Mishen makes its department-store debut at Matsuzakaya Nagoya
Yaba Mishen's first-ever department-store shop, opening at Matsuzakaya Nagoya on 1 October, gives the basement dining floor a locally loved name with its own origin story — and gives the Taiwan-ramen chain a way to reach diners without the risk of another street-level shop.
Yaba Mishen (矢場味仙), the Nagoya Taiwan-ramen chain that calls itself the dish's originator, opens its first department-store location at Matsuzakaya Nagoya on 1 October, Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores said in a release. The opening, at 11am in the North Building's basement "Sake & DINING" floor, is Yaba Mishen's sixth location, and completes that floor's tenant line-up.
Yaba Mishen was founded in 1981 by the eldest of five siblings surnamed Misen, according to the release, and calls itself the originator of Taiwan ramen, the spicy, minced-meat-based noodle dish. The opening-day menu adds two limited items: Taiwan-style minced-meat buns and a tantanmen made in collaboration with Conder House, a well-known Nagoya dining name. The shop keeps standard restaurant-floor hours, opening at 11am daily and running through to 10pm on weekends and holidays.
A first department-store address for a regional specialty chain is a small but real test for both sides: Matsuzakaya gets a name with a loyal Nagoya following and an origin story it can market on its own, rather than importing another Tokyo or Osaka name, while Yaba Mishen gets its food onto a basement dining floor without the street-level rent and staffing risk of another stand-alone shop. Pairing the debut with an opening-only collaboration dish, rather than simply replicating its street-shop menu, is the kind of floor-specific exclusivity department stores now expect from a tenant this small to justify the space.