Got in line on a late Sunday night again solo. I lucked out on a seat a little earlier than expected after waiting for about 15 minutes - an employee went down the line and asked how big each party was and eventually a single seat opened up in the bar to fill.
I had the Shoyu ramen with extra chashu ($16), which came with two pieces of their very good chashu, two pieces of medium rare duck breast, some kale (again a little weird), nori, crunchy menma, the same crinkly noodles as the other bowls I’ve had there, and some peppery microgreens. I also added an egg (+$1.80). They had two types of eggs available - shoyu and miso. The server recommended miso so I had that.
This was probably my favorite bowl here so far. It had a salty shoyu broth with what tasted like a dashi base with a little fishiness. The lightest broth of the bowls that I’ve had here, although there was still a (un?)healthy layer of oil on top which gave it a nice fatty finish and mouthfeel. The noodles were well cooked as before. The added miso egg was perfectly soft boiled with a hint of miso flavor, definitely recommend getting that as an add on.
I went back to Mensho Ramen for the first time in several years. There was still a lineup on a Tuesday night. It moved fairly quickly though, I got in after about 25 minutes. It probably helped that I was solo.
You now order directly at your table via your phone browser by scanning a QR code at your seat, and also pay for your order through that as well. There’s no tipping. Instead a service charge is added to your bill.
I started with an order of their A5 Premium Wagyu Nigiri sushi ($10). Two small nigiri with rare marbled A5 beef topping, with a bit of a tangy sauce drizzled on and around it. Pretty good beef sushi but was overpowered a bit by the acidic sauce, which tasted a little bit like Worcestershire.
Then I had a bowl of the G.K.O. (Garlic Knock Out) ($18.50) Black Garlic Oil, Pork Chashu, Creamy Chicken Soup, Mensho OG Spicy Sauce, Fried Chili Carrot, Cilantro, Chili Oil, Kale, Fresh Noodles, Green Onion, Pickled Ginger, Three kind of Fried Garlic.
Very rich broth - their tori paitan broth as a base, which is unctuous and milky, sort of like chicken version of tonkotsu broth. Made spicy with chili oil which I think some Sichuan pepper for a little numbing and mala flavor. A few pieces of crunchy fried carrot(?) on top. The chashu slices were on the leaner side, not super fatty. Medium thick noodles. Lots of garlic too, in large chunks and also in the form of black garlic oil. A pretty good bowl of ramen and pretty filling.
There was hardly any line tonight at Mensho so I dropped in for dinner. I had the
Chashu Mazemen (No Soup)チャーシューマゼメン ($20) Pork chashu, pork shoyu tare sauce, ajitama egg, smoked nuts, red onions, chives, fried onions, red ginger, house-made mochi wheat noodles.
Which was very good. It had toothsome thinnish noodles that apparently have mochi in them, in a sauce that was garlicky, umami, and a little smoky, perhaps from the nuts which also gave it some crunch. I think there were also some small chunks of pork fat in there. Some raw red onion too which gave it a little bite. The chashu were pretty good but could have been a tad bit more tender. There was a nicely cooked marinated egg on the side with a very runny yolk.
I also had 2 pieces of the Japanese A5 Wagyu Sushi ($11) which were delicious. The neta were two thinly sliced pieces of very richly marbled A5 beef. I’m glad they got rid of the sauce.
Why do they note the wheat ingredients on the menu when all bowls contain mochi wheat noodles? Is it possible for someone who doesn’t eat gluten to just order a classic toripaitan w/o noodles?
