Mensho Tokyo

Without a doubt the best ramen I’ve had in San Francisco. I’ll be coming back again.
Food
First, the Tori Paitan Ramen, with double chasu. The broth was incredibly thick, almost gravy like! An immense amount of flavor in each spoonful and incredibly satisfying in both flavor and fullness. Both the duck and the pork chashu melt in the mouth; the slow cooking of the meats allows the flavor to concentrate it and it stands out despite the incredibly flavorful broth. The noodles themselves are thick and take on the flavors of the other ingredients, all while having a firm but easy to eat consistency.
Second, the Shio Ramen. Being a shio ramen, the broth is much lighter, but with a much more intense salty flavor. The initial taste of the soup can definitely taste a bit *too* salty, but it quickly passes by eating more. The noodles here are much thinner, but it definitely compliments the lighter but more flavorful soup. The chashu is once again fantastic, and the flavors of the meat stands out in the broth.
The other vegetables were incredibly fresh, which really adds to the complexity to the overall dish. It’s incredible how they packed so many different flavors into a single dish! And as a personal preference, I hate when food gets cold too quickly, but the choice of dishware and freshness of the food kept everything hot!
Environment
It’s very intimate seating, so bring a party or a friend! The food is the main attraction of the restaurant, not the décor! Clean, average loudness, and the service was fantastic.
In short, if you like ramen, you’ll love Mensho Tokyo!

So happy to see SF finally getting a legit ramen shop! I have been waiting to give this place a try since the grand opening day on Saturday, but the mob of people on grand opening day was crazy! We left and came back on a weekday night around 8:30pm and the wait was only about 40 minutes, even shorter if you are a solo diner! I was debating if I should visit this place some more to try their other ramen before writing a Unilocal,but then I also want to be in their first 50^th reviews list… :)
I got the Tori Paitan ramen since they don’t have tonkotsu on the soft opening menu yet. The soup was SUPER thick, rich, and creamy, almost like a chicken stew broth. It was rich but at just the right amount of salty. It was a little on he heavy side, so you prefer lighter soup, you should go for shio or shoyu. The noodles were cooked to perfect al dente. It was a little hard at first but the heat from the soup still was slowly cooking the noodles as you are eating the ramen. The duck chashu tasted luxurious and tender. The pork chashu was melt in your mouth good. Towards the later half of my ramen, I started tasting these little bits of grit or sandy like texture in the broth which threw me off a little bit (hence not perfect 5 stars) I’m not sure if that is how the broth should be?
They are still working out the kinks (i.e., not giving me a pen to sign my credit card txn, forgot about refilling water, etc), but I am pretty excited about this new ramen place in SF and I can’t wait to go back to try their tonkotsu and tsukemen when they become available! This place still hasn’t won the Orenchi spot in my heart yet though, and also Tenderloin is sketchy at night…

Dinner review.
Paitan broth — ⁵⁄₅
Tantan broth — ⁵⁄₅
Pork chashu — ⁵⁄₅
Duck chashu — ³⁄₅
Noodles — ⁵⁄₅
Overall, best Tantan in the city. «As good as it gets.»

Their vegan tantanmen is some of the best vegan alternatives I’ve had. They make a roasted nut based broth with chili oil, and it has a similar fat content and depth as their non-​vegan broths. The vegan noodles were springy and thick and were similar in texture and taste as ramen noodles, despite not containing egg.
We arrived at 5:20pm on a Thursday and waited about an hour before we got seated. Line seemed to move regularly, even though the restaurant could only seat around 20 people. Bowls of ramen typically are more than $ 15 (except the shio ramen), so it’s definitely on the higher end of the spectrum. But despite the wait and cost, it’s worth going at least once.

Decent, but my girlfriend got a mild food poisoning afterwards.
Waited in line for 1h (which was not bad considering we expected a 2h wait). The menu itself is not very friendly for Ramen-​noobies like us so we decided to get 1 of each (so we ended up sampling ¾ ramens, everything except the veggie).
I particularly enjoyed the extra-​fat one and she liked the mor clear one. Service was not good for SF standards but I guess thats to be expected when theres soo much traffic.
The really bad part was that she got sick the night after (in 6−7h) and had a minor case of food poisoning. Only lasted until noon the next day, but not really what you’d expect from such a hyped place.

There’s a new ramen shop in town and it’s already my favorite in the Bay Area. Ramen creator Shono Tomoharu is bringing authentic ramen culture to SF and I can’t be more excited! The dashi is made with two high quality kelps from Hokkaido and a specially sourced katsuobushi. The shio is my favorite so far, but I absolutely loved the vegan tantanmen too — it’s distinctly rich and flavorful, you wouldn’t believe it’s vegan! As for the long queues, go at night ~10−11pm. :)

Fantastic addition to San Francisco. Grant them the operational roughness during the first week, and you’ll have no disappointments. Recommended.
1-​hour wait at 6:30pm on a Wednesday, 20 people in queue. Would not normally do this. Crowd thankfully knows to eat quickly, and turn the table for the next diners. Ramen is not food to linger over, folks.
4 kinds of noodles available at opening, ordered 3:
* Organic Shoyu — Excellent baseline. Good flavor extraction without excessive salt. Noodle bit on the soft side.
* Shio — Also for baseline. Same as above, satisfyingly light. Kale works well here.
* Vegan Tantanmen — Quite the standout, and I’m not regularly a tantanmen fan. Probably the most delicious vegan dish I’ve had in my life. Piping hot noodle, visually rich but each-​to-​eat soymilk base, many dimensions to flavor, all of the elements balanced well.
Our entire group finished the soups, to the last drop. It’s a beautiful thing when this happens.
Suntory Premium Mait’s not available. Boo-​hoo!
Table check came out wrong (missing multiple items), sent back so we can properly pay for everything we ate.
The original Menya Shono (
) in Shinjuku is a regular stop for me, and their Mensho Tokyo (
) overseas expansion pilot near Tokyo Dome has been reviewing well in Japan, with a wild range of noodles created. I’ll vouch for the quality of the people behind this very welcome addition to San Francisco, I hope they continue to execute well!

3^rd day business since its opening. Just the seating I don’t enjoy, tiny tiny tiny space and the neighborhood, quite scary. Everything else is good, including the vegan ramen. But it tastes a bit spicy, still acceptable though. I think you should warn the customer about the additional favor.
Also, please put a curtain outside the toilet door and you know why. Appetizer menu should be extended because 3 tiny tiny tiny cooked oysters are not enough, more varieties are needed.
one more note, waited an hour is ok. it always happen in a big city for nice eateries. but I want your staff to take our names when we start waiting. so you can organize a better seating arrangement for faster service. do you understand?

I like it. Do I love it? Nah. We waited an hour in the line. I don’t think this is worth a 2 – 3 hour wait. So for those of you thinking about it; just wait until the hype dies down and they’ve worked out the kinks.
For two of us (we needed to make it worth our while to wait):
1.) tori paitan: this was pretty tasty. Rich, without being too heavy. Garlic was yummy, but not overpowering. The pork and duck chasu were really good; not sure I would pay $ 2 or $ 1.50 for an small extra slice of either though. I liked the noodles in this one better than the other two. I do think that overall, these aren’t the best ramen noodles I’ve ever had. I like mine with more bite/​chew to them. These noodles were maybe 1 – 2 mins too long. Also, towards the middle to the end of the bowl, I got a lot of residue/​grit/​something. I think they need to strain the broth a few more times to get rid of that stuff. It was a bad way to end the bowl.
2.) shoyu: this was my favorite bowl of the three. It had a nice subtle sweetness and was flavorful. The soup gave my mouth a nice coat, but it wasn’t fatty or greasy. But, as mentioned above, I didn’t love the actual ramen noodles. Too soggy and they were different than the tori paitan noodles and not springy at all.
3.) shio: this was was also nice. Good, clean flavor. I like the garlic in this, also. I probably won’t remember this one in a month.
4.) oysters: pass. I’ve had better smoked ones from Whole Foods.
Service was good; they are trying really hard.
I think they need to construct the table to be more stabilized. Every time some sat down and leaned on the table, it would knock the other end of the table. Could be hazardous with molten bowls of porky soup.
The lines for this place tells me that SF is in dire need for some great, not good ramen. Maybe we can send some of our good LA ramen juju up north.

They say people like to wait in lines in San Francisco. That may be true, but I’m definitely not one of those people. That said, the 2+ hours I waited in line at Mensho’s grand opening were definitely worth it.
I went with the Tori Paitan Gyokai Tsukemen, which was by far the best bowl of ramen I’ve ever had. The broth was creamy and rich, but not too much so. The pork was excellent and the noodles were the perfect texture. Every ingredient tasted fresh and you can tell that they pay close attention to every detail.
I definitely look forward to coming back and trying some of the other options. It also sounds like they are going to expand the menu in the near future, once they get the hang of things.

I was fortunate enough to be seated at the inaugural table (of 6) during the grand opening. The other patrons were a blast to be around — we agreed that it was strange to have only 6 seated until the food arrived but it was thrilling to be part of the exhibit. This is the nature of grand openings so I imagine Mensho will have it sussed out very soon.
I opted for the tori paitan ramen with two slices of chashu. The handmade noodles were stellar with the appropriate texture and chewiness. The noodles perfectly absorbed the rich and balanced broth. I would have been able to finish it had I not camped out for happy hour at the friendly Resolute next door. My objectivity for this review is compromised because I had a relaxing time lined up an hour and a half before opening. In my mind, it was guaranteed to be a great experience.
Abram was a delightful host. His enthusiasm and engagement with the crowd were appropriately uplifting for the public opening. Chef Shono’s spirits were high and he personally delivered my bowl with a smile and a handshake. I’ll never forget the connection when he reciprocated my emphatic thumbs up through the kitchen window.
Miscellany:
— The beer selection is stellar. the Suntory malt and the Sansho may not have been the best standalone beers but they paired so well with the tori paitan. It was nice to see a change in roster for the typical ramen house beverages.
— They use Square payment and were able to quickly rectify an erroneous bill.
— The music selection was hilariously comforting. It was what seemed to be a wedding covers playlist during the first hour — including hits like a diluted acoustic version of Peter Cetera’s «Glory of Love»
— There’s a clipboard. The sequence of names was honored for at least the first 6 people (mild gloating).
The per bowl pricing is higher than average but it was worth it to be part of the spectacle. Cheers to Mensho! I’ll be back.

Finally a worthy ramen shop in the Bay Area!
I happened to stumble upon Mensho Tokyo by pure coincidence on Instagram of all places. My plan of attack was to come straight here right after the halftime Super Bowl show. Line was about 30 people stacked already, but it took us only 45 minutes of waiting. Not bad, considering I overheard people waiting 2 – 3 hours grand opening night on Saturday. Plan worked!
Totally digging the interior design and details of this place. There’s coat hooks on the wall to hang your jacket, woven baskets underneath the table to stash your purse, and even a storage space under the table to keep your phone ready for some picture action. I totally geeked out on the molecular structures and science blurb of umami on the wall. Even the wooden spoon and chopsticks neatly laying on top of the ceramic plate was just perfect.
Me and boyfriend ended up sharing a total of 3 bowls:
— Tori Paitan ($ 18): The most decadent of them all, a creamy and rich chicken based broth with pork + duck chashu. The broth was good, however I couldn’t get over the slight grittiness of the broth. That duck chashu though! Served with round thick chewy noodles.
— Oraganic Ramen ($ 14): A blend of chicken + pork clear broth seasoned with shoyu and comes with pork + duck chasu. Served with flat thick chewy noodles. My boyfriend’s favorite of the 3.
— Shio Ramen ($ 9): The cheapest bowl and also my favorite. Similar to Organic Ramen, but with a salt (not shoyu). Simple fixings with pork chashu and some fried garlic bits. Served with flat thick chewy noodles.
I loved the clear broths of both the organic and shio ramen. It was flavorfu and not overly salty. Can really taste the complex flavors of seaweed and seafood notes. I like the Shio Ramen just a bit more because of its simplicity, allowing the broth to shine. The broth comes out HOT (the way it should be). I won’t lie, I slurped that bowl clean!
The pork chashu was melt in your mouth delicious. Duck chashu was completely new to my tastebuds and is as amazing as it sounds. Their in-​house made ramen noodles are the thicker kind and the shape depends on which bowl you get. The toppings were different, such as fried burdock, kale, or sprouts, but the novelty works.
There’s about 24 seats in this joint, but turn over seems fast. I dined in and out in 30 minutes.
Since they just opened, they have a very limited menu, hopefully to expand next month with tonkotsu and tsukemen. The vegan ramen sounds intriguing as well. Can’t wait to try more!

I saw that Mensho Tokyo’s Grand Opening would be Saturday at 6pm. I figured if we couldn’t see Alicia Keys for free, we should try and at least try some authentic ramen.
Alicia Keys was a no since it was wayy over capacity. So me and the bf headed on over to Mensho Tokyo. We arrived at 5:30 and the line was fairly long (I think there was about 70 people in front of us?). But I was determined to try it!
After 3.5 hours standing outside in line (this was by far the longest I have ever waited for anything, so the expectations were high!) we were finally in front of the door and we were seated at the bar in the back. In my opinion, those 4 seats are the best seats in the house! You don’t have eager people staring at you the entire time you’re eating and you’re seating facing the kitchen!
Drink orders were taken and we immediately placed our order for ramen. I ordered the Tori Paitan Ramen and bf ordered the same thing with chashu (to this day I kick myself for not ordering something different but at the time I wanted to try their most popular dish and wasn’t sure if I would be happy just having half).
This was my first time having paitan ramen and I loved it! So incredibly rich and flavorful, almost gravy like. The noodles were thick and chewy, by far the best I’ve ever had! I’m not a fan of pork and usually don’t eat it, but the chasu was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Super tender and melt in your mouth. All the components that came in the bowl complimented each other well and it indeed, was a spectacular bowl of ramen.
Was it worth the 3.5 hour wait? Yes, I believe it was. It was also the most expensive bowl of ramen I’ve ever paid for, but I think it was worth it as well.
If you’re willing to wait, then come here!!! You’ll be rewarded with the best ramen in the Bay!

Just got back from dinner at Mensho, Day 2 of opening. It was an hour and a half wait arriving in line 30 minutes before opening, which is not surprising given the limited number of seats (around 24 bar seats) and the fan following (people in line raving about the quality of the Japan site).
Due to the recent opening, there was a limited offering, with the promise of further options in the future, i.e. Tsukemen, soba, others. We had the Tori paitan, which is a creamy chicken broth ramen with pork and duck chashu, along with their draft beer.
The broth was rich, flavorful, umami goodness (despite being fully chicken, no pork), and the noodles were a thicker variety with nice chewiness. The pork and duck chashu were nicely salty, tender, and tasty. I didn’t care for the odd texture of the vegetable toppings, and would’ve preferred something a little more crisp, maybe with something pickled. The service was friendly and efficient, especially considering they are still early in their rollout. Once we were seated, we ordered immediately and were served and finished in about 30 minutes.
The final tally for two ramens, extra chashu, and two draft beers was $ 56 without tip. Not cheap, but certainly this was a definitely a higher quality ramen. I would definitely go back in a month or two when they expand their menu and some of the initial excitement dies down.

Waited for more than 3 hours in line for my perfect bowl of happiness but went home feeling a little let down, and woke up still w/​that damn curly leave of kale in my bowl haunting me this am. Let me explain — I grew up in restaurants, worked in both small & large-​scale operations, lived in Japan & LOVE ramen. Please pardon the long review as I’m about to share…
WAIT — I get it’s the long anticipated grand opening, and over SB50 weekend no less but you should know there’s such thing as a soft opening to work out all the kinks before your highly-​anticipated US debut. Never mind the 3hr+ wait, train your staff to know the mechanics of seating & managing a hungry mob outside. I came by myself & waited in line patiently before the door opened but noticed how they failed to move the line (you see a LOT when you had to go thru a long wait like mine). There were plenty of single seats available throughout the evening but they never seated solo diners to ease the line… guess they wanted to be fair to others who waited (which I get) but this only added to the angry crowd. Either 1) designate a few chairs for solo diners to ease the line or 2) insert them where there’s already a single diner seating across from an EMPTY chair or 3) seat them where there’s a party of 3 or 5. This is a ramen joint not a fancy sit-​down, so operate like one… in, out & no one gets hurt!
MENU — Once inside, waited yet again patiently for a menu, any menu… at this point, I was weak from enduring the cold and just sat in silence getting warm-​up but quickly found out how hectic the place was w/​no server in sight, so as soon as a waitress showed up I had to flag her down for a menu. What amazed me was the moment she handed me the menu, she asked whether I was ready to order! I told her you just gave me the menu so please give me a sec, so she stood there expecting for an order, instantly. Menu was limited during grand opening, no Mensho «welcome ramen», no chicken karaage, etc… just ramen for now.
FOOD — I’m a Tonkatsu Ramen lover, was shocked to see there’s none offered out of the 7 types of ramen on the menu. I ordered the $ 18 Tori Paitan Chashu Ramen, got served w/​o too long of a wait (yay but $ 18!!!). But wait… my spoon was missing from my setting… BIG no-​no! I came so close to happiness thinking they got 1 thing right — prompt food delivery. At this point, my ramen is just mocking me. Such a slap in the face since I couldn’t properly enjoy it like the next guy who got his food just before me but he’s happily slurping away tasting the broth w/​his SPOON! I waited yet again for my waitress to reappear and asked for spoons for me & others at my table who were also missing theirs as I observed spoons were all missing from our settings. Finally, I just dived in, too hungry to wait around for a silly spoon while my ramen’s getting cold (another no-no)…who cares if I had to hold the bowl up like I was in Japan just to taste that rich, creamy broth full of yummy umami.
Forget the traditional toppings of a sexy ramen ½ egg, nori, menma (bamboo shoot) etc… you get fried gobo (burdock root), a few chives mixed in, an odd curly leaf of kale which haunts me like an unnecessary garnish of a curly parsley in any bad dishes I’ve seen (let alone in a Mensho ramen). The broth tasted incredible and lived up to the Mensho name. I can just see how much time & effort that went into it, but the noodles was just too thick for the already thick broth. I couldn’t help but envy others who had a different flat noodle in their ramen. Guess I’ll have to come back when their ramen machine is up & running to taste it again, but for now the thick noodles just don’t really belong in that rich broth… I can see it being an incredible ramen dish served cold as the noodles were perfectly chewy & got a great bite!
CUSTOMER SERVICE — I was so hungry, I finished my bowl under 10min vs. my 3hr+ wait outside but at least tummy got fed. Waited patiently for my check which never came since my waitress whom I finally had to flag down for a check said they had lost my check after some investigating. She later came back w/​a manual check but never came back to gather my cc. I sat & observed how hectic the place was still at 9:40pm and realized how green the staff must had been w/​o much training as to offer proper customer service. Finally, I had to flag down another waitress who was nice enough to run back w/​my cc.
OVERALL — 3.5 stars and will wait for them to work out the kinks & all the hype before returning. Lots of ideas for improvement. It will be interesting to see if anything improved then. I really wanted to try another bowl of ramen (that tells you how much I wanted to like Mensho) but didn’t want to wait & go home at midnight due to the sheer chaos.
P. S. our table (long table closet to kitchen against the wall) kept collapsing a bit on us any time someone puts their elbow down. Worth looking into…

Hallelujah! Ultra Ramen descend on earth. Complex, wide range of Umami gently wrap up on your tongue, and sparkling flavour go through your nose. It’s unbelievable to eat this ramen in the US. I’m seriously worry about the line… I will believe that start from Union Square.(^o^)
ネ申。アメリカでこのレベルは信じられません。どのラーメンも本物の美味さです。ベイエリア住民に対する、全米の羨望が聞こえて来そうです。
ユニオンスクエアから歩ける距離で、アクセスも良いので、噂が広がったらどれだけ待つのか、想像もつきません。。
どれも美味しいので、一杯を選ぶのは究極の選択です。が、間違いなくここのVEGANは全米に衝撃を与えると思います。

The line was super long. Had to wait over 2.5 hours before I got my bowl of ramen.
It is really good. Soup is really thick, very milky but not too salty. Unlike some other places, it gives pretty good portion of meat too. If the wait is less than 1 hour, I would go back.
Right now they got their ramen from another place. They installed the noodle making machine in the basement but don’t have a permit to use it yet. They said within a month.
Soon they said will be open between 5pm-​2am. Hopefully, the line will get thinner then.

I had been very excited about Mensho since (a) I’m a fiend for Japanese noodles and (b) their restaurant is literally two blocks from my home. So on the night of the grand opening, we left about 20 minutes early and walked to Geary near Leavenworth to find. .. about 70 people already lined up. We went to the back of the line and prepared to wait a while. Six o’clock came and went. I walked up and looked at the entrance and saw that the door was still closed and there were no signs of activity inside. Another 15 minutes passed and my wife walked up to check on the progress. Still no one going in. Fifteen minutes later, there were SIX patrons in the place and by now, more than 100 waiting in line. By 6:45, 45 minutes after Mensho was supposed to open, we had moved forward about 8 feet.
Not being gluttons for punishment, we gave up and walked past the entrance to Mensho to Osha Thai. Pausing, we took a look inside. Of the restaurant’s two long tables (yes, they really only have 2 tables), only one was in use. And most disturbingly, NO ONE HAD ANY FOOD. Forty-​five minutes later, after an excellent dinner at Osha, we wandered back down to see how much the line had moved. The girl who had been waiting just in front of us had moved forward no more than 15 feet; there were still at least 60 people in front of her. There’s just no excuse for a restaurant’s grand opening moving at such a glacial pace.
I’ve worked in restaurant service in San Francisco before and know the mechanics of getting patrons in, getting their orders, getting their food and getting them on their way. These people seemed clueless. San Francisco is a foodie town, but we’re not masochists and we don’t like having to accommodate unprofessionalism. There are a hundred ways to avoid this kind of debacle. Do a soft opening for a week or two, and limit your patrons for that time to reservation-​only, to get your staff up to speed and iron out the kinks. Open just for weekday lunches for a couple of weeks, for the same reason. And don’t advertise the hell out of a grand opening but then choke when 100 people line up outside. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and Mensho blew it for us.
Also, we glanced at the menu: the items that we had hoped to be able to order — their vegan ramen — were $ 18 a bowl. I’ve eaten a LOT of noodles all over Japan and even in the priciest neighborhoods of Tokyo, where rent is much higher than in the Tender-​Nob, it’s never been more than $ 10 for a bowl of veggie ramen in a place like Mensho. $ 18 for a bowl of ramen noodles and a few vegetables and some dashi? Ridiculous. And why does their vegan ramen cost MORE than their ramen that has meat in it?! The late Kare-​Ken, which was a block closer to Union Square, served up an excellent bowl of veggie curry udon for $ 8. Is Mensho’s ramen somehow worth more than twice as much?
I have to wonder how long this place is going to last.

I get it. They’re new. Grand opening jitters from some staff along with confusion about how to use certain equipment. They most likely didn’t anticipate the high flux of people since anything and everything is going on in the Bay Area this weekend. (SB50). That line was HUGE. I don’t blame the people waiting in that line for being upset for how slow it was going. Hopefully they adjust and step up their speed in the coming days.
The bay area is full of foodie snobs everywhere that LIVE for ramen shops. If you’ve had ramen in San Mateo you know what I mean.
That being said, it was pretty damn delicious. Broth… good…ramen…good…meat…GOOD! The staff was incredibly friendly and professional.
We were lucky enough to be the first table making it a very fun experience. I’ll definitely make my way back when they mature a little more and add the spicy menu.
Chef Tomoharu Shono is the Ra-​MAN!

TL;DR: The only thing that you need to know about Mensho Tokyo is that it is the best ramen that I have had. Better than Ramen Dojo. Better than Santouka. Better than Orenchi. The catch? They only seat 28 people and you will have to wait at least 2+ hours.
/​/​The Grand Opening /​/​
After waiting for a half year for Mensho to open, I made a trek today out to the Tenderloin at Geary and Leavenworth at 4:45 to wait in line for the 6 pm grand opening. No surprise there was already a line of 15 people ahead of us. Not too bad! For the next hour and 15 minutes, the line extended beyond my eye could see and spanned the entire block. The hype is real!
At 6 pm the master himself, Tomoharu Shono, welcomed the crowd and the line slowly trickled in. Slowly is not an understatement. They let in 6 people at a time even though there were plenty of seats open. Their reasoning was that they did not want to overwhelm the kitchen with orders, which is understandable. However they still could have let the rest of the people in the front of the line to sit inside to order a beer and wait.
We slowly trickled in and I was lucky to be seated in the first around of 28, but I felt sorry for the 200 suckers waiting behind me.
/​/​The Ramen /​/​
Right now Mensho has four offerings: Tori Paitan, Organic Shoyu, Shio, and Vegan Tan Tan Men. They have a Tonkotsu broth, Tsukemen (dipping noodles) and Mazemen (brothless noodles) on the way.
We ordered the Shio Ramen and a Tori Paitan, but the Shoyu and Vegan ramen were beautiful and are next on my radar.
The Shio Ramen was a light and delightful balance between a chicken and seafood broth. The broth is salt based as Shio is Japanese for salt. But don’t think they just sprinkle some salt in the broth and call it a day. The broth is full of umami, beautifully clear, and was paired with flat ramen noodles.
For those Tonkotsu lovers out there, you are going to love the Tori Paitan. The broth is a rich and creamy chicken based broth paired with some fish elements to round it out. It was actually thicker and more rich than any tonkotsu broth that I have ever had and had a strong chicken flavor that I could only imagine in my dreams. The Tori Paitan came with thick round noodles, topped with melt in your mouth chashu, fried gobo (burdock root), chives and kale. A master piece.
I am not much of a beer drinker, but their Suntory Beer on Draft was delicious! Apparently this is the only place in the bay area that sells it on tap!
Mensho pays great attention to the quality of their ingredients. There were no eggs at their debut because Shono has not been satisfied with the quality of eggs that they have found so far. The hunt for quality continues.
/​/​The service /​/​
With all new restaurants, the service can always be the most improved aspect. It seemed as if it this was their first day of training. They forgot to add our neighbor’s beer to his bill, and overcharged us on ours. We pointed out the mistake and then undercharged us on our revised bill. We still paid the full price, but the staff at Mensho needs work on calculating bills to make sure they get paid what they deserve.
I got to take a picture with Shono-​san and he is very down to earth! Even though he was beyond busy, he stopped to chat with me to see how I liked the ramen.
/​/​The Verdict /​/​
Having the best ramen, the lines at Mensho are going to get longer and longer. To keep the wait under 2 hours, try and show up at least an hour before it opens. Shono will be in and out of the restaurant, but I hope that the staff that he trained and handle their own while he’s gone.