Menya Ultra Ramen - A First Look

I'd been following the progress of this spot on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard for a while now. A few weeks back, I noticed the sign had gone up. There wasn't very much hype about this place as there was when Nishiki opened. But the questions and mentions I did get were interesting....it seems that folks in the Japanese community were quite interested. Heck, even Taka at Taisho mentioned this place to me! Word had got around that this ramen chain from Odate, Akita had won some awards. Also, the owner of this shop, Takashi Endo, the Director of the Ramen Assiciation of Japan was in partnership with the guy who owns San Diego's Nishiki. Along the way there was a, from what I heard, acrimonious split, but the owner of Nishiki kept the name. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I guess that didn't stop Mr Endo from opening a ramen shop here in San Diego. And yet, there wasn't too much hype about the place. But based on what I had heard, I was keeping an eye on the shop's website and "FOY" Junichi was apparently keeping up with Facebook. In fact, he posted the soft opening and grand opening information in the comments of this post.

So there I was two minutes to five, one of the first ten people in line at Menya Ramen Ultra. Folks that know me will think it rather strange, as it's not my thing to get all worked up about places opening.

I was seated at the counter....all the customers were Japanese speakers except me.....but I guess I looked the part as my order sheet was in Japanese.

It wasn't hard to decipher what I wanted...just the simple Tonkotsu Ajitama Ramen....but when I opened my mouth, the very nice young lady immediately turned the sheet over to the English side....even though I had already filled out my order.

The kitchen was going through its paces....Takashi Endo actually passed by and gave me a nod. Kind of funny. I'll give them this; they really staffed well for this.

My ramen arrived scalding hot. The fragrance was definitely that of tonkotsu paitan and really reminded me of Japan.  There's certain funkiness to the smell of a good tonkotsu that I enjoy. I believe this version is a combination of pork and chicken as there seems to be a real hint of fowl in the broth. It's a bit lighter in the collagen area, but still fairly rich. It's very nice, not overly salty, and possibly my favorite version in San Diego right now.

The egg had a nice flavor, though I would have been happy with it being a bit less cooked. Also, it was served almost ice cold.

The noodles were just perfect in texture, at least for my taste, slippery with a nice chew, and look how the broth just coated those noodles. I didn't even have to order it "katame", firm.

The chashu as a single thin slice, but it had a nice balanced flavor and wasn't tough.

The overall impression of the bowl was that this was a good textbook version of tonkotsu ramen, which means it's already better than 99% of what out there. It's not flashy, there's no crazy hype, no exotic ingredients, which suits me just fine.

If they hold the course, I now have a place where I can enjoy a straight-up good bowl of tonkotsu ramen. Though that might be a bit more difficult based on the line of folks waiting for seats as I left last night. We'll see what the future holds.

I understand that Ultra's grand opening is tomorrow, they'll be open from 11am - 3pm and 5pm to 9pm daily. However, if you need your ramen fix tonight, they are still going though their soft opening paces from 5pm to 9pm tonight.

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Andrew]

Kirk- I went to Menya Ultra on Saturday night. Lined up at 6:15pm for a party of 4 and finally got in at 7:40pm. I thought to myself: "This better be really good." Well, it was very good. Probably my new favorite but I won't be eating there too often if I have to wait an hour. Nishiki does nearly as well with a slightly shorter wait. I do think Menya has the best tonkotsu broth and the noodles are very, very good. The chashu is great too but they slice it thin which begs you to order the $13 chashu ramen. My wallet was sad but my tummy was happy. People, don't worry about who is the best. Menya is top flight ramen and a lot of places are not even close. My palate is based on what I've eaten in San Diego (most of the shops), Los Angeles, Bay area, and Tokyo. Considering the distance you'd have to travel to get really good ramen, I'll take Menya any day of the week! Happy eating.

[Kirk]

Hi Andrew - Thanks for letting me know what you thought about Menya. I agree that in terms of the overall package it's currently the best in SD. BTW, I did order the Chashu Tonkotsu....and it was just too much pork for me. I've not been very satisfied with Nishiki on recent visits, so I'll have to go back again soon.

[SageOlson]

Just went in for a second time. They’re getting super busy now (maybe because of the Eater article?) – I got there 5 minutes before opening and still had to wait about 10 minutes after opening to get seated.

Good news: the ajitama is now perfectly cooked. They still serve it cold, but at least none of the yolk is hard now. Everything else is still the same as before and delightful.

[Kirk]

That's great news Sage. I did return a while back...before all this madness; just to check consistency and it was still good.