Mensho Tokyo SF
| Cuisine | Japanese |
|---|---|
| Price | $$ (16-30) |
| Rating | 7/10 |
| Last Visit | Nov. 1, 2019 |
| Location | SFBA: San Francisco: Downtown + SoMa |
General Notes
Mensho Tokyo SF just opened a few years ago and has gotten a ton of hype. Mensho Tokyo is apparently one of the most acclaimed ramen shops in Japan, so no surprise there; depending on when you go, lines can easily stretch for two hours. That being said, the ramen they serve is incredibly delicious, and (depending on your patience) it's well worth your wait. Don't go if you're expecting something light - this place is not for the faint of heart. One of the aspects they do really well is integrate lots of oil and pork fat into the ramen to provide an intense savoriness, while not making the dish feel greasy. The ramen doesn't quite have the pure umami explosion that some other places provide, but the intense savoriness is unmatched and it's certainly one of the best bowls of ramen I've had.
Positives
> In my opinion, the noodles are the ideal texture. They are relatively thick, chewy, straight, and slightly firm.
> They do a good job of achieving "the harmony and balance of the five main ingredients of ramen: the sauce (tare), soup, toppings, noodles, and oil". Especially the last one component (oil) - at many restaurants the ramen is either bland and lacking oil/savoriness, or the oil is poorly integrated into the dish and feels greasy. Mensho's ramen is fairly fatty - certainly not for the faint of heart - but it's well integrated to create an intense savoriness without the corresponding greasiness.
> Some very interesting, unique flavors, such as matcha, spicy lamb, or clam ramen. Whether they're better or worse than the classics is up to you to decide, but it's a cool opportunity to try something very different.
Negatives
> The wait time can be extremely long. I went there by myself on a Friday night (probably one of the busiest days, oops), and I spent around 80 minutes in line. I was told that the wait time typically isn't too bad for parties of one (I was told 15-20 minutes), but that also strongly depends on how many parties of one there are in front of you.
> A couple of the toppings were a bit disappointing. The duck chashu was an interesting concept but simply did not fit in the context of the dish. It was very peppery and served medium rare, quite strange in a bowl of ramen. Surprisingly, the ajitama was also too soft and I would have liked the yolk to be slightly firmer - the white wasn't even completely set.
Dishes Tasted
- ★★★☆ Spicy Lamb Chashu Ramen -- Rich and creamy miso soup, pork chashu, green onion, nira, menma, ground lamb meat. I really enjoyed the lamb flavor and the noodles were perfectly cooked. I don't quite know how to best describe this, but the broth felt slightly grainy - it didn't quite go down cleanly. Otherwise though, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. It was again an explosion of savoriness.
- ★★★★ Aburasoba -- Soupless ramen - pork chashu, green onion, menma, daikon sprouts, naruto, nori. Everything about this dish is excellent, from the noodles to the chashu. Although there's no broth, there's a small pool of oil at the bottom, which sounds bad but lends itself to an incredible savoriness that I've never gotten from any other ramen. The chili oil and vinegar perfectly rounds out the dish with a touch of spiciness and acidity.
Spicy Lamb Chashu Ramen
