It’s time to continue Ramen Wars! In Part 4, the winner was still Iza Ramen, but I braved three more ramen joints (and actually queued up for one!) in order to see if there was something better out there. This time, I tried Mensho Tokyo in the Tenderlion and Ken Ken Ramen and Ushio Ramen in the Mission. How did they fare?
1. Ken Ken Ramen
Even though I was slightly miffed that they are a ramen joint that only does ramen for dinner, I finally managed to find my way here one evening to give it a try. They apparently do the tonkotsu-style ramen a few nights a week and Tokyo-style ramen the other nights. As I’m a huge fan of tantanmen ramen, I decided to go on a night when I knew it would be available. I arrived quite soon after they opened, and the place was already quite full of people (and only got more full as it went on). I did get the tantanmen ramen, and it looked great when it was brought out. Sadly, it wasn’t as spicy as I was expecting it to be, but the broth itself was some of the best broth I’ve had in the bay area. (It could have just been a bit spicier). The noodles were also really tasty, and they added some cabbage to the bowl which really excited me as I always feel ramen can be a bit lacking in the vegetable department. It really scratched that itch for ramen, and I was really happy with it, so I definitely will be back to try other bowls on other nights!
2. Mensho Tokyo
After my last bowl of amazing ramen, I was aching to try some more, so I decided I would head over to Mensho Tokyo one night. I had read about the queues to get in, so I figured I’d show up at around 5:30 on a weeknight (as they open at 5:00) and there wouldn’t be much of an issue to get in. I was very wrong. There was already a queue there at 5:30 as the restaurant was already full. To be fair, it only has 28 seats, but I was worried about my decision as usually the wait isn’t worth it. After about half an hour I was inside and seated. Everything on the menu sounded great, but I chose the Spicy Tori Paitan (with an egg of course). It definitely looked great when it arrived, but I was worried about the thicker noodles as they usually are a bit too chewy for my taste. At first this was true, but after the noodles sat in the broth, they turned the perfect texture. The broth is also a very thick broth, and while I find tonkotsu broths a bit too fatty, this one had amazing balance as it is actually a chicken broth and not pork. Honestly, everything was pretty amazing, even with the really weird flat, wide spoon that you ate it with. The chashu was thin and tender (although there wasn’t really a lot of it), and the jalapeno miso really just did add something to it. I ate the whole bowl, and to me, it definitely finally felt like I had found a ramen worth queuing for!
3. Ushio Ramen
The last place I tried out was Ushio Ramen, which is one of the newer places that has opened in the Mission. They have a variety of different types, and I was really drawn to the oxtail ramen as I’m a huge fan, plus the idea of having Brussels sprouts in my ramen was a novelty. The broth itself had a nice beefy flavor, and was kind of the love child of ramen and pho. However, the more I ate it, the less I enjoyed it. There were also only about two sprouts in my bowl, so it seemed a bit superfluous. The oxtail was cooked wonderfully though, but I think I would have preferred them to take it off the bone first. The noodles were excellent and tasted fantastic. It did come with half an egg, which was nice, but it wasn’t really that interesting of an egg, so that was also a bit disappointing. I think I enjoyed it enough to possibly come back and try some of the other stuff on the menu though.
Winner: Mensho Tokyo
I had some strong contenders this time for ramen. After finishing up at Ken Ken, I thought I would have a tie for first place as I couldn’t decide which I liked better between Ken Ken Ramen or Iza Ramen. However, Mensho did slightly edge them out overall, so I have to give it the win. Sadly, Ken Ken Ramen has closed down since I’ve been and wrote up this post, so I won’t actually be including it in the ranking, but it would definitely be tied for second place with Iza Ramen. Will anything topple the thick, delicious broth from Mensho Tokyo? Only time will tell!
Ranking:
1. Mensho Tokyo
2. Iza Ramen
3. Kan Ramen
4. Slurp Ramen
5. Ippudo
6. The Ramen Bar
7. Ajisen Ramen
8. Ushio Ramen
9. Coco’s Ramen
10. Katana-Ya Ramen
11. R&B Cafe
12. Ramen Underground
13. Kiramachi Ramen
14. Orenchi Beyond
Wow, a new winner! Congratulations, Mesho!!!
Looks like Ushio might’ve fared better if they marketed the soup as a pho instead. Great pool of restaurants in this round!
It was I was very happy. It wasn’t really pho though, as they were definitely ramen noodles and not rice noodles. (And sadly not as good as pho really). I liked Mensho so much I might drag someone there with me so we can try the fried mushroom appetizer that looked fantastic. But it will involve queuing again!