Mensousai Mugen — Restaurant in Melbourne

Date / time of visit: 21 January 2023 at 6:20pm(approx)

I am very glad to have discovered this out of the way restaurant, hidden in one of the many alleyways of Melbourne. The restaurant doesn't take bookings, and is only open for a few hours per day (6pm to 9.30pm, according to its website, but no indication of last meal orders). The dining area is down stairs in an atmospherically, cozily lit room. We were amongst the first patrons of the evening, having arrived just after opening time. Two single diners sat at either end of a small bar, and we (two of us) were seated at a small table. One seat was a stool with no back and the other seat was a cushioned couch extending the length of the wall. Other tables, that weren't against the wall, also had the small stools upon which to sit. These stools made me feel uncomfortable, needing an upright to support my back. Fortunately, my partner allowed me to sit on the couch. The menu was extensive with a variety of ramens and ramen-like dishes; yet it was a simple menu with only a variety of ramens and ramen-like dishes and a number of sharing plates including salads, gyoza and chicken nanban. Our order consisted of wafu tsukemen, goma tsukumen, and wagyu tatami salad plus a couple of drinks. The wagyu tatami salad looked large but the salad was light, tasting a little earthy. One or two pieces of wagyu tatami was a little chewy, taking time to masticate to allow for swallowing. The yuzu ponzo dressing was delicious and the mayonnaise added the obvious creaminess. The tsukumen was both familiar and unfamiliar. The wafu tsukumen broth was very savoury, not quite earthy but reminded me of nature. The first few tastes took a little getting used to and when I mixed in the condiments (dried seaweed, pork chasu and bamboo shoots), the flavours then took on a different dimension - as would be expected from Japanese cuisine. It was a similar case for my partner's goma tsukemen but I was ready for the sesame soy broth, having tasted something similar in my own cooking and from Japanese restaurants. The goma tsukemen was great but I was very happy with my wafu tsukumen. Halfway through our meal, the restaurant had started to fill up. We had a fun dining experience at Mugen. We had tasted some well prepared, different (for us) meals. I will be returning to try out their maze soba. Because of the quality of the food, the ramen prices are a little above average ($19 for a regular - and a regular should suit most people - and the price is worth it). I was surprised by the price of the wagyu tatami salad (the prices are on the menu, so we did make an informed decision) but the salad was worth the price. Soft drink, yes, that was overpriced ($6). Overall, though, price point vs quality of the food vs menu is very much...

I really wanted to like this place, especially with some of the positive reviews. But the experience here was so disappointing I found myself needing to share it, especially for anyone who was planning to go out of their way to eat here (like I did). To those who had a great experience here, I am JEALOUS. I can only wish that was us, but honestly this place was the worst we had in Melbourne. Not worth it.

TLDR: TRUST THE OTHER REVIEWS. DO NOT COME HERE TO EAT.

Came here last week with my friends on a Saturday night for dinner. We were from Sydney and I wanted to introduce them to a nice tsukemen place (HUGE tsukemen fan here). We were at first super excited: the place had nice music and vibes, plus they had a promotion where you could get 10% off drinks at the bar across from the place if you show your receipt. We were keen, but the night ended with disappointment and a sour mood. We didn't even get drinks.

When we entered, there was some miscommunication so we ended up going up and down before being seated in front of the kitchen. Had to ask for table water service and utensils twice. But up to this point, we were okay. It's chill, people can make mistakes. After 40 minutes, we started to wonder where our food was and can hear from the kitchen that they were playing around. Staff were speaking in Korean but I understood what they were saying, and some were clearly playing around/flirting with each other, asking "am I cute?" to one another. That's nice and all but I don't think its enough reason to wait so long for food (?). Please flirt after bringing out our food?

One of the waitress noticed our staring and went to ask the kitchen about our orders. The next moment they were hussling and the waitress came to tell us that our order was delayed because there were too many other orders before us? We were literally in front of the kitchen and NO dishes left in the past half hour. Clearly our order was forgotten.

The food came and they forgot to put seaweed on my friend and I's plate (we ordered the large one too) and the soup was lukewarm at best that we had to ask them to reheat it for us. Even reheated, only the bowl was warm and I ended up with a mouthful of watered-down, cold soy with some noodles. The noodles remind me of this Korean knife noodle rather than ramen, which was interesting. I agree with the other reviewers that the soup was quite watered down, but I wondered if it was just the soy style in comparison to the usual meaty tsukemen broths we're used to? Either way, was not nice. Honestly quite disappointing, considering they only had this and one other tsukemen item...

3 star because we had both 5 star and 1 star experience at the restaurant.

Good: As a japanese ramen shop, the manager and some staffs are japanese, which is always a plus. The manager seems nice, and he cares about his customer. Their miso ramen and soy sause ramen tastes pretty good. I love the texture of their noodles. The environment is definitely a 5 star. The paints on the wall, the lights, tables and chairs must been carefully selected. It is a small restaurants will a few seats, but it gets both male and female toilet, amazing!

Bad: Unprofessional staffs We ordered the dry ramen and the dipping ramen. But the staff1 gets both wrong - what came was the soy sause ramen and miso ramen. We are not familiar with the menu, so we pointed at the menu to let the staff1 know what we want, and it is suprising that staff1 got both wrong. We told staff1 that it was the wrong dish, staff1 said sorry, and we forgive it. Then we were hoping for some small compensation because we didn't get what we ordered. But nothing comes. Of course the compensation is not a must be, but it makes us a bit unhappy. When we go upstairs to pay the bill, staff2 asked us for the receipt, which we didn't get from staff1. Then staff2 asks us where we seat then calculate the bill for us. Seems that there are problems with staffs' communication. Boy oh boy, what can possibly go wrong? Here it is - staff2 get our ramen size wrong when checking out! We had a regular and a large, but it says we ordered 2 regulars. We tried to explain to staff2, but staff2 could not understand. Anyway, we paid for 2 regulars.

Bad: Male toilet too dark. Maybe i didn't find the switch of the light?

Sorry for not being able to provide photos, we were too confused when the wrong ramens come - and we forgot to take...