Menya Sandaime — Restaurant in Fort Lee

Best Ramen in NJ! Hand-made noodles in the store daily, amazing broth and you can tell that the store owners put in care in every detail from service to product. The place is extremely small, but with fast service, you never have to wait too long because your meal is never more than 10 minutes away. So I have to admit I have a standard ramen that I almost always order because it is my absolute favorite but I have tried all the other ones before.

Karikuchi ramen, with extra ramen - comes to about $11+$3 = $14. This is a spicier broth if you don't like a spicy broth maybe consider some of the other classic ones. IF you enjoy spice, this is the ramen for you!! Also, I tend to eat so much noodle so I always get the extra, if you are a fan of noodles/carbohydrates then I recommend you order extra ramen. Also, if you don't know yet you can always order the extra ramen after you finished your noodles and you can just top off your broth with ramen (just like Japan). The ramen comes with two slices of thick cut pork that is fire torched, which gives it this fiery charr grilled flavor and added to the broth gives it a great smokey flavor. The scallions adds a level of spice to the broth and very very nice (but if you don't like it, you can always ask them to withhold it).

Gyoza ($6) is absolutely delicious, juicy and the skin is thin and chewy. This dumpling dipped in vinegar which completely balances out the fatty, meaty flavor. Probably one of the better gyoza's that I have tried in New Jersey and I almost always get this when I visit.

I have tried the Gyu-don and other rice dishes, they are okay. I would recommend sticking to the various ramen options and the gyoza. Those are the must haves!!

Come here frequently! Love it!...

The atmosphere feels like a traditional ramen-ya nestled somewhere in Saitama or Kanagawa Prefecture. There are long lines, and the wait can be annoying, but it's absolutely worth it.

Hands down the best tonkotsu ramen you can get at $10. Hell, it's better than some ramen in Manhattan that costs $16!

The "black ramen" (bonito) is my favorite thus far. The smokey fish flavor permeates the thick, creamy pork broth, giving it an umami reminiscent of a ramen-ya I found in a shopping center in Toyosu.

The chashu is insanely tender, but it has a char around the edges that gives it a wild, earthy flavor. It's probably slow-cooked overnight and then fired right before serving, much like Tomita-sama does at his shop in Chiba.

The ramen noodles are made onsite from fine noodle flour. The noodles are firm yet chewy, and they hold the broth and spices perfectly. They slide well and are best enjoyed in one loud slurp straight from the bowl as 父 taught my brother and me when we were young.

What truly helps is the atmosphere. While it's on the larger side for a ramen-ya compared to what you'll find in Japan, it's considerably smaller than most ramen-ya in America, giving it an air of authenticity. The chefs are Japanese, and many of the servers are as well, so as you walk in, you're met with exclamations of 「いらっしゃいませ。」, and as you leave, you feel compelled to shout back 「ごちそうさま。」

Everything about this place makes me a tad homesick for Japan, but I'm so glad it's right here...

This place has high ratings and thus encouraged us to try. Please keep in mind this review is with Ramen from Japan as a reference. It is decent by american standards.

Pork: 3/5 - A lenient score based on the pork being edible with moderate to minimal unrendered fat. the pork lacks any real outstanding flavour that would put it above the average rating.

Noodles: 3/5 - The noodles were ok. They were cooked ok. (in the total composition, it did not add anything spectacular to the ramen as a dish)

Egg: 4/5 - They managed to get the egg to replicate Japanese ramen egg shades and consistency although slightly on the firmer side. The egg was a tiny bit salty if i had to nitpick.

Broth: 2/5 - The broth was not strained well. There were remnants of the bone/fat of the pork used to make the bone broth floating around. The tonkotsu broth itself did not have any strong flavour, but rather tasted of soy sauce.

Overall: 3/5 - The composition of the tonkotsu ramen as a ramen was edible, but not enjoyable enough.

But of course this is just an opinion, from someone recently...