Menya Ramen House — Restaurant in Metuchen

Food thoughts status: Magical. Yeah, no filters needed again. It's like the quote, "A quick way to make gravy, is to be ahead of the pack." I believe Menya has achieved this in Metuchen, NJ. If I hadn't already decided my favorite restaurant of 2021, this restaurant would be it. Maybe favorite restaurant of 2022? It's far away, but this restaurant would be declared after other considerations.

But what gives this place the quality flavor other ramen establishments are missing? Let me tell you! Kevin and Ryan, passionate owners operate a ramen restaurant specializing in Sapporo, Japan ramen; miso, soy sauce, or salt flavors. Served 70C or higher, YES!! It's all in the broth. The broth creation is not a rushed process. I can tell their tonkotsu broth has been prepared in advance a day or two, to let the pork bone create the layers you savor. Anyone that does not eat pork, their salt ramen is chicken broth based. Fat, fat is important. Fat gives your flavor. Neutral oils and sesame oils present, yet there needs to be balance.

Too many current NJ ramen places make their ramen broth so greasy, defeating the purpose of rich and creaminess. Too many current NJ ramen places give you noodles that taste like a bag of baking soda, more bitter than it should be. I have not had any of those issues here.

The charsiu meat slices, omg! You get two sizeable slices that have been torched to give it a charred surface and taste. The fat renders through my mouth beautifully as I chew.

Can't forget the passion, Menya is operated on the side. THEY HAVE FULL TIME JOBS AND TO OFFER THIS TYPE OF QUALITY RAMEN AND WERE TRAINED BY A JAPANESE CHEF, BREATHTAKING. THE OWNERS EVEN HAVE A WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM BUILT IN FOR COOKING. Price is great for higher quality ramen. From $13~$17 before tax and tip. Get off of work and it's dark out? From your car, or Metuchen train station,...

What better food can you think of to consume on a cold, winter night than a hot, comforting bowl of ramen... and chicken on the side?

After googling the nearest ramen house in the area, this place popped up as the closest one and decided to give it a try. I have to admit that I've driven past this little treasure almost nightly for the past 2 years since they opened and never really paid it any attention. I'm glad that's changed.

We walked in at around 8:00 pm on a Tuesday night and the hostess/server informed us that the kitchen was to close in 10 minutes and that the restaurant, in 30 minutes. But she welcomed us in and sat us down. Its a small place, but has a good number of seats. The menu was just right, not too much and not limited which made the decision making easier for us.

I decided to get a bowl on their shoyu ramen and bowl of karaage. The server was very helpful, knowledgeable and attentive, making sure that we knew what we were getting and at the same time educating us on the food and history of the restaurant.

The food came quickly and it looked (and tasted) delicious. The broth tasted great and that roasted pork was just amazing. It was truly the perfect comfort food on a cold, winter night. The chicken was, unfortunately, a bit dry but it tasted really good. The only hot tea that they served was a camellia flower tea and it instantly became a new favorite. After consuming everything, dessert was out of the question. It was a very filling bowl.

When we came in, there were 2 parties seated on tables and 2 other parties that were seated on the high top bar table area. We were sat, taken care of and billed out in 30 minutes. I guess that's all it takes. It was a wonderful experience and will surely be back again...and again. Not to mention that one of the owners/chef was really friendly. It doesn't...

Wanted to love this place since it was one of the closer ramen offerings to us at the time and the reviews looked promising. Before I get into why 2 stars, the place was very clean, staff was nice - which helped elevate one more star for me. Cons particularily pertain to my order: Tonkutsu ramen, fried gyoza, and mochi ice cream.

First, on the ramen: The broth was not very brothy and didn’t taste like it was the slow simmered kind of broth you would expect for a tonkutsu ramen, the chasu wasn’t flavorful and didn’t really add to the ramen, I added an egg but the egg was cold, never had ramen with red onions in it so was a bit off. For a $16 bowl of ramen, I was just expecting a little more, i.e. either a mix of better broth, positive added condiments experience (egg was $2 extra), more condiment selection, ability to customize such as choose noodle soft/hardness, level of saltiness or oiliness, pickled ginger/smashed garlic/sesame seeds/green onions or other complimentary ramen condiments.

I thought maybe I had a bad order so wanted to give 2 more things a try I then ordered the gyoza and mochi ice cream, but were also not what i was expecting: Gyoza filling wasn’t “umami” and the fried texture a bit tough (would also be nice to see a pan seared version rather than just deep fried) Mochi ice cream flavor tasted overly artificial, the shell was thick and doughy and lacking the texture of chewy, jelly-like rice flour. There were 4 mochi and ended up just having a bite of each to sample and left them there.

Having a ramen place in Metuchen area is convenient for the nearby community so great to see the option there, but can be some improvements on the...