Menya Ultra — Restaurant in San Diego

For a place that has a line before the venue even opens, offers no comfort outside for the long wait times, isn't very comfortable on the inside, is littered with grammar mistakes on their website and other materials, and is conflicted on whether it should be calling itself Menya Ultra or Ramen Ultra: you'd expect that the food would have to speak for itself. They make it very obvious of listing their accolades big and bold on their large window display as well as the entire back page of their menu. Yes, the ramen is excellent, but is it the best place I've had? Considering that the long wait is the most stressful part of the experience for me, I won't be jumping at the chance to come here again. I don't have much experience with ramen, but there isn't really anything this place has to offer any more than others I've been too. In fact, when it comes to the menu, it offers far less in the way of appetizers than other places. The quality of the ramen is great, but I can't say it's significantly better than what I've had before. There is a digital sign-up sheet on the outside of the venue that txts your phone your current wait time. It said our wait time was initially 36 minutes but we didn't get seated until 50 minutes. The hostess seemed concerned with moving as quickly as possible. She did not have the most booming voice so when she came out to call the next party, you can't be distracted otherwise you may not hear her; and she seems to only call your name once and if you don't answer, she moves on. Waiting and wondering if we had missed our chance was by far my least enjoyable and stressful part of the whole experience. It seemed that any parties greater than three were subject to discussion with the hostess as to how to accommodate and the looks on the customer's faces seemed to indicate that significant sacrifices were to be made. Once we sat down, things moved very quickly and we were back out the door in about 45 minutes though we didn't feel rushed and I even ordered their single dessert. We filled out the order sheet ourselves and the waitress transcribed it very systematically on her own which proved that they have a very quick food prep time as our ramen and appetizer came out at the same time and only a few minutes after we ordered. All of the food was excellent and the staff was very nice. I wish there was more of a selection of appetizers and desserts, but it's clear that the ramen is the focus...

The more I read about the current state of ramen in Japan, the more I have to relinquish the notion that only traditional ramen forms are worth pursuing. I was of the mindset that broth came in one of four main styles, toppings were varied but from a concise list, and the noodles had one ultimate form. What does this have to do with Menya at all?

If I were to stick to my ideals, no other shop outside of the land of the rising sun could possibly produce a better bowl. Their tonkotsu broth is cloudy, creamy, rich and oh so satisfying, and the miso option only bolsters this. Toppings have a standard set and a couple of mainstay options, my absolute addiction being their black garlic oil. And as for the noodles? Theirs are of a different order of magnitude in quality; they carry the broth readily but never get mushy (perhaps I don't offer them the time to do so?) so the last noodle bite has the same texture as the first. I guess fresh made here means something different than other places I've sampled.

For this simple menu, great service and pleasant atmosphere there are a couple caveats. Due to the limited size of the restaurant, they encourage a "turn and burn" attitude to dining to offer their delicious fare to as many loyal and patient patrons as possible. Come prepared with the knowledge that they will serve you, but they will not slow down. Also of mention is the average wait is over an hour. This will compound with larger groups, my personal recommendation is to treat Menya as a date spot, perhaps a double date. More than four quickly becomes a hassle. Is it still worth it?

Yes, it's that good. People flock to a small strip, battle the always packed parking lot and line up in any weather for a bowl that appears about as traditional as any tonkotsu broth could ever hope to be. There are some rare items and options on the menu that have a tendency to go quickly due to their limited supply but missing them is by no means a deal breaker. I would start with their simple tonkotsu bowl for a first time visitor and expand from there based on preference.

Bottom line: this is worth going once, no matter how you feel about ramen. After that, see if you feel like coming back. I...

My wife and I stopped by for lunch, tried the gyoza, fries, tonkotsu ramen and then my wife had the Black Tantamen. Before we get to the food let's talk about the experience. We waited an hour for a table of 2, which makes sense because they had the place packed with as much seating as possible to the point that my chair was maybe a foot from the door, and they still could only hold about 20 people. Where we sat smelled of stale cigarette smoke(the reaturaunt is right next to a cigar and whiskey lounge), but with the reviews I saw and the fact it was so busy on a Sunday we hoped that it would be worth it.

To be honest it was a mixed bag. The gyoza was a nice start followed by fires that we had to wait a little longer for because we asked for a regular order and initially received what I think was the okonomi. Not a big deal but upon tasting, the oil was either old or they used the same oil that was used for the chicken dishes, which ended tasting like burnt chicken skin. The attached picture shows what looks like chicken pieces that came with the fries. As for the Ramen: they Tonkotsu was pleasant with a great broth and the noodles/ toppings were perfect. The Black Tantamen was slightly changed by asking for no bok choy and adding some marinated eggs ( we ended up with both the bok choy and the eggs, so I took the bok choy for my ramen, no biggy) what was weird about this dish was how sweet everything was, even to the point we couldn't help it along with a liberal helping of chili oil, and even the marinated egg was really sweet.

Overall it was an okay experience, and the staff was very nice even with how busy they were, making it a point to tell us we didn't...