Yesterday was Menya Hanabi‘s grand opening, which is the first US location to feature Naoto Niiyama‘s mazesoba ramen. Mazesoba ramen is a soupless ramen featuring a raw egg yolk and seasoned with green onions, chives, seaweed, garlic and spicy minced ground pork.
I knew this place would open soon months before when I saw it under construction. At first, I thought it was related to Menya in SD but realized that it wasn’t. Menya means noodles in Japanese. Like how many restaurants in Italy have “Trattoria” in restaurant names, many restaurants in Japan have “Menya.”
Today is day 2 of their grand opening. The line was already long even before the restaurant opened at 1730 for dinner time. There is a clipboard in the front to sign up your place. Many comes in parties of 2. Thankfully, this is like a quick sit down and go kind of eats. I want to say it was about an hour wait on average.
On the wall inside is the origin story of the restaurant. I honestly didn’t even know there was such a kind of ramen until this place opened up!! I thought it was just ramen and tsukemen! I’ve even gone to Japan and didn’t bump into this!
I love how there is a pamphlet that shows you how to eat it.
I personally do not like to add vinegar to my food so I skipped that step!
I ordered an extra side of chaoshu pork because my mom and I got the BOGO of the Original Nagoya Mazesoba. It included two very thick and fatty pieces of pork with its flavors just juicing out.
It is BOGO for the first three days of grand opening!!!!! Yay! So happy I didn’t miss it!
Here is THE ORIGINAL NAGOYA MAZESOBA of dry noodle, dish powder, spicy minced pork, green onions, chives, seaweed, garlic, and egg yolk. There was the option of choosing between a raw egg or a poached egg. Of course, I chose the raw egg!
You can’t tell but I am overly excited to try this bowl!
And my cute mommy is too!
Stir stir stir for 20 seconds until the egg yolk is completely immersing all of the seasonings and noodles together! It was so creamy and thick and savory. The noodles remind me of tsukemen noodles. It was like yellow alkaline noodles: thick, chewy and can hold onto the thick sauce. My mommy thinks it was slightly on the saltier side. I have to agree a little but still deathly good.
They immediately notice that you’re near the end of your bowl and will offer you a small portion of white rice to soak up the rest of the sauce. How nice!! I love this concept. You will never unwillingly waste sauce.
It is like another serving in itself! I was beyond full at this point and asked for a takeout box.. lol
Everyone here is very friendly and nice and attentive! They all looked and sounded so happy! The vibe was energetic and lively! The place was also very clean! I would definitely come back to eat here again! Next time, I want to try their curry cheese.. 🙂
