Mentei

Yes, I admit that this place is not the best ramen place in Boston, and they could work on the soup better. But the food is affordable and taste pretty decent IMHO. I had the fried chicken noodle; the noodles were just cooked the right amount with flavorful broth.
To all the reviews about bad service, what do you expect the service is gonna be for a 10bucks ramen? Our waiter was polite and got the job done. I would definitely come back whenever I am in the area. Give this place a try!

I rarely cared about the appearance of the shop. In fact, I am a fan of hole in the wall dining experiences… Of course under the condition that the food is excellent. I ordered ramen with pork. I regret my decision soon after I’ve gotten my food. Is this… Instant ramen? I am a fan of greasy heavy broth ramen. There is NO grease in the broth! The meat, traditionally cooked in the soup to make broth, obviously not part of broth was too lean and taste the freezer burned. Accidentally forgot to tip on the way out, the waiter demanded for tip. I am normally a good tipper, but if the experience made me forgot to tip, then maybe it’s saying something about your restaurant.
Lastly, peops, do NOT eat here!

I will never come back here again!!!
The food was horrible after 3 spoonfuls of noodles it was getting painful to eat.
There is no a/​c it looks dingy and feels dingy.
The service sucks.

I call the cashier my uncle so that I can say:“My uncle owns the place.” Food, food, food. It’s all about the food. It’s inexpensive and tasty. For a student on the budget, this is the place to go if you live in the area. I got the curry and fried chicken. The curry was a little spicy and not overwhelming in flavor. The chicken was very plentiful and juicy. My boyfriend usually gets eel and the eel over rice plate here is really delicious. A good ratio of meat and rice is very important. Eel has so much yummy, flavorful sauce and it would only be a shame if you don’t have the steamy Jasmine rice to compliment it.
The takoyaki is just the way to go. These are octopus chunks formed into a tasty fish meat ball. Fried crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the inside. Served with tangy, sweet sauce, this it’s a really yummy appetizer.
There’s so much more to the menu. The atmosphere is like a casual café and much more welcoming than many high end Newbury restaurants.
The Japanese drink selection is amazing. Grab and go for a refreshing drink! No Asian market nearby? No worries! Plenty of thirst quenching sodas and available teas here!

Eh, not coming again. I came here because I was shopping on Newbury and my friend wanted something cheap. This place is cash-​only, which already pissed me off as I’m that person that cards everything. I got the kimchi fried rice which was really salty. I literally tasted the MSG on the rice. The kimchi was flavorful but didn’t taste homemade (surprise surprise). My friends both got ramen, which was surprisingly not too salty. However, there wasn’t much meat/​seafood/​anything atop the ramen. Another thing to note is that the portions are pretty small.

The food is «cheap made», but charge not cheap price. The waiter will constant harass you until you pay him the tip he «suggested“which is way over the value of his service. We ordered the beef noodle soup and it tasted like $ 1 instant noodle you buy from any market.
I used eat in this place a year back, it was ok before. I have no idea why the owner turn his restaurant to such worse, it looks like he doesn’t care the business at all.

I had eaten here many years ago (5+) and couldn’t remember if it was any good, so I decided to give it another try. Definitely a bad decision.
The walls seem to be covered in a film of old food debris (I hope it was food) and the water was served in tiny styrofoam cups.
Pros: Fast service
Meh: Tonkatsu curry
Cons: The ramen
The shoyu ramen broth was extremely light, as if it had been watered down. The tonkatsu curry wasn’t bad — the tonkatsu was really thin, which I liked. However, it was pretty tasteless, so I wouldn’t order it again.
While I could see how busy people who work in the area might need a quick bite to eat, I definitely will not be back for the food anytime soon.

Three stars:
–One star for being a complete hole-​in-​the-​wall right off Newbury St. It’s the size of a child’s bedroom, and you can literally see grime on the walls. Most wealthy tourists of Back Bay would cry if they had to eat here. This – I like this.
–One star for average but not too overpriced Japanese cantina food. You can do better, you can do worse. I had the fried rice with chicken, kimchi, and seaweed. I don’t really like the latter two things, so I let my friends pick at them, but the fried rice and chicken were yummy.
–One star for being the place where I learned to use chopsticks at the tender age of 23. Better late than never.

A spritely looking bowl of steaming tonkatsu ramen looked back at me. But it really cried tears of scallions and streams of bean sprouts. The fried pork cutlet looked tasty and it was juicy. The noodles were pretty good but when it comes to noodle soup, it’s all about the noodle & the soup, not just noodle. It was not on par with add boiled water to a cup of noodle because I have no food at home time.
The soup base simply did not cut it. No body, no flare, and definitely no lingering memory of definition! You can define the curves and features of my body, but there was no definition or features of the soup base but water and something else.
For $ 12 including tax and tip, it filled my belly but it was not worth it. At least add a sheet of seaweed and half a boiled egg, maybe some more scallions for taste if you’re not going to better the soup base.
What was up with the server? I got the menu and a minute later, he stood right in front of the table with his hands behind his back staring straight ahead and said nothing. I looked at him and he didn’t say anything, so I said I wasn’t ready. I probably should have kept staring at him… I was ordering with sergeant ramen apparently.
Look for something better tasting and more worth it folks. If you want noodle soup in the area try Chili Duck or Wagamama. Don’t wander in as an unsuspecting costumer suckered into a sub-​par bowl of ramen!

This place really does deserve its incredibly low overall rating and its many bad reviews. This is not ramen. It’s watered down noodles in horrendously bland broth. The only thing this place quenched was my curiosity as to why it has such bad ratings. The service was also very rude and this place is cash only! And to top it off, this place isn’t cheap either!
My main concern, and what I feel is most important, is WHY they are not changing their food when it’s constantly getting bad reviews (200+ reviews, come on!)?

I personally think these Unilocalers who give this place one star is over exaggerating. No, this isnt the best ramen spot, I definitely had better. But they could work on a few of their dishes.
I had the fried chicken ramen and it was just okay. Just wish i have more noodles, but what ramen place comes with plenty of noodles?
The person who waited us is just average, he doesnt look like put some effort to have some enthusiasm for his job but then again, he doesnt look like he wants to burn this building either. He listened to us carefully and made sure we had our modifications right.
I would say that they are fairly lucky to open their shop in an area like this, tourists walking by and curious to see what japanese noodles tastes like. Hopefully they get better though

Having tried so many different ramen places in California, I was hoping to find a good ramen joint out here in Boston also. This is the first place I tried and just like the 2 star review says, «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
Came here on a Friday night with a couple friends and we were seated right away. They were nice enough to let us sit even though they were almost closing. I ordered the chicken katsu ramen. The noodles were good but the broth was too bland and light for my taste, almost reminded me of Chinese soup that is used for wonton soup. When I go out to eat ramen I usually want a more flavorful and delicious broth. The katsu on the soup was good though and I wish there were more toppings that were given with the ramen.
I probably wouldn’t come back unless I was in the mood for a very light soup broth. Don’t forget, CASH ONLY!

It’s a worst Gangster restaurant!!!
In here, you always not respect!
Waiter conside itself always right!
He is the rudest in the world!
He never side thank you, never ever!
If someone want to try foods eat likes shit from restaurant, just try this restaurant, you’re right！
Holy shit!

By CA standards, this place is just not very good at making legit ramen. Maybe I’m just bitter because it’s cold, but there are some pros eating here.
Walked in with my friend knowing we only had 45 minutes to eat and bounce. She suggested it cause it’s one of the few Asian places on Newbury street and Asian restaurants are usually pretty speedy. It was around 7 pm on a Thursday night — we were the only table there. I thought I was walking into a legit place: simple décor and they have SHICHIMI (spicy Japanese powdering) so I got excited. Food is pretty inexpensive for Boston — get the combo because the noodles won’t fill you… at least it didn’t fill me up because I have an abnormally large stomach capacity.
Anyways, I ordered the Kimchi Ramen with a side of Pork Fried Rice. And my roommate ordered just the Vegetable Ramen. Literally in less than 10 minutes, our food came out. The fried rice was pretty good. It was very oily though, I could see the oil radiating off each grain of rice — which didn’t really bother me since the rice was so so yummy. Not salty and super flavorful. The kimchi ramen was.meh. The noodles were a bit al dente, which I normally like. The broth is very plain. It sort of tastes like cup noodle soup but less salty. But thankfully, anything can be fixed with some Shichimi.
On the other hand, service was really good. They are super quick and attentive. Literally, as soon as we were done with the last bite of noodles, the waiter dropped off our check. Also, CASH ONLY!
In the end, I would still come back to eat here because its super speedy and inexpensive #brokecollgestudent…

I’ll keep this brief, like my visit here…
cheap eats, college kids, tough meat, big portions.
If this sounds like your scene… you’ve arrived!
THE DEAL: Get the dinner special half and half …
Half soba noodles and half price too…*smile*

In California, this place would have gotten 1 star. However, this is Boston and my standards for ramen here are much lower, so Mentei gets 2 stars.
We got the Tonkatsu ramen and the Shoyu ramen, and both of them were very bland. The noodles weren’t bad, but there were too many bean (?) sprouts mixed with the nooldles. Also, there were barely any other veggies in the ramen. It also was just warm, not hot the way I like it.
Will not return. Despite the far more convenient location, I’d rather go back to Pikaichi.

It took me a year to finally try Mentei, and I guess I wasn’t really missing out. While they have a good selection of food to choose from, the quality wasn’t that great.
We got the fried chicken curry and chicken teriyaki with rice.
The fried chicken curry was ok, but I’m sometimes reluctant to get curry at a Japanese place because they usually seem like the boxed kinds you can make at home.
The chicken wasn’t bad though and there was a decent amount of food.
The teriyaki chicken however, was not great. The chicken was almost shredded and very dry. also oily like it had been on the pan for too long? And a little too much sauce :/​I didn’t have much white rice left because there was so much teriyaki sauce
The staff is friendly though! And made sure to keep your water cup filled

If I’m craving ramen around Newbury or Boylston… I think I’d hop on the T to Pikaichi or Porter for some Yume Wo Katare or Sapporo Ramen.
So I might have to go back and try a more traditional ramen like miso pork, but I decided to be adventurous and try the Spicy Beef Ramen… big mistake.
This ramen was not spicy or flavorful at all. I’ll give them some props on their noodles, the broth was below average and their meat was ok, but absolutely flavorless. I think I’ve had more success in some of those cup o noodles with more flavorful ramen than what I got… Again, I do have a soft spot for noodles though =D

Good noodles but watered down broth. My spicy beef noodle soup came out to be ‘Au Lam Haw’ noodle soup for ya’ll who know Cantonese. I knew I was already taking a gamble by trying their ‘beef noodle soup’ in a Japanese place as you typically don’t have such a thing: P
Not spicy at all. Nada.
The Japanese waiter is nice and attentive with our group’s side requests here and here but the food ain’t cuttin it. This is my 3^rd time here and it’s getting worse everytime :(
A friend had the tokoyaki and it looked charred and over fried. The gyudon was wayyy overcooked and the tonkatsu overburnt and overkilled with bread crumbs.
The cooks are speaking Cantonese while the waiter and owner in charge of the cashier is Japanese, so don’t think it’s completely Japanese run. It’s really a hit and miss regarding what you order. From what I’ve seen from other customers, their curry rice and miso ramen looks decent.

Meh. I think I’ve outgrown the bang-​for-​your-​buck value places near college areas. Or maybe this place just isn’t that good even by that standard.
For $ 16, I got the shumai and a bowl of tonkatsu ramen. The shumai ($ 4) were tasteless and soggy, and tonkatsu was middle of the road. The broth was lukewarm when it came out and pretty bland, although the ramen noodles themselves were pretty good. Good thing I added togarashi powder and tofu, otherwise it wouldn’t have been very substantial. I’m sure I would have been happier if I had been here during lunch or dinner specials, but we came at an odd 2:30pm so no luck.
Service was pretty solid, but it didn’t make up for the disappointing food. Cash only.
2.5 stars