Menta Ramen

Came here with a friend for dinner… I ordered the Menta (Tonkotsu) Ramen w/​rich broth. My friend ordered the same w/​normal broth. I have to say both broths were quite flavorful, although the rich broth had a slight kick to it.
What’s the difference? The richer the broth, the more fat content it contains.
Portions were on the smaller side. I was still a bit hungry afterwards so we ordered some additional appetizers.

Why go to Orenchi when u can come here?
Very good Ramen, clean place, and easier to get in and eat (if you ever been at Orenchi, you would know what I mean)

My girlfriend and I had dinner here last night. She had never been there before and I was telling her how I had finally found a Ramen place I liked and would be able to go with her more often but… when they seated us, the menu was different so I asked and was told that ownership had changed. I was totally bummed!
We stayed anyway since we were already there and seated.
We both ordered ramen, my girl got the sea salt ramen and I got the soy ramen. They were both ok but soup was too creamy and thick for me. The price was ok $ 8 bucks for a bowl of ramen and we also got an order the gyeoz (spell check!) that was actually pretty good.
Whelps my search for a fab tasting ramen is back on.
Happy Eating!

So long Menta Ramen. It’s now Kotetsu Ramen.
I miss your vegetarian ramen. :(

Korean Fried Chicken at a ramen place? You bet!
I went with the Menta Ramen, with a rich soup base, or like their site puts it, «oily» with floating fat. Yum There are a lot of other options, but I assumed this was their flagship ramen.
Make sure you get the fried chicken!
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PHOTO:

Woo, another ramen place in the area! :)
Came here for lunch with the boyfriend this past weekend and we weren”t disappointed at all. We both got the menta ramen which was a salt flavor tonkotsu broth. You can get the broth light, medium or oily depending on how rich/​thick you want your broth to be. We both when with medium (normal) and it was perfect. In the past, I’ve always did my best to avoid shio or tonkotsu because I can’t handle salt that much so I usually get the shoyu. It came with two large pieces of pork which was tender and flavorful but not too overwhelming for bland me. I also enjoyed the pieces of dried seaweed and kikrage which gave it great flavor. The noodles were okay, not the best but not bad either.
Overall, I enjoyed my mild broth and fatty pieces of pork. The service was extremely nice and they answered our questions well. Sucks that the place was a little dead because of the plaza that it’s in. I left a happy camper and we’re happy to find another place close to home. We’ll be back!

Another new comer to the fierce silicon valley ramen scene. Menta Ramen, sadly, did not bring too much excitement. Just another bowl of tonkotsu ramen, with mediocre toppings in a fatty but mellow broth. I did not find it particularly memorable. The spicy seafood ramen was perhaps slightly more interesting. Was it crab meat that I tasted in the spicy broth? There were plenty of clams, shrimps, squids, mussels floating around to make seafood lover happy. Both bowls tasted little better after adding a generous amount of roasted garlic they provided you on the side.
Service was quick and friendly. It is an alright place to get a bowl of ramen if you are in a hurry but it is really no competition to Orenchi or Santouka nearby. Even Maru Ichi and Ryowa in MV have slight edge over Menta in terms of quality and menu options.

This place is hopelessly mediocre. The Miso broth had an okay flavor but all the others were pretty bland.
They put a lot of ingredients in the soup and everything seemed fresh, it was just that nothing was that good.
I think my taste buds much prefer japanese ramen to korean ramen but if you like korean ramen maybe you’ll like this place, unfortunately I just can’t give it more than 2 stars.
The place was desolate, there may have been one more table with one person at it when I went…(and now I know why).
I hated the shio (salt based broth) so I asked for a different one, the miso; they literally brought me a bowl of miso broth and made me transfer my old ingredients into the new broth… really? Needless to say they didn’t get an amazing tip.
Overall, I’d say skip it and go to a different ramen place instead.

We don’t have many outstanding Ramen restaurants in the south bay. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Menta was. It was about 8pm on a Sunday and we really wanted soup for dinner.
Menta closes at about 930p which is unheard of at other restaurants on Sunday night. ONE star for that!
My broth was delicious, light and had a wonderful kick to it. The pork slices were a bit fatty but I am more inclined to sipping broth and eating veggies, than a few slices of meat. The soft boiled egg was also cooked to perfection. 3 stars for the overall composition of the ramen bowl ingredients!
I love to endorse new places in the south bay and I hope Menta does well. Lot’s of parking and open late on Sunday. Give it a try!

Ramen… it’s not just for the cold weather anymore. At least that was my intention when I paid a visit to Menta Ramen on a weekday lunch. I was by myself and in a hurry to get back to work. So I saw the menu and placed an order to go. They told me that they don’t do ramen orders to go because it will mess up the taste of the ramen. At first, I was a bit miffed but realized something. It’s somewhat rare to find a place with high standards for their food, like knowing the difference in eating ramen from a ceramic bowl versus a foam container. And for having such integrity, I salute you, Menta Ramen!
Thus, plan B was kim chee fried rice. Note that I have tried the same dish at the famous HRD Coffee Shop in SF so Menta’s version of the same dish was fairly good. I wasn’t overpowered with the kim chee and could taste all the ingredients in the dish.
I’ll need to bring a friend back here so that I can sit in their dining room and have me some ramen! The background/​ambiance music can be a bit loud so make sure to let them know if it bothers you.

Open in Spring of 2012, this location used to be a Soon Dubu (Korean Tofu) house.
Now it is Menta Ramen, with a clean, nice décor of grays and browns accented with reds. It has boothes and tables. They have a limited menu, specializing in Japanese Ramen Noodles. It is still Korean owned, and even Helen, the day waitress is Korean.
However, the chef is Japanese and they pipe in J-​Pop on the sound system. They have the usual broth flavorings, Tonkatsu (pork), Shio (salt), Shoyu (soy sauce), and Miso (soy paste), but also a Spicy Ramen. Most bowls are about $ 10, except for the seafood, which is a couple dollars more.
I had the Tonkatsu Ramen, and you can pick the intensity of the flavorings, from light, medium, to strong. I picked medium, and the bowl came out with a nice array of garnishes, including chopped green onions, and a few other ingredients, including a half semi-​hard boiled egg. The two slice of pork were thin and large, and very tasty.
I enjoyed slurping up the Ramen here.
Umai!

I’m going to upgrade my rating to a 4 because they have improved their noodles, which were pleasantly gummy-​ramen-​like! The egg was still BOMB! Even though it’s only half an egg, it’s still a level up from Orenchi. Bamboo was still delicious. Everything I loved from the first time I visited stayed consistent and they improved their noodles. The broth was still pretty light, but then again I like it that way as a personal preference.
The service was still great — the waitress was very polite and made her rounds to ask if the food was okay. I had to ask a second time for a cup of water, but she was very apologetic and brought the water immediately after that.
Still a fan of this place and rooting for its success!

I totally did not expect to go here for dinner. My wife and I had to pick something up at Kinko’s next door. Menta had a «Grand Opening» sign, and it was around 6pm, so we decided to just stop by not sure if we should eat there. We went in and asked for a menu to look at. The waitress was nice, and brought us a menu to take a look. There was only one table with customers inside. The place looked like it would fit might 50, so it wasn’t large, and with the lack of customers at dinner time, we were doubtful.
The menu is small, you typical ramen choices (shio, miso, shoyu), and a variety of side dishes, Japanese fried chicken, fried rice, etc… Since we were there we decided to stay. We both ordered the shio ramen ($ 8.95), which was excellent, a decent sized bowl, nori, both the dried sheet kind, and kikurage. Corn, 2 large slices of chashu, naruto, hanjuku egg, negi, and roasted garlic on the side!!! Oh and they give you this swwet, sour, spicy radish as a side.
OH MAN!!! Without going on and on how good it was, IT WAS GOOD!!!
If you like ramen, go here and check it out for yourself, no need to battle the long lines at other ramen places, Menta’s ramen is JUST AS GOOD!
The bill came out to be around $ 19 and change for 2 bowls of shio ramen.
Go try it for yourself.

Not Himawari, not Kahoo Ramen but not bad at all considering the convenient location (as aforementioned options are a bit more than a hop skip & a jump away from the office). Regardless, pretty damn good Ramen & should you opt for the lunch special with the side of fried rice (very tasty), prepare to unbuckle your belt as the portions sizes are quite generous.
Notice I didn’t make any comparisons to Orenchi which I personally believe to be completely overrated… There, I said it…

I went to Menta Ramen with my boyfriend excited thinking it’d be good. However, when we walked in. to our surprise we were the only ones in there.
Service:
A lady came and asked us how we found out about the restaurant and thanked us for coming which I assume was the owner. I thought that was very friendly of her. Also, the waitress was attentive and made us feel very welcome. +1 star for that.
Food:
We both got the tonkatsu ramen in the rich broth after reading other reviews. yeah, no! It was so bland and tasted very diluted! It wasn’t anywhere near flavorful as Orenchi. Not to mention, they only give you half an egg. After we left, we both felt so sick!
As an appetizer, we got the Menta (?) Chicken which was good considering that was the only flavorful thing throughout our entire meal. So +1 for that as well.
Would I come back? Nope!

I came here after seeing its reviews under New Businesses on Unilocal!I thought, this is super close to my work — should come here for lunch one day.
I came here with 2 coworkers for lunch on a weekday and we were seated quickly. We all opted for the Menta (Tonkotsu) ramen and the waitress asked if we wanted our broth light, regular or rich. I got the regular and one of my coworkers got rich. The main difference is the thickness of the soup — rich is obviously thicker. The broth wasn’t perfect but it was really not that bad, just kind of salty. If I want something awesome, I would go to Orenchi but if I want something quick then I would come back to Menta.
The best part of that ramen was the egg. Their soft-​boiled egg was a little bit too soft in my opinion, but it was marinated well and tasted great.
Oh btw, the menu doesn’t say that there are bean sprouts in the bowl — but there are. If you’re like me and you don’t like bean sprouts, make sure to ask them not to include it!

Not bad, but not amazing. Just make sure you get their soft boiled egg. It is on point! Great flavor and still has that creamy yolk. I was a little sad that there was only half an egg in the ramen. Noodles okay and soup okay. I got the menta (tonkatsu) ramen with their rich broth. You can choose how you want the broth. Light, normal, or Rich. Even with the rich broth, it wasn’t as bold or rich as other shops.
A friend also had the shio ramen. I tried a bit of the soup and it was kinda light. Like not enough simmering or something.
With our ramen also came a small dish of pickled daikon and jalapenos. Gives the ramen an added bit of texture and acidity, if you like that kind of stuff.
On the table is some togarashi and fried garlic bits. My buddy had to doctor his shio ramen a bit with them to get some more flavor.
On the menu, they also offer a vegetarian ramen. I was a little curious on how that would taste but I didn’t try it.
There was no wait and the servers were attentive.

Good to see some new joints classing this strip mall up. Starting with Thaibodia, New Tandoori Café, and now Menta Ramen, the food options near the southern end of the K-​Town El Camino stretch are slowly but surely getting better. Tried this last night so here’s the rundown.
Décor — Simple modern settings with a red and black motif. If you’ve been to Misoya, kinda like that, but darker.
Service — Friendly (no offense, but something that shouldn’t be taken for granted by Korean-​run bizzes) service. It could probably stand to be a little faster, but not a dealbreaker by any means.
Food — I came in a group of 3 came and I ordered the Shoyu Ramen and my friends both tried the Menta (Tonkotsu) Ramen. Some places make their broths way too rich or salty e.g. Santouka. Menta is on the other end of the spectrum — the broth here is much milder. Like Kalbi Tang mild. They could stand to dial the richness and salt levels up a notch or three, but at the same time, I also REALLY LOVED how I didn’t feel super-​dehydrated afterwards like pretty much all other ramen places do. Oh, and whoever the cook is in the back that responsible for making the eggs, I applaud you…
BEST SOFT BOILED EGGS IN RAMEN EVARRRRRRR!!! It’s not over-​boiled or tough, and the yolk still retains that gooey quality. Seriously, I haven’t come across a better treatment of the obligatory ramen egg anywhere else in the Bay Area (or Japan for that matter)!
3.5 stars. Room for improvement, but nice service (oh, you also get a little banchan too), and bomb-​ass egg (which earns the 0.5 star). If you prefer your ramen broth on the milder side, this place is probably for you.

There was a time when I didn’t have that much experience with ramen. All I expected was noodles in a bowl with soup. Back then, it was simple — ramen was ramen was ramen.
That said, there was a time I would have thought Menta Ramen was great food.
I visited Menta Ramen last night with my wife and her brother. The general consensus was pretty disappointing. Relative to other ramen shops like Kahoo, Orenchi, Ramen Parlor, and Santouka, the noodles weren’t as fresh, the broth was lacking depth (a bad sign was when we kept reaching over for the hot oil and fried garlic for lack of flavor), and the chashu was a little tough, and hadn’t been stewed long enough.
Service was superb, and we did like the toppings — the egg especially was cooked to a nice medium boil — but a good ramen house needs more than accouterments and a friendly smile to shine. Tea is two bucks a pop (most places it’s free), and the gizzard-​sized chicken nuggets they passed of as chicken karaage came out to six dollars for six pieces.
Chicken is cheap. Tea is cheap. Why charge so much for the cheap stuff? To draw attention from the mediocre ramen? If that’s the case, it didn’t work.

This place is Korean owned. That’s what I’m guessing because my friend said she heard the staff speaking Korean. We came here for lunch because Orenchi was too crowded, and Menta is only two miles away. I’ve been to many Korean-​owned Sushi places, but this is the first time I’ve been to a Korean-​owned Ramen place. But based off the ramen alone, I’m pretty sure you can’t tell it’s Korean-​made because it tastes like authentic Japanese ramen.
The noodle is soft, not as good as Maru Ichi’s tezukuri (handmade) ramen. The broth is surely not as savory as Orenchi’s where the broth is slowly brewed for 18 hours in advance. Nothing is actually bad, just not «as good.» The bamboo shoots and wood ears stand out more in my memory. What stands out the most is the egg. The yolk is ever-​so-​slightly runny, but it’s a solid hard boiled egg comparable to Orenchi’s egg.
I’m on a mission to review every Ramen place in the South Bay. Menta with its simple one page menu and amply-​spaced dining area makes the dining experience pleasant. It’s definitely not as packed as Orenchi, and it’s pretty quiet.
I gave Menta Ramen four stars because tea is not complimentary. I would’ve given fives stars if I had gotten complimentary barley tea or even kimchi side dishes. Usually Korean places are pretty generous with this sort of thing.