This joint just opened up a month ago on 9th Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets.

Some things that caught my eye were that they served Hakata style ramen, which I am generally a fan of (thick, pork bone soup), and they also offer a matcha ramen, which sounded really unique. My wife and I tried them both.

First the green tea matcha ramen:

My wife got the lunch special deal for $12, which comes with a side of flavored rice (or extra noodles). This is the wasabi rice, with dried bonito flakes:

Watch them wiggle!!!

Anyway back to the ramen. This was very light (vegetarian), but it had an interesting, savory green tea flavor to it.

Very good for those looking to get a ramen fix but cut the calories in the process. It came topped with bamboo shoots, mushrooms, scallions and what I think was some kind of bready, fried tofu cake.

The flat, straight noodles were excellent. That goes for both bowls, too. However the Hakata style ramen was a bit too thin for my liking, despite the mushrooms being nice.

You choose bamboo shoots or mushrooms, for some reason. To get both is extra, like the egg.

Egg was perfect, but the pork was just one slice and very chewy. Bummer there.

There was still one other ramen bowl that I wanted to try, with a yuzu paste involved, so I’ll be back, for sure. I just don’t think this broth is thick enough for my Hakata, tonkotsu fix.

MENTOKU
744 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019