Photo by Michael Gardiner
Paiko tan tan men
I am instantly suspicious when a new restaurant opens to massive hype and is declared “the best” of its kind. I get really nervous when a food TV personality drops in and declares that restaurant’s dish “might just be the best in America.” So when Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern said that about Kearny Mesa’s Menya Ultra (8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite M) I expected the worst. But if I didn’t get “the best,” what I did get was something that was, at the very least, pretty damned close.
The menu at Menya Ultra is brilliantly short and is laid out as such: 1.) Tonkotsu ramen (two variations); 2.) Miso ramen and; 3.) Tantan Men (with a paiko option). Side dishes include gyoza (think potstickers), kaarage (think fried chicken), edamame (soybeans) and dessert in the form of fried ice cream. Each of the ramen soups is available with additional toppings of pork chasu (braised rolled pork belly) slices, seasoned boiled egg, butter, wood ear mushrooms, green onions, bean sprouts, seaweed and corn. At the core of Menya’s menu are the alkaline noodles themselves, 55 pounds of which are made in-house daily and all of which are served on the firm side (ramen noodles aren’t supposed to be as soggy as is often the case in other local ramen joints).
The dish Zimmern gushed over was the tonkotsu. The most common style of ramen in San Diego, tonkotsu broth results from boiling down massive amounts of pork bones for the better part of a day until they collapse from their own weight. The result is a milky white, deeply delicious and meaty broth that highlights the savory flavors and a deep, umami warmth. It is pig in liquid form. While there are a number of places in San Diego making good tonkotsu ramen, the depth of flavor of Menya’s broth is unparalleled, totally round and satisfying. There is nothing missing that needs to be there and nothing frivolous anywhere in sight.
Still, don’t overlook Menya’s miso ramen. While the broth is also pork-based, the miso adds an exotic depth. The vegetables come to the front of the stage first, particularly the bean sprouts and wood ear mushrooms. The creamy broth with its slight hint of spice, though, is still the star of the show and will remain with you after the vegetables and noodles are gone.
The best main at Menya is the Tantan Men, a Japanese take on the Sichuan Chinese classic, Dan Dan Noodles. The original features noodles with minced pork in a spicy sesame and chili oil sauce. Japan’s take on the theme turns it into a ramen-like soup with the sauce interpreted as broth and the spice turned down a notch or two. It is an ingenious dish with the power of the original Sichuan rendered elegant and graceful instead. Get the paiko version that includes a pork cutlet.
The lines at Menya were long even before the restaurant officially opened. They only got longer after Zimmern’s pronouncement. The lines are still long, and however remarkable and unusual it might be to say this, they don’t seem to be any longer than they ought to be.