Since its debut in March, Menya Ultra has been consistently drawing long lines at peak meal times. In fact, the ramen shop recently pushed the start of its dinner service back to 6 p.m. to allow the kitchen to catch up after the lunch crowd. The mid-day break is also when Menya makes its noodles, which could be the key to the restaurant’s overwhelming and immediate success.
The noodle recipe was developed 18 years ago by master ramen chef and owner Takashi Endo, who chose San Diego for the first U.S. location of his popular group of ramen shops in Japan. In Japan, there is a central factory that distributes 100,000 noodles a month to all of his restaurants but here in Kearny Mesa, the noodles are made fresh daily in a small room within the restaurant dedicated to the process. Ryosuske Goto is the head noodle maker, trained by master Endo in the art, a time-consuming practice that produces 55 pounds of noodles per day. The dough is made simply, devoid of added color or preservatives, with alkaline water, salt and a special flour sourced from Hokkaido, Japan. Known for its wheat farms, Hokkaido gets very little rain which makes for good flour production; Endo says his is of particularly high quality with a distinct aroma and flavor. The dough is rolled into sheets, layered to create the gluten that results in springy noodles, then rested before getting cut and hand bundled into individual portion sizes.
Chef Endo, who will travel back and forth between Japan and San Diego, has a solid culinary team here that includes his two sons. And more ramen shops are coming; the next may be a second location in the Kearny Mesa area that can accommodate the overflow from the original restaurant.
Now, take a look at what sets Menya Ultra apart: watch how the noodles are made and see how they star in a bowl of tokotsu ramen.
