Menya Shono - San Rafael (CA)

5 /5 Filipp Nesterov: Just had dinner at this spot. I ordered the Corn Wings, Takoyaki, and the Original Ramen. Everything was insanely good. The ramen especially — super rich, creamy broth, really good chicken, and all the toppings were on point. Honestly, probably the best ramen I’ve had so far. The Takoyaki were solid, nothing crazy, but tasty. The Corn Wings were something new for me — really interesting and definitely worth trying. The place has a really authentic vibe, and the staff is great. Totally recommend checking it out.

3 /5 Kenjiro Y: The ramen here is pretty darn good, but the service was horrible. The staff had a very rushed attitude. We were left standing at the entrance even though there was no one else in the restaurant. The worker seemed either too busy or too annoyed to help. Even after we were seated, I had to go up to the cash register to place our order and walked up to the cash register to pay at the end. The table was sticky all over. The ramen is expensive, but good.

5 /5 Eric Heagan: This is hands-down the best ramen I’ve ever had. I haven’t been to Japan yet, but this is exactly what I imagine a truly authentic bowl tastes like. The atmosphere is incredible—beautifully traditional, thoughtfully decorated, and just a great vibe overall. The ingredients are clearly high quality, and their sake list is top-notch. Service was okay, not bad, just not the standout compared to everything else. Still, I’d absolutely come back for the food and the experience.

5 /5 K Danny (DSKO): I’ve been going to Menya Shono and Mensho for years so a review is long overdue for this San Rafael location. Chef and owner Tomaharu Shono opened Mensho in 2005, and the first U.S. location was opened in 2016 in San Francisco. 5 years later, he opened a location in San Rafael, then Union City and Oakland in subsequent years. Clearly Chef Shono has some affinity for the Bay Area. And the Bay Area is fortunate for it! His ramen is some of, if not the best outside of Japan. The San Rafael location is much larger than Mensho SF with vaulted ceilings and an open kitchen. It has a large stainless steel bar back with many taps for beer with about a quarter of them actually in use. Perhaps it used to be a brewery space. There are crates printed with Mensho and large wall-painted explanations their farm-to-table approach and the properties of the grains used for the noodles. Starting from the appetizers, there are the Corn Ribs which are buttery, roasted, and cut into bite-sized strips. Then there are the Enoki Chips, an airy mound of delicately thin and fried enoki mushrooms. Perfectly fried chicken karaage with a slice of lemon. There’s also Mentaiko Takoyaki, Nori Calamari, Chashu Rice and Vegan Karaage. Then there’s the ramen. Chef Shono is known for his signature Tori Paitan, a thick and creamy chicken broth, fried garlic, chashu, sesame and burdock. The SF location has a matcha variant of it, but San Rafael does not. It is unique to the U.S., where Tonkotsu pork broth is the most common ramen-style you’ll see at Ippudo, Santouka, Nagi, etc. There is also Mazesoba, Tsukemen, Miso Ramen, and a vegetarian Tantanmen. But my favorite that I just drove 2 hours for this weekend was the Chintan Shio Ramen. There is so much craft that goes into it from the chewy and thin wheat noodles, roasted duck medallions, smoked chashu, perfectly marinated and custard-like ajitama and clear flavorful complex and sublime broth, it’s as good as it gets outside of Tokyo. If it takes a bit longer than the average ramen place for it to get to your table, it’s because they are taking extra time to make it perfect. Sadly, the much closer Union City location’s Chintan Shio does not compare favorably to the San Rafael location. Me and my partner both felt that it doesn’t taste as fresh, and the broth and noodles of the Shio there have somewhat of an oddly packaged ramen taste. I have traveled for a few weeks to Tokyo and Kyoto trying different kinds of ramen in Ginza, Roppongi Hills, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku. Menya Shono holds up well to native Japanese ramen. It’s the most authentic Japanese ramen you’ll find in the U.S. I’d reckon many San Rafael residents don’t know how lucky they are to have one of the best ramen restaurants in the country. I wish we had one in the South Bay, except that the lines would be ridiculous. It would definitely thin out the lines at Ramen Nagi and Tsujita.