Menya Taiga - Great unique twist of Miso broth but also another twist in the ramen
Miso Ramen
Menya Taiga
Menya Taiga
One of the popular and highly rated (based on Tabelog) ramen restaurants in Kanazawa, plus it is located near Kanazawa Station, and also opens late! This could fit into any decent foodie’s schedule, probably even a traveller who is not a foodie.
Ginger
Menya Taiga
Yuzu Skin
Menya Taiga
Pork Slices
Menya Taiga
Ramen Egg
Menya Taiga
Miso Ramen (¥780) + Set (¥350)
Good first impression with the presentation and colours, the bowl consists of:
Pork Slices
Ramen Egg
Bamboo Shoot
Yuzu Skin
Ginger
Green Laver
Spring Onion
Dried Shrimp
Beansprouts
Noodles
Broth: It was a very unique twist of ramen miso broth that I never tasted before. The saltiness from the miso and dried shrimp, a twist of refreshingness from the yuzu skin, and ginger to balance it off with a bit of heat and slight sweetness. Quite a few layers of flavours from the broth and ingredients.
Ramen Egg: I just have to emphasize that the ramen egg is just FABULOUS! Probably the best cooked ramen egg I ever ate, just look at the glorious golden runny egg yolk! It is almost a full runny egg yolk, never had such well timed one before.
Noodles: Thick and curly with a firm bite.
Chashu: Thick cut of mostly lean meat. Although the English menu said it’s roasted pork, I just feel it might be mainly boiled / sous vide, but hey I’m not a chef, just a foodie.
Now to the absolute bad part (for both myself and wife):
We just find it tough to eat it due to having a thick cut and lean meat (shoulder pork?).
Boiled / sous vide cooking method, thus still having the not so good “porky” taste.
I told my wife, maybe we were the last few customers of the day and maybe the remaining meat wasn’t the best of quality. Then I told her we should try again the next day for dinner at an earlier time, as I just can’t believe a highly rated ramen restaurant in Kanazawa that the pork is such a letdown.
Outcome of the 2nd visit on the next day, the truth is the pork is still the same in overall but slightly more tender. We went around 8.30pm for reference.
I’m really not sure is it a Kanazawa ramen style for the pork, or just them. But we really are not used to this style, and really prefer the more common tender melt-in-your-mouth style using the pork belly cut.
It’s just sad for us, if not this ramen would be an easy 3.5 to 3.75 because everything else especially the unique broth and ramen egg are bloody good.
Rating: 2.75/5
Red Miso
Menya Taiga
Chilli
Menya Taiga
Red Miso Ramen (¥880) + Set (¥350)
Wife ate this during the first visit.
Essentially the same as the regular Miso Ramen but with the chilli paste and dried anchovies, which added an extra kick of spice to the ramen.
Rating: 2.75/5
Black Miso
Menya Taiga
Black Miso Ramen (¥830)
Wife ate this during the second visit.
Compared to the Red Miso Ramen, it has more seafood taste to it. Initially, it is quite an interesting flavour but it starts to get quite jelak as the taste is quite strong.
Broth: It is thicker than the regular Miso and Red Miso Ramen, and the colour comes from squid ink.
Everything else is the same as the regular Miso Ramen.
Rating: 2.75/5
Vegetable Juice
Menya Taiga
A complimentary vegetable juice once you are seated, based on one of the poster on their wall and the drawing of vegetables of it (as I can’t read the Japanese description), it should consist of the following:
Carrot
Tomato
Cabbage
Corn
Sweet Potato
Cucumber
Eggplant
The drink is sweet and refreshing, can’t complain for a complimentary healthy vegetable drink!
Black Banana Taiga
Menya Taiga
Japanese Menu
Menya Taiga
English Menu
Menya Taiga
Framed Caligraphy
Menya Taiga
Seats
Menya Taiga
Entrance
Menya Taiga
Shop Front
Menya Taiga
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Address: 石川県 金沢市 堀川町 6-3
Opening Hours: 11.30am-3pm and 5.30pm-11pm (Tuesday-Saturday), 11.30am-3pm (Sunday and PH). Close on Monday, unless PH falls on Monday then they will close on the following day.
Payment Method: Cash
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/en/ishikawa/A1701/A170101/17007507/
(Last visited: November 2019)