We take a short break from my Japan gushing to bring you a review for Menya Musashi.
Apologies on the blur photos. The photos were taken with my handphone.
I found out about this place when it was trending on my facebook wall. There were mentions of the authentic taste and feel of their ramen and their soup stock that was authentically non-halal. Seems that I'm about to be writing about a lot of non-halal places. Oh dear.
Menya Musashi is situated in One Utama's Isetan's Food Paradise. They are one of the many food places alongside Plan B, Ichiro Sushi Bar and Gyukaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant. If you find it hard to look for the place, just look for the restaurant with the longest line. There will be a waitress taking orders of those still in line and roars of enthusiastic ramen cooks in the restaurant.
The restaurant is based on the concept of the samurai. The manager of the place is Japanese and he's dressed in traditional Japanese, 3-inch clogs and all. The cashiers usher you in with a loud 'Irrashaimase' and the kitchen staff will respond with a thundering unison shout. As they cook, you see your ramen flying in the air from one cook to another and their enthusiasm shouts usually end with laughter or smiles. It's really quite an interesting, fun atmosphere.
The decor of the restaurant depict samurais in battle and the seating is mostly a bar concept with some private dining tables for 4. They don't have much space to spare so the concept works fine and allows you take a peek at what your neighbors are eating.
There are 4 types of ramen offered:
1) Musashi ramen
2) Chashu men
3) Ajitama ramen and
4) Ramen
2) Chashu men
3) Ajitama ramen and
4) Ramen
The difference? Ramen is plain ramen with pickled vegetaboe and spring onion. Ajitama ramen is Ramen + a tamago (egg). Chashu ramen is Ramen + chashu. And finally you have the Musashi ramen which is Ajitama ramen + Chashu ramen aka all of the above.
For each ramen you order, you have a choice of 3 soups:
1) Shiro (white): With onion flavoured oil
2) Kuro (black): With special combined fried shallots and garlic oil
3) Aka (red): Home made Musashi chilli oil.
2) Kuro (black): With special combined fried shallots and garlic oil
3) Aka (red): Home made Musashi chilli oil.
Judging the 3, my choice was easy.
Here is the Musashi ramen with Aka soup. The chilli oil was not very spicy but the soup was very tasty. It was clearly made of pork stock. I saw pork fats floating all over. Perhaps a big turn-off for me but I diligently scooped them all up and put them aside. So my soup looked perfectly fine and suited for my consumption after that. Boyfie just shook his head as usual.
The ramen was springy and memories of my trip Japan started floating back. Indeed, fresh ramen tastes completely different from dried, supermarket-packed ramen. And there wasn't the overpowering flour taste. Absolute yum! The chashu was flavorful and was rather lean. Still, I stripped off all the fat and disposed of it heh.
Besides the soupy ramen, they have dried versions called Tsukemen. Every noodle dish comes with a bowl of soup. Also, you can choose the serving size for the noodles. Hey, that's like kopitiam style in a restaurant!
Their side dishes are limited to gyoza and two small rice bowls. Extra toppings of chashu or egg are charged at RM4 or RM2 per item will fulfill all your extra cravings.
Menya Musashi's food and atmosphere combines to give you the awesome Japanese dining experience. The open kitchen allows to you see all the behind-the-scenes action into making your ramen and by the time it reaches your table, you're already half-happy with your entire visit.