Noodle Lover’s Awesome Sydney Ramen Adventure – Mensho Tokyo Sydney (5/7)

It’s been over a week since I first landed in Sydney and the exhaustion’s starting to catch up to me. The gradual ailments didn’t help matters either and by that time, I just need something homely and warm to make me feel better. But first, a little history lesson about Mensho Tokyo and their ‘Farm-To-Bowl’ concept.

A brief history – Mensho Tokyo

Mensho was founded in 2005 by Tomoharu Shono that is best known for their toripaitan ramen (ramen with chicken-based broth), and ever since they have opened outlets across the world, from San Fransisco to Melbourne to New Delhi. It took a while for Mensho to arrive in Singapore and opened their 18th outlet on 20th July 2024. I only knew about this recent development shortly after returning from Sydney, but at least I don’t have to fly all the way to Bangkok, where the nearest outlet is located from Singapore, to get my next fix.

That said, choosing toripaitan instead of tonkotsu as their signature was an odd choice, but Mensho’s reasoning for doing so was mainly due to better accessibility. Everyone likes chicken, right? Compared to tonkotsu which is made using mainly pork bones, toripaitan’s use of chicken bones offered more options for people with certain health and religious dietary restrictions.

Mensho’s mission

The first time I heard about Mensho was from a ramen Youtube channel named Ramen Adventures, hosted by a ramen expert named Brian seven years ago. In the first video, he met Tomoharu Shono in person as he explains how the Farm To Bowl concept came to be. The menu featured in the video looks different from what I’ve seen in the Sydney and Singapore branches, and perhaps I should make my way to Japan one day to try it out for myself.

Farm To Bowl Concept

You could say that this is Mensho’s raison d’être when it was first conceived. You can tell that they take great emphasis on making sure that each step strictly adheres to the farm to table pipeline where they use local ingredients from local farms and sources.

The Journey

I made my way towards Temperance Lane at around 11:30AM, which was the start of lunch time for most working folks. Situated at a dark and narrow alleyway, that fits the textbook definition of sketchy, if not for the long line of people queuing up for their turn at Mensho Tokyo’s Sydney branch.

Ask anyone that knows me personally, and they’ll most likely say that I’m terrible with directions. It took me around ten minutes to realize that I’ve walked past the long line of customers waiting for their turn into Mensho.

As I joined the line of enthusiastic customers, a server approached me and asked how many people were dining in. Like most popular ramen stores in Japan, I was handed a queue card. Being the only customer who has only one pax to be served AFAIK, it didn’t take long for me to be told to proceed to the actual store entrance ahead of other customers.

Walking into the dark alley on my own was not as scary as I thought, knowing that there were plenty of office people surrounded the alley as they waiting for their meals in other shops. I continued walking until I find myself at the end of the street as I first set my eyes on the entrance of Sydney’s Mensho Tokyo branch.

Stepping foot onto Mensho Tokyo, it felt more like a nightclub than a ramen restaurant with the neon lights illuminating the entire place. But the moment I was led to the counter seat (once again), I knew that Mensho Tokyo’s not fooling around when it comes to crafting ramen. Never have I encountered a ramen restaurant this classy and exquisite with the layout of my counter space looking like this:

Ten seconds in and I’m already feeling like royalty.

I ordered ramen through a QR code provided in every table. Browsing through all the orders, I decided to order their signature item, their Classic Toripaitan (creamy soup made from chicken rather than pork) to account for my throat, still aching from the arid and punishing Sydney winter air.

Taste Test – Classic Toripaitan

What can I say? I spent the first couple of seconds appreciating the aesthetic of this bowl of Classic Toripaitan ramen the moment my bowl was placed on my table. Here, I take my time using my five senses: its comforting aroma from the chicken stock, the hues from the chashu and broth itself, the sounds of people calming chatting in the background, and the sturdy and earthy textures of the bowl.

Most importantly, it’s time to taste the toripaitan broth. Using the spoon and collect the broth at the edges, I then take my first sip.

At first glance, the soup looked pretty unassuming after setting the foamy layer aside. You might think, it’s just glorified chicken soup, how special and novel can it be? Upon the first sip, I instantly feel warm and fuzzy inside as the pain from my sore throat dissipated as I take another spoonful of broth.

The noodles were quite al dente when chewed, and its rough texture, thanks to the use of wholewheat flour, allowed the broth to cling on to the noodles easily. Knowing that the noodles were made in-store made Mensho’s efforts seem like they have go over and beyond with their attempts in crafting bowls of ramen for any customer to enjoy.

What took me by surprise with Mensho’s Classic Toripaitan was the use of oyster mushrooms in place of the menma (fermented bamboo shoots), another common topping used in many ramen restaurants. Perhaps the lighting of the store didn’t serve it justice when I popped one of the ‘menma’ into my mouth, but its bouncy and spongy texture made me question whether this was menma I was having in the first place. Took me a while to realize that they were mushrooms in disguise, which was a pretty smart move, especially for customers who might find menma tough to chew.

What sets Mensho apart from other trendy ramen stores was doing something unusual, and yet so right and special at the same time. I love how they swap out the menma for the mushrooms where the latter was able to enhance this earthy bowl of ramen so much more than if they were to follow conventions by using menma instead. Like, the mushrooms was the icing on the cake, the missing puzzle piece to bring this hearty bowl of ramen to the next level. *chef’s kiss*

Final Thoughts

There’s an old saying of how a bowl of chicken soup helps keep a cold and/or a sore throat away. Mensho Tokyo’s Classic Toripaitan did wonders to both my ailments, and I walk out of the store delighted and rejuvenated drinking the broth to its last drop.

With famed bookstore Dymocks just right opposite Mensho Tokyo, I spent the rest of my afternoon browsing through books, enjoying my time in the venerated but welcoming bookstore that ignited my love for reading again. The rest of my day was spent at the State Library of New South Wales as I learnt about art conservation and restoration of historical paintings, among other things.

Seems like we’re past the halfway point in the Awesome Sydney Ramen Adventure series. Five stores down, two more to go, plus some extra stuff incoming before this series ends.

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Location of Mensho Tokyo Sydney

2 Temperance Ln, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5pm to 9.30pm