MENYA HANABI
ADDRESS: 733 W Naomi Avenue, Suite K, Arcadia, CA 91007
WEBSITE: https://menyahanabiusa.com/
When I think of ramen, I typically envision a large bowl of noodles, steeped in a broth rich with umami flavors and topped with a handful of other ingredients like meat and vegetables. For me, ramen is all about the broth, so I was certainly intrigued when my friend Michele talked about a place in Arcadia called Menya Hanabi that specialized in a “brothless ramen.”
Known as mazemen or mazesoba, this noodle dish was the specialty of Menya Hanabi, which started in Nagoya, Japan. This particular outpost marks their only location in the US, so naturally it’s a very popular place for people that are aiming to try out this style of dish. One weekend, Michele and I were looking for a backup spot to eat dinner when the first place we went to was fully booked up. Menya Hanabi ended up being right down the street, and even though there was still a bit of a wait, we decided to stick it out, since we both wanted to give the place a try.
Even with a long line of people waiting outside, the restaurant staff seemed to be able to turn out the food relatively quickly. We ended up waiting around 30 – 40 minutes before we got seated, with the inside dining area a mix between two-person and four-person tables primarily. One of the staff members came over pretty quickly to get us some waters, and we quickly began looking over the menu to decide what we wanted.
When it came to mazemen, there were a few variations on the menu, each of them based off of the original combination, but with some slight modifications with regards to the toppings placed within the bowl itself. The original combination contained spicy minced pork, scallions, chives, garlic, fish powder, seaweed, and choice of poached egg, all on top of the noodles. It sounded like their Deluxe Nagoya Mazesoba was the most popular one on the menu, with the addition of char siu, ajitama (soft-boiled egg), and nori sheets, along with all the ingredients from the original. All of that sounded really good, so I decided to go with that option.
Along with the different mazesoba options (which also included vegan ones), if that isn’t what you were feeling, they also have some options for ramen, rice bowls, or salads. From an appetizer standpoint, they had a number of fried offerings, along with edamame or seaweed salad. The Geso Nanban sounded pretty interesting to us, squid legs coated with flour and fried, so we opted to get an order of that to share.
It was probably about 10 minutes after we ordered that our Geso Nanban appetizer arrived out to the table. The squid legs were larger chunks than we had thought, as we were expecting more bite-sized pieces, similar to calamari. Complemented by the tartar sauce, the fried squid was nice and crispy on the outside, while you still got the flavor of the squid itself. There might have been some additional spices (paprika, perhaps) within the flour coating of the nanban, since it definitely had an orange hue to it on the plate.
Our bowls of mazemen were not long behind the geso nanban, and it was definitely quite a bowl of food when it first gets placed in front of you. The portion is the same as a regular ramen bowl, except without the broth. From what it said on the menu, the idea is that once you break the poached egg in the middle, you stir all of the ingredients together with the noodles to get everything coated and make a “sauce.” Using the egg as the binding ingredient reminded me of carbonara from Italian cuisine, and the mixing of all the ingredients with the noodles reminded me of dan dan noodles from Chinese cuisine.
I have to say, this dish really ended up being right up my alley. Savory and umami flavors were the primary ones here, with subtle sweetness and tartness as well from some of the other ingredients. The fish powder definitely added a slight bit of funk to the flavor profile that is rather hard to describe, but it wasn’t overpowering at all. I really enjoyed how the flavors were balanced out through each bite of the noodles, since the egg yolk did its job and helped to have the other ingredients adhere to the noodles. The minced pork, char siu, and soft-boiled egg were a great combination to round out the protein elements of the dish. Even at the very end, you can ask for scoops of rice to put into the bottom of your bowl to soak up all of the extra sauce leftover.
As my first-time experience with mazemen, I now understand why people were lining up to get into this place. The flavor combinations were really on point, and the dish is different than other things you’d be able to find. As it turns out, I’m glad that our first option fell through to provide us the opportunity to give this place a try. If you are open to giving this brothless ramen dish a shot, I can tell you that Menya Hanabi is a great place to broaden your culinary horizon.
Let’s now take a look at the Menya Hanabi Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Geso Nanban **
Squid legs breaded with flour and fried, served with tartar sauce.
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** Deluxe Nagoya Mazesoba **
Spicy minced pork, green onions, chives, seaweed, garlic, fish powder, poached egg, char siu, ajitama (soft-boiled egg), and nori, all served on top of noodles.
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Chicken Nanban
Fried chicken dipped in sweet & sour sauce and tartar sauce.
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** Curry Nagoya Mazesoba **
Spicy minced pork, green onions, chives, seaweed, garlic, fish powder, poached egg, spring mix, onions, corn, and curry powder, all served on top of noodles.
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** Hanabi Tofu **
Fried tofu topped with spicy minced pork and green onions.
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** Chashu Nagoya Mazesoba **
Spicy minced pork, green onions, chives, seaweed, garlic, fish powder, poached egg, and char siu, all served on top of noodles.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Menya Hanabi:
Food: 5 / 5
The combination of all of the flavors within the mazemen was thoroughly enjoyable. The menu features a good variety of variations on the different toppings within the mazemen, in addition to other Japanese dishes to complement your meal.
Atmosphere: 4.25 / 5
The dining room space is pretty brightly lit, with an assortment of tables that could accommodate a good-sized crowd, even with the line of people outside waiting to get in. The décor itself is pretty straightforward, with metal chairs and wooden tables used within the space.
Service: 4.25 / 5
Our food was coming out of the kitchen in a relatively quick pace, which certainly helped out to ensure the wait getting into the restaurant didn’t end up being too long. Our waiter also stopped by our table a couple of times during our meal to check in on us as well.
Price: 4.75 / 5
The deluxe mazesoba dish that I got clocked in at $18, and for the amount of food received as well as quality of the ingredients, I would happily spend that same amount again.
Overall:
18.25 / 20
(91%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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