Noodle restaurant serves upscale version of college-budget staple in big portions
In a quaint, white-washed building across from Mellow Mushroom, Menkoi Ramen House has quietly brought a new flavor to the Vista.
The Japanese noodle spot opened this past July, and is still a mystery to most out-of-town students and newcomers to Columbia. Its building, which used to house zpizza, is welcoming and opens into a surprisingly roomy dining area.
The staff at Menkoi is friendly and accommodating, which is helpful for diners who have never eaten ramen in a setting where it hasn’t come directly out of the microwave.
The menu has ten entrees, which might sound limited, but there is still an option for everyone and more than enough to eat since the portions are huge. Orders can be altered for vegan and vegetarian requests as well.
One of their featured appetizers is gyoza, which is a type of dumpling with ground pork. It is served hot with soy sauce and the serving size is large enough to act as its own meal.
The spicy ramen is quickly becoming a favorite among customers and definitely lives up to its reputation. The ramen comes with pork, bamboo and the usual green onion and sprouts. The only thing they could improve on is the spice. It might be nice to be able to choose from different levels of spiciness instead of one uniform spicy ramen option.
The tonkotu ramen is also very good. It has yellow noodles and the same marinated pork, called chashu meat, as most of the ramen on the menu. The rice ball was the only disappointment. A traditional Japanese dish, it comes with a stuffing of either salmon, salt, bonito or plum pickle. It basically tastes like sushi without the fish, making the beef or shrimp mushrooms a better choice.
The dining space is comfortable and easily able to hold larger parties of ten as well as the loner looking to satisfy their noodle fix. They have two big flat-screens TVs which also allow for the somewhat surreal opportunity of watching NFL while eating ramen noodles and trying to figure out which way to open the rice ball. A word to the wise: don’t try this place for a first date unless you have managed to figure out a graceful way to eat noodles with either chopsticks or a fork. Trust me, I have not.
The Menkoi Ramen House is a great addition to Columbia and the Vista, offering unique dishes and a chance to extend your tastes a little. Lunch is served daily 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Menkoi is also open 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.