Menya Shono is a good quality ramen restaurant in the East Bay and I'm happy to have tried their original Ginjo ramen. Some standouts: atmosphere is modern and clean, pork chashu is slightly smoky in flavor, and broth is rich/thick. My party had no wait on a weekend lunch. Parking is easy in the public lot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Emi cozmokat
Went back to see if they went back to the old recipe. They didn’t even open on time. We waited 10 minutes to see if they would open and they still didn’t. Ended up leaving to eat something else.
Josh Quan
This place started out great. Over time, quality suffered. But they are back, and the ramen is once again sooooo delicious. It’s now one of the best ramen spots in the Bay. Please keep it up!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kevin Ko
They missed the onsen egg in my ramen order; didn’t know until I saw the door poster on the way
Jose Luis Gonzalez Gamboa
The food was outstanding! Ramen blaze deluxe is delicious!!! Perfect balance and spicy, pork is soft and tasty! Creamy soup😮💨! You must try it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Neiman Paw
A restaurant of this caliber suffers only from being in Union City. Easily competes with (or surpasses) ramen nagi, mensho, or marufuku in terms of quality and authenticity. If this place was in SF, Valley Fair, or the peninsula, there'd be a line out the door every night.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Blake Pennington
Best ramen I’ve ever had tbh, 10/10. First bowl of ramen I can completely drink all the broth because it’s so good. Ordered the Chintan ramen (soy sauce) deluxe. Portion size felt pretty good, not too much not too little. Love the smoky taste in the pork. Little pricey but worth
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michael Horn
It is surprised there is such great ramen store in the shopping area. We been here couple times and the ramen has in the good taste without change.
Please keep the good taste in here, don’t want drive far to Milpitas nor Mountains View area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
jiggbury
I can't remember the last time I had ramen this flavorful with its broth! I ordered the gko ramen deluxe that included various pieces of pork. As well as topping it off with fried garlic in a really unique pattern! Everything about it from the noodles to the egg and pork was done very well! Although it felt a little bit heavy it was manageable. There are also shoyou and lighter broths available. I also ordered takoyaki too, which was very piping hot when i bit into it, you would never really think about it due to how well put together the takoyaki balls are... I just liked how crispy they were and they're a little bit smaller than other takoyaki balls I've seen, but there's more of them here. I also liked the red ginger and other sauces they topped it off with. Overall, it's a pretty good ramen and their selections as well! The only two problems I may have with this restaurant is probably the location and maybe the service a little bit. First, the location is beyond the reach of multiple parking spots, but it gives an intimate feel compared to the other businesses around. But also is the server, I'm not sure if he is the owner or not, but was unnecessarily really blunt and straightforward. This made ordering easy, but he also can express displeasure to other customers such as unruly moms with children... Or impatient servers asking if you're ready to make a order in 5 secs of sitting down admiring how well the restaurant is laid out and all the decorations and wall paintings that they have put up to resemble Japanese style and how they're making the noodles with different equipment all over the place... At least he refills the water quicker than taking orders. Recently though he's been training in a new employee who I got the chance to meet with during checkout and she is a lot nicer than this man. It feels like this man should be working back in the kitchen making ramen and appetizers instead of doing serving stuff. If he is also a manager or owner, I understand if he needs to go in multiple positions maybe due to understaffed instances or rising costs and other stuff out of his control, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is also a culture clash with this guy as well. These mensho ramen's take pride in knowing they earned a lot of rewards from different Independent reviewers through the years, but it shouldn't be something that isn't on their mind everyday, as if they're just being a tryhard in a ramen industry or something... Either way, it looks like it's busy enough during lunch hours and it seems like everyone has a good time! Overall like wouldn't mind to come back here again. Maybe with a different server...
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Andriy Perepolkin
It is my first time eating here and I am truly impressed. After the first sip I was disappointed as I thought the broth was not strong enough. This all changed as I continued eating. I wanted to slow down and enjoy.
I've never had a ramen that hit the balance of flavors so well. I've had better broth, better noodles and better pork at other places. I've never had a ramen where all those flavors fit together so perfectly. The broth had a subtle sweetness behind the soy flavor. The noodles absorbed the flavor excellently with every pull. The smokey flavor of the pork was subtle and complimented the dish without being overpowering.
I left this place not only full of ramen but full of delight.
Long story short: this ramen place started out great, went downhill, and now has regained its amazing quality. When it first opened, I lined up a few times to eat here and felt that we had finally gotten an authentic ramen shop in Union City. But not long after, the quality dropped badly.
One time, I came here for lunch and was the only customer in the store, yet I waited 15 minutes for one bowl of noodles. There were three front-of-house staff just standing around chatting, ignoring the fact that a customer was waiting for food (yes, three servers in an empty restaurant). When I finally got my bowl of ramen, the noodles were soggy and mushy. I was so upset that I left without eating.
That was about two years ago. Recently, I saw reviews saying the quality seemed to have improved, so I decided to give it another try. This time, there weren’t many lunch customers, only one server in the front, but the service was excellent. When the ramen came, I could tell from the broth, the meat, and the noodles that real effort had been put into maintaining quality.
I think that deserves recognition. Most restaurants, once they go downhill, can only wait to close down. But this place managed to turn things around, and that alone makes me want to write this long review to let everyone know.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bandar O
They have very delicious ramen. I tried the chicken and spicy chicken ramen. Both were super good.
Faysal Sharif
Love the vibes and the black garlic ramen, super filling and amazing broth that isn’t overly powerful!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Flower Phlox
As a ramen expert, I can tell you this place is very authentic. Only exception is the red ginger, which is American. This place is what I expect for Ramen, the majority elsewhere, you're paying for industrial noodles. I was skeptical at first because this area has a lot of fakes, but it's legit.
The best part of this restaurant is the noodles. They're definitely made fresh, hand crafted, and inhouse. You're getting your money's worth. Unlike the lower end places that charge premium.
The Ginjo soup is super thick and rich. It's essentially straight up a bowl of tsukemen, not necessarily the traditional tori paitan, but ultimately it's good.
I highly recommend this ramen, in that area, it's definitely the best within 10 miles radius, nothing is better.
Menya Shono is a good quality ramen restaurant in the East Bay and I'm happy to have tried their original Ginjo ramen. Some standouts: atmosphere is modern and clean, pork chashu is slightly smoky in flavor, and broth is rich/thick. My party had no wait on a weekend lunch. Parking is easy in the public lot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went back to see if they went back to the old recipe. They didn’t even open on time. We waited 10 minutes to see if they would open and they still didn’t. Ended up leaving to eat something else.
This place started out great. Over time, quality suffered. But they are back, and the ramen is once again sooooo delicious. It’s now one of the best ramen spots in the Bay. Please keep it up!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
They missed the onsen egg in my ramen order; didn’t know until I saw the door poster on the way
The food was outstanding! Ramen blaze deluxe is delicious!!! Perfect balance and spicy, pork is soft and tasty! Creamy soup😮💨! You must try it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A restaurant of this caliber suffers only from being in Union City. Easily competes with (or surpasses) ramen nagi, mensho, or marufuku in terms of quality and authenticity. If this place was in SF, Valley Fair, or the peninsula, there'd be a line out the door every night.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best ramen I’ve ever had tbh, 10/10. First bowl of ramen I can completely drink all the broth because it’s so good. Ordered the Chintan ramen (soy sauce) deluxe. Portion size felt pretty good, not too much not too little. Love the smoky taste in the pork. Little pricey but worth
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It is surprised there is such great ramen store in the shopping area. We been here couple times and the ramen has in the good taste without change.
Please keep the good taste in here, don’t want drive far to Milpitas nor Mountains View area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I can't remember the last time I had ramen this flavorful with its broth! I ordered the gko ramen deluxe that included various pieces of pork. As well as topping it off with fried garlic in a really unique pattern! Everything about it from the noodles to the egg and pork was done very well! Although it felt a little bit heavy it was manageable. There are also shoyou and lighter broths available. I also ordered takoyaki too, which was very piping hot when i bit into it, you would never really think about it due to how well put together the takoyaki balls are... I just liked how crispy they were and they're a little bit smaller than other takoyaki balls I've seen, but there's more of them here. I also liked the red ginger and other sauces they topped it off with. Overall, it's a pretty good ramen and their selections as well! The only two problems I may have with this restaurant is probably the location and maybe the service a little bit. First, the location is beyond the reach of multiple parking spots, but it gives an intimate feel compared to the other businesses around. But also is the server, I'm not sure if he is the owner or not, but was unnecessarily really blunt and straightforward. This made ordering easy, but he also can express displeasure to other customers such as unruly moms with children... Or impatient servers asking if you're ready to make a order in 5 secs of sitting down admiring how well the restaurant is laid out and all the decorations and wall paintings that they have put up to resemble Japanese style and how they're making the noodles with different equipment all over the place... At least he refills the water quicker than taking orders. Recently though he's been training in a new employee who I got the chance to meet with during checkout and she is a lot nicer than this man. It feels like this man should be working back in the kitchen making ramen and appetizers instead of doing serving stuff. If he is also a manager or owner, I understand if he needs to go in multiple positions maybe due to understaffed instances or rising costs and other stuff out of his control, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is also a culture clash with this guy as well. These mensho ramen's take pride in knowing they earned a lot of rewards from different Independent reviewers through the years, but it shouldn't be something that isn't on their mind everyday, as if they're just being a tryhard in a ramen industry or something... Either way, it looks like it's busy enough during lunch hours and it seems like everyone has a good time! Overall like wouldn't mind to come back here again. Maybe with a different server...
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
It is my first time eating here and I am truly impressed. After the first sip I was disappointed as I thought the broth was not strong enough. This all changed as I continued eating. I wanted to slow down and enjoy.
I've never had a ramen that hit the balance of flavors so well. I've had better broth, better noodles and better pork at other places. I've never had a ramen where all those flavors fit together so perfectly. The broth had a subtle sweetness behind the soy flavor. The noodles absorbed the flavor excellently with every pull. The smokey flavor of the pork was subtle and complimented the dish without being overpowering.
I left this place not only full of ramen but full of delight.
Restaurantji Recommends
Long story short: this ramen place started out great, went downhill, and now has regained its amazing quality. When it first opened, I lined up a few times to eat here and felt that we had finally gotten an authentic ramen shop in Union City. But not long after, the quality dropped badly.
One time, I came here for lunch and was the only customer in the store, yet I waited 15 minutes for one bowl of noodles. There were three front-of-house staff just standing around chatting, ignoring the fact that a customer was waiting for food (yes, three servers in an empty restaurant). When I finally got my bowl of ramen, the noodles were soggy and mushy. I was so upset that I left without eating.
That was about two years ago. Recently, I saw reviews saying the quality seemed to have improved, so I decided to give it another try. This time, there weren’t many lunch customers, only one server in the front, but the service was excellent. When the ramen came, I could tell from the broth, the meat, and the noodles that real effort had been put into maintaining quality.
I think that deserves recognition. Most restaurants, once they go downhill, can only wait to close down. But this place managed to turn things around, and that alone makes me want to write this long review to let everyone know.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
They have very delicious ramen. I tried the chicken and spicy chicken ramen. Both were super good.
Love the vibes and the black garlic ramen, super filling and amazing broth that isn’t overly powerful!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
As a ramen expert, I can tell you this place is very authentic. Only exception is the red ginger, which is American. This place is what I expect for Ramen, the majority elsewhere, you're paying for industrial noodles. I was skeptical at first because this area has a lot of fakes, but it's legit.
The best part of this restaurant is the noodles. They're definitely made fresh, hand crafted, and inhouse. You're getting your money's worth. Unlike the lower end places that charge premium.
The Ginjo soup is super thick and rich. It's essentially straight up a bowl of tsukemen, not necessarily the traditional tori paitan, but ultimately it's good.
I highly recommend this ramen, in that area, it's definitely the best within 10 miles radius, nothing is better.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent ramen!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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