Ramen @ Menya Shi Shi Do, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya

The quest for that good bowl never stops. And like my many previous posts before, we are actually very blessed with many options to get that thick, savoury and satisfying ramen bowl locally.

Front of the house. 

One such joint is Menya Shi Shi Do which is one of my favourites at the moment. 

Located in the Jaya One mall, this place has a look similar to an actual menya in Japan. With wooden stools, posters of different ukiyo-e artworks and Ultraman toys, it fits the bill perfectly. It also has a kitchen top, where you can sneak peak into the kitchen, seeing men hard at work, toiling for your bowl of noodles and soup. 

A very authentic feel 

Lets get straight to the point. I have been here before a few times, and it is good. Like very good. But the menu is very basic. However, this should not deter you. Rather it should encourage you to come as it means that everything has been locked down to perfection. 

The menu

This noodle place serves mostly tonkotsu (pork bone) broth and a few variations. But what it allows you is that you can choose a "flavouring" or in fact 3 different ones. You start with a bowl of plain tonkotsu and then you can choose to include more things into it. Charshu and ajitama eggs are present, being the staple of any ramen restaurant. Then you can choose the flavouring. These flavourings are actually seasoning oil, which is one of the 5 elements in ramen. 

A description of the flavours available. 

There are an eclectic variety to choose, and they are colour coded. Choose red for a spicy kick, or yellow for a curry base oil. My favourite is the combination of green and black, which is basil and burnt garlic respectively. If you want the actual name of this lethal two hit combo, its midori kuro. 

A perfect bowl 

What comes before you after a short wait is nothing short of special. The bowl is honest and bountiful. And for a usual order of mine, an egg and slice of charshu will come along. The broth is smooth and slightly sweet. But what makes this place stand apart is that their broth is very balanced. Some ramen maniacs want their bowl to be oily or pungent, with lots of bacon-like kick back. but this was smooth and delectable. The soup was actually kind of delicate. Something that is not usually associated with ramen. It still has a thick texture which is lipsmackingly good. Almost godlike.

Its so greed, the Hulk might just fall in love with it. 

The midori kuro to me gave the whole thing a more unique edge. The basil gave the dish a herbal fragrance, which the garlic oil added some strength and depth to it. 2 contrasting flavours smashing through and emulsifying easily. 

Carbs, carbs everywhere.

The noodles were firm to the touch and was fun to slurp, especially when the double colour oils latches onto it like a jealous lover. Its not obvious to the naked eye. but once it is in your mouth, you can surely taste it. The charshu was good but its kind of average. Still worth adding on though. 

As beautiful as a setting sun. 

The egg added a great level of dimension, with its sweet and oozy interior cutting through all the other flavours in this bowl. Its yellow center was indeed a sight to behold. An absolute beauty. 

A finished bowl. There is no better endorsement. 

A thoroughly satisfying meal, the price of a base bowl, with black fungus and green onions is RM17.50, and as mentioned earlier, the price will go up with additional toppings or noodle top ups. My bowl with the egg and charshu was RM24.50. Not cheap, but was worth every ringgit. 

Another side of the interior. 

If you are a fan of noodles in general, do yourself a favour and head there for lunch as soon as possible. Maybe at the end of this post, I might just head there myself. If you want to join me the address is as follows:

100-1.039, The School, Jaya One, No.72A, Jalan Universiti, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

You cannot miss this sign.