Mensho’s ramen bowls are prepared using locally sourced ingredients.
Chris Yeow
It’s safe to say Tomoharu Shono is obsessed with ramen. He grew up in Japan sampling as many versions as he could, started making his own tonkotsu broth in high school, and opened his first ramen shop in Tokyo at the age of 25.
“Before I knew it, I had devoted my life to it,” says the self-taught ramen master, who waxes about the dish in near poetic terms. “Ramen allows me to express an entire world within a single bowl. I see ramen as a full-course meal contained in one dish. You eat it while it’s hot, completely absorbed, [and finish] everything in one sitting. There are very few meals that can draw you in like that.”
Since debuting his first restaurant, Shono has spread his passion far and wide, launching multiple iterations of his Mensho and Menya Shono ramen shops around the world. That includes several popular locations in the Bay Area, with the latest Mensho set to open this spring on North Main Street in Walnut Creek. It’ll be joined by another cult hit, Marufuku Ramen, poised to launch on Cypress Street on May 27; the restaurant opened its second East Bay location in Dublin in March. Cofounded in San Francisco’s Japantown in 2017 by entrepreneur Eiichi Mochizuki, who longed for an authentic Japanese ramen experience in the Bay Area, Marufuku is beloved for its rich, traditional Hakata-style pork tonkotsu ramen. Mensho, meanwhile, takes a more unconventional approach that incorporates lamb, seafood, matcha tea, and other elements not typically seen in ramen.
Both restaurants share a commitment to consistency and quality, which includes long-simmered broths and scratch-made noodles.
“We believe that we are not just making ramen,” says Shono, “but helping to grow ramen culture.” mensho.com, marufukuramen.com.
Dining and Cooking