Tokyo's Celebrated Mensho Ramen Coming to San Francisco

Tomoharu Shono Photo: Twitter/@shono_menya

More ramen is coming to San Francisco — and this time, it’s coming straight from Tokyo.

Japan’s Mensho Ramen — a.k.a Menya Shono — will be opening its first American outpost here in the city, following up on five in Tokyo, where it is a regular on the Best Ramen in Tokyo lists. The San Francisco location will be namedMensho Tokyo, and will be located at 676 Geary Street, right across the street from Redford, and a short hop from more drinking spots, like Rye and Bourbon & Branch.

Chef-owner Tomoharu Shono serves up tonkotsu bowls, shio ramen, and housemade noodles at his “eternally popular” shops, but is also known for more creative and innovative rotating offerings, like foie gras tsukemen. The menu here will be the same as the Tokyo version, albeit with a few small plates additions. Check out this nice blog post for a nice snapshot on the decade-old Japan outpost.

Shono tells Scoop that the reason he chose to expand to San Francisco is a simple one: He has a friend here, and furthermore, he thought it “to be most suitable as a place to send culture of the ramen to.” He plans to open in May.

A few snapshots of Shono’s offerings from his Instagram account:

Mensho Tokyo: 676 Geary Street, between Leavenworth and Geary. menya-shono.com

Article and Photos sourced from:  http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2015/03/10/tokyos-celebrated-mensho-ramen-coming-to-san-francisco/  by Paolo Lucchesi

Mourad: A Welcome Addition to downtown San Francisco

The interior of Mourad. Photo: Russell Yip/The Chronicle

By former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown:

I stayed in my neighborhood the other night and went to Mourad, the new restaurant opened by Mourad Lahlou in the Pacific Telephone building — and it turns out to be really good.

Diners can either go for the $150 nine-course tasting or an a la carte menu that’s in a fairly straightforward format.

Duck Liver with Pistachio, Herbs and Cocoa Gel is seen at Mourad. Photo: Russell Yip/The Chronicle

We had 11 items among four of us—oysters with preserved lemon, eggplant with cucumber and pepper marmalade, chicken wings with persimmon and mustard and duck liver with cocoa, pistachio, turnip and Satsuma mandarins.

They served our appetizers in two waves. Then we had two entrees: snapper with saffron ($34), and beef with fregola, nettle, celery root and mushrooms ($36).

They also sent us all five desserts on the menu and they were excellent.

I always like to eat at the bar and I’ve already been back, but just for cocktails. It’s a better space than where I live at the St. Regis, and it’s only a block away.  I saw at least four couples from the St. Regis residence there. We are all longing for a neighborhood restaurant that’s not fast food or Ame, which is in the hotel. I think Mourad may become the neighborhood restaurant, and with the upcoming reopening of the modern art museum, the restaurant will be the first choice for dining after viewing the exhibits. I think the location is probably better than anyone originally anticipated.

The restaurant is pretty, and it’s pretty interesting the way architect Olle Lundberg has done it. Lahlou obviously brought all of his personal and kitchen help from his other place, Aziza on Geary, because there was nothing that indicated this was a brand new restaurant.

It was a pleasant dining experience and the restaurant is big so you can actually have a conversation that no one can record without being aware they are recording it. In my opinion, Mourad is a welcome addition.

Article and photos sourced from:  http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2015/02/27/mourad-a-welcome-addition-to-downtown-san-francisco/