Ro's Recz

Address: 672 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94102

On the whole, I would say that Japanese food in San Francisco is a bit underwhelming. However, the one Japanese restaurant in SF that I can recommend eating at is Mensho Tokyo SF.

Mensho Tokyo SF is famous for its tori paitan ramen, which is very similar to what Zagin Soba in Hong Kong specializes in. If you compare the pictures between the two restaurants, the offerings are very similar. While I would say Zagin Soba is still better (it remains my favorite ramen restaurant of all time), Mensho Tokyo SF is one of the best ramen places I have been to outside of Asia.

Mensho Tokyo SF’s menu is pretty small, but it seems like the tori paitan ramen and the spicy tori paitan ramen are what most customers order (they also have a matcha ramen if you are feeling adventurous). I ordered the tori paitan ramen and added duck char siu, which was good but different from regular char siu (leaner and a bit of a gamey taste).

I arrived at Mensho Tokyo SF at 4:30, even though it doesn’t open until 5 PM. Getting there at 4:30 means you’ll get seated on the first seating, as there was a pretty long line when I was leaving the restaurant. However, orders at the restaurant come out super fast so the wait should be manageable even if you don’t get there right when it opens.

Mensho Tokyo SF Recommendation Rating: 4

1: Something worth checking out if you have time

2: Something that is a hit for some people, but not a must for everyone

3: Something worth prioritizing if interested

4: Something worth making time to check out

5: An absolute home run, worth going out of your way for