The restaurant is tucked away in a corner street on the west side of JR Ikebukuro Station.
The building stands as it is made out of bricks. At first glance, it might be hard to believe Menya Hulu-lu is a ramen restaurant. Given its stylish and sophisticated appearance, it appears more like a café or a beauty salon. The restaurant creates an uplifting space with Hawaiian background music and décor. The interior is filled with cute knick-knacks collected in Hawaii. This is a unique ramen restaurant with plenty of originality even in the fiercely competitive ramen district of Ikebukuro.
Yuji Furukawa, an owner chef, grew up in a family running a sushi restaurant. Later on, he went on to study at a culinary school with the aim of becoming a chef. After working at a famous ramen restaurant called Chabuya under Yasuji Morizumi, the first ever ramen chef to receive a Michelin star, he decided to become independent. Wanting to test his mettle in Ikebukuro, Furukawa created his original ramen with a Hawaii theme consistent with his love of the islands.
The signature bowl is the shoyu (soy sauce) soba and shio (salt) soba set accompanied with the Hawaiian specialty spam musubi. Clear soup is made with dashi stock of kibi kokkei chicken and selected seafood that enhances the flavor of homemade noodles. The toppings of menma, chashu, kaiwale, and chili pepper are dense and tastefully arranged. The next most popular item is the limited daily menu. The regulars come here for the limited menu that changes weekly. There are also a number of other limited-edition menu items that will not let go of regular customers, such as the Hawaiian chilled lomi-lomi salmon basil soba, which is limited to twice a month, and the Italian-style chilled soba, limited to summer season.
Go for the Hawaiian beer with your bowl of ramen and you will feel like you are on an island vacation.
醤油ラーメンを食べてきました。鶏の風味がよく醤油は抑えめ。優しい味付けでとても美味しい。ほのかに香る柚子も良し。かための麺も良く合っていて完成された一杯だと思う。 Quote from Google Map Review
Photographers:menya_hululu
