Mensousai Mugen – Melbourne – dipping noodles (tsukemen) and Japanese ramen

Mensousai Mugen is located in an alleyway in Bligh Place which you can find along Flinders Lane not far from Elizabeth Street. Having visited this place in the past, it’s been a great place to visit for that special treat late at night. This place is open some lunch sessions between Tuesday and Thursday and is open for dinner most nights from 6 pm.

Walking in a cold, wet day I was hoping for a quick dinner and dash. Being alone, I was ushered to one of the counters on the upstairs part of the restaurant. There is a basement level for more group settings and tables.

The servers were all polite, many of whom were Japanese and spoke Japanese.

The Mensousai Mugen menu isn’t big, it’s just a mix of tsukemen (dipping ramen) and soup ramen and then a bunch of small plates like gyoza, chicken nanban and aburi chashu.

I opted for the Wafu Tsukemen’s large size which consisted of their dashi and soy soup for dipping, along with ramen, chashu, bamboo shoots and seaweed. I was told that the large size offered more noodles, so I was keen to go for that.

On receiving my plate, I was impressed by the presentation and the aroma coming from both the bowl of soup and the plate of noodles. The chashu was nice and thick, and the bamboo shoots retained their texture and taste.

I was disappointed by the portion size, given I had ordered a large. I was also hoping that the noodles would be just a bit more thicker so that it would absorb more the soup. And I was hoping there would be a few more toppings for the large portion. But overall, it was a fine, satisfying dish.

I found myself finishing the noodles and everything on the plate well before I was three-quarters of the way through the soup. The soup was nice and had a stronger taste, but needed the noodles to balance the intense flavours with the more alkaline flavours of the noodles.

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