A Look at the New Men Kui Tei (Inside ISE)

Last week, we passed along a tip that old school Midtown ramen joint Men Kui Tei was being replaced by a new location of Glaze Teriyaki. It was quickly pointed out in the comments that Men Kui Tei had actually moved next door and now shares a space with ISE. I stopped by the other day to check out the new setup.

To state the obvious, this place is a restaurant. Most items on the menu hover around the $10 mark, so if you want to stay in the Midtown Lunch price range, your choices are limited and you’re best off ordering takeout to avoid tip obligations. When I showed up around 1:15pm, plenty of people were seated. The crowd varied from families and couples to people in suits on business lunches.

I ordered the Tokyo Ramen ($8.50 pre-tax), which has roast pork, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and scallions. I’m no ramen aficionado, but I definitely enjoyed this dish. As is true for a lot of midtown noodle joints, the serving size was just huge. The broth was worth sipping up and everything in it tasted great. It wasn’t overly salty, as I sometimes feel about ramen.

If I had to complain about something, there could have been more pork. To the restaurant’s credit, the menu specifically says that only two pieces come in the ramen, but I thought they would have been larger.

After this visit, I’m feeling pretty relieved that Men Kui Tei is still around. Just peaking at other people’s plates, the rice dishes looked amazingly filling. I may need to come back and try something fried!

Men Kui Tei, 56 W. 56th St. (btw. 5 & 6th), 212-757-1642

4 Comments

  • Please tell me that the pork was fattier than it looked. Please please please tell me they’re not using tenderloin.

    • Sadly, it’s not any fattier than the picture lets on. It wasn’t dry, but some fat would have been appreciated. I wouldn’t order this dish for the meat.

      • The meat’s integral, though – that fattiness is part of the different textures of ramen. What is Men Kui Tei doing? The Village location kicks out consistently perfect pork.

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    Men Kui Tei’s food has been mediocre… And it is a shame that my favorite izakaya Ise has stopped my favorite “daily special (osusume)” and filled the gap with Men Kui Tei’s crappy menu… RIP.

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