Mini Post: Oyster Ramen

I know I talked about ramen last week, but it is still very cold outside and it might snow this weekend! So I thought I would give you more options for ramen to warm you up. Even though this post doesn't present a new option per se, it is about a ramen place that I have written about before that needs to be talked about again. This place is fantastic and what is even better is that it is original. The chef has an amazing imagination and brings out a new type of ramen every month. This place is so delicious that it has moved up to my top five ramen places list in Ibaraki. Today's mini post is about a fantastic ramen place called Menya Ishida.

Menya Ishida

I am not going to go into too many details about Menya Ishida's inside or menu. If you want a more in-depth report on this amazing ramen place, check out the post I did about this place last year:
https://ibarakieats.com/is-that-ramen-salad

In today's post, I want to talk about what the Ibaraki Eats Duo ordered when we went there last December. Not only was the ramen amazing, but the dessert was incredible as well.

Oyster Ramen

As I wrote before, the owner of Menya Ishida changes his ramen menu every month. The first time I went to Menya Ishida, I tried a Caesar Salad Ramen that was quite good. Last December, oyster was on the menu and my wife and I could not wait to try it. Mrs. Ibaraki Eats more than me. She hurried all the way from Hitachinaka to try this ramen before the ramen shop closed for the day. We both usually order separate ramen but we both wanted to try the new ramen so bad that we ordered the same oyster ramen.
When the ramen came to my spot on the counter, it looked beautiful. It had so many different ingredients that you usually don't see in regular ramen. Raw onions, and is that an oyster on top of a piece of chicken? Yes, it was. Smelling the ramen broke my mind because it did have a somewhat heavy smell of oysters but the soup did not have a heavy taste of oysters. That is not to say that it had no flavor of oysters at all, but it felt like a perfect balance. The noodles were thin and soaked up the soup perfectly. Everything in this ramen was weird and I loved every part of it. Even the cooked oyster on top was fantastic.
I am sure when this post comes out, the oyster ramen will be off the menu. But it may come back later this year!

Aedama

For those of you who are not aware of what kaidama is, it is a second helping of noodles. Aedama is also a second helping of noodles but it is served without soup and in a different sauce like crab cream sauce or basil cream to name a few examples.
I am not making this declaration lightly. I have thought about it for a while but I feel confident in saying that Menya Ishida has the best aedama (kaidama) in all of Ibaraki. I am not sure if I mentioned that the owner of Menya Ishida used to be an Italian chef. So all of his kaidama dishes are a mix of Italian cuisine with ramen noodles. The above aedama is "Tarako Cream," or in English "Cod Roe Cream." Cod Roe is salted pollack eggs. The tarako cream aedama was magical. It was so creamy and the noodles were just amazing. I could probably keep ordering this aedama and not get tired of it. The fish eggs put a nice explosion between my teeth with all that creamy delight and delicious noodles. This aedama was beyond fantastic and I am in the mood to have it again while writing this post. Alas, I will have to wait till I can drop by Menya Ishida for lunch.

Dessert Cassata

Dessert at a ramen shop!? You may be thinking that this is blasphemy, this is madness! That is when I would reply "No, this is Menya Ishida!" (Nice little 300 reference there)
I never thought I would say that you should try a dessert at a ramen place, but yes, you should try Menya Ishida's desserts. Especially the cassata. Cassata is an Italian ice cream cake made with ricotta cheese and fruits. Menya Ishida also uses nuts. Everything is mixed and then hardened into an ice cream cake.
Look at that picture. Look at the artistry of it. I almost didn't want to bite into this dessert because it looked so beautiful. I ended up trying it and it was amazing. The cassata tasted like I was at the end of an expensive Italian meal at a high-end restaurant. I had to look around just to make sure I was in a ramen shop. The fruits and nuts in the ice cream were a great addition to this ice cream cake. My wife loved this dessert and told the chef "I wouldn't mind having this every day."
By the way, I forgot to mention that the dessert menu changes as well.

Menya Ishida, you are truly an interesting and delicious ramen shop. It is too bad that you are mainly open for lunch, but I need to go back soon. I can't wait to try the new ramen and dessert that is on the menu for this month.
Until next time Menya Ishida!

For more information on Menya Ishida, check out their website:
https://mennya-ishida.com/