Menya Hululu (麺屋Hulu-lu); Hawaiian Style Ramen, Ikebukuro, Tokyo

So some of you may know, but I actually lived in Hawaii for a small portion of my life back in middle and high school so I have a bit of a nostalgic memory and urn for a lot of things Hawaii related. Here in Japan, Japanese people are obsessed with Hawaii so you’ll likely find a ton of Hawaiian inspired restaurants and cafes, but tucked away in a little corner of Ikebukuro is a type of shop I didn’t think could ever be Hawaii themed. Menya Hululu has been the only ramen restaurant I’ve encountered thus far that is Hawaii themed and they have some unique decor and interior that will have you feeling the Aloha spirit. The restaurant is just a short walk from the JR Ikebukuro station so quite convenient to get to. Ikebukuro itself has a ton of eclectic and niche shops to buy souvenirs and gifts so if you’re in the area, Menya Hululu is a great place to stop by for lunch or dinner.

Hululu has quite the menu serving up a few different kinds of ramen along with specialty items they’ll concoct weekly. As you can see from the photo of the ticket machine, they don’t have an English menu so I’ll translate the machine for you guys here. Starting at the top are the specialty gentei menu items 1 and 2. These specialty menu items will be posted on a board both inside and outside the store so take a look when you’re there to decide if that’s something you’d like. Just below those is the Oomori, or extra noodles for the specialty items, extra char siu, and a Chinese style sweet tofu dessert. The big four buttons below those are their regular menu items of Shoyu Ramen, Shio Ramen, and Spicy Maze Soba (no soup ramen) all accompanied with spam musubi. The last button is to substitute the spam musubi with an onion and char siu over rice bowl (choose your ramen type at the counter). The row below that is the ramen options with no spam musubi with the last button indicating a duck won ton ramen. The row of buttons below that are soup curry tsukemen with spam musubi and soup curry tsukemen with the onion and char siu over rice bowl, miso tsukemen with spam musubi and miso tsukemen with onion and char siu rice bowl, or a spicy tsukemen with spam musubi and spicy tsukemen with onion and char siu rice bowl. The last two are a tokusei version of the tsukemen and tsukemen with no side dishes (tell the chef which tsukemen you want at the counter). The row below that are side dishes of spam musubi, steamed pot stickets, won tons, and the onion and char siu with soft boiled egg over rice bowl. Below those are the toppings of marinated soft boiled egg, menma bamboo shoots, extra char siu, and the last button is for the onion and char siu bowl as is. The final row are the drinks of Hawaiian beer, Heartland beer, Coke, Hawaiian iced tea, and Hawaiian juice.

On my visit I opted for the Shoyu ramen and spam musubi set. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the ramen here as I figured it would be a gimmicky shop with such a strong Hawaiian theme restaurant. The Shoyu ramen is of the upmost quality and it makes sense why they rank so highly in a number of ramen websites and blogs. First off, the soup is a light, chintan style chicken broth with a light soy sauce tare seasoning. The broth is really flavorful despite the transparent color. If you look closely, you can see a bit of the chicken fat oils floating on the surface and it adds a good amount of savoriness to the soup which is already packed with depth and sweetness from the broth. What really makes the soup stand out is the bits of deep fried garlic and shallots which add incredible aromas to the bowl. The solid saute of the shallots and garlic really brings through a smoky flavor profile that really differentiates it from typical Tokyo style shoyu ramen. Within the soup rested the thin, white noodles, with some rosy pink char siu, menma bamboo shoots, sprouts, and thinly silced chili peppers topped my bowl.

Noodles are really well made for this soup style. The thin, wheat flour noodles was the perfect size to cling soup with each bite without overpowering it with any floury flavor. Cooked al dente, it brings a good texture to the bowl contrasting with the crisp sprouts and chewy pork char siu. Noodles had a nice slipperiness to it making it easily slurpable and complimented the other toppings as well. Best topping by far is the rosy pink pork char siu. It’s cooked like a roast pork and with how thinly sliced it was, the pork tears easily in your mouth. Due to its cooking style, it does cook quickly from the residual heat of the soup so I recommend keeping it above the soup until you’re ready to eat it. Or you should just eat it right away because you really want that rare pork texture because it does get quite chewy when you leave it in the soup too long. Menma bamboo shoots had a nice simple, neutral flavor adding more a texture dynamic to the bowl than a flavor dynamic. This choice was definitely on purpose as I would hate for a heavily seasoned menma bamboo shoot to change up the gentle, light flavors of the soup. My personal favorite of the bowl was the addition of the sprouts rather than a more typical green onion. I loved the slight bitterness to sprouts that green onions just don’t add. It adds a nice thin, crisp texture while adding a refreshing touch to the bowl and was a topping addition I could definitely get behind.

I finished my meal off with the spam musubi and the remaining spoonfuls of the soup which really reminded me of my time in Hawaii eating at a local diner. Spam musubi, if you’re not aware, is a local Hawaiian delicacy in which sauteed spam seasoned with a teriyaki like sauce is laid on a bed of rice and wrapped with some dried seaweed. The salty and savory flavor of the spam complement the white fluffy rice perfectly and is a small snack dish that a lot of kids in school would bring on field trips. The immensely nostalgic flavors brought a huge smile on my face which was made even bigger when I saw Mahalo, or thank you in Hawaiian, written at the bottom of my ramen bowl.

All in all, I have nothing, but great things to say about Menya Hululu. Not only were the owners incredibly kind and helpful, they were very open to my note taking and picture snapping making for a happy blogger. On top of that, they had some fantastic ramen and spam musubi which left me leaving very stuffed and content. If you’re looking for some ramen up near Ikebukuro, I can’t recommend Menya Hululu enough. Definitely put this on your go to list of ramen shops.