Fancy Ramen Joint Mensho Tokyo Lowers Prices A Week After Opening, $38 Ramen Now $28

When we first clapped eyes on new ramen restaurant Mensho Tokyo at Raffles City, it was clear it wasn’t your regular greasy, hole-in-the-wall noodle joint. For one, the place is huge – it boasts 90 seats. Secondly, the decor is very chic – it boasts a sleek bar, city views and a noodle-making room with a stone mill for grinding whole wheat flour. And then there are the prices – the cheapest bowl when it first launched cost $26, while the priciest was a whopping $38. Albeit for more atas ingredients like wagyu and crab, and gourmet flourishes such as crispy burdock root and smoked eggs.
Moreover, Mensho’s PR rep shares that over $1Mil was invested into the concept. Some comments we’ve heard from folks about the ramen prices back then include: “Over $30 for a bowl is crazy” and “who will pay that much for noodles?” 
As a rough comparison, the prices at fellow creamy chicken soup ramen (tori paitan) joint, the humbler Ramen Keisuke Tori King, range from $14 to $17. 
But just a week after its soft launch, Mensho Tokyo lowered its prices.
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Mensho Tokyo is part of a ramen chain founded in 2005 by Japanese chef Tomoharu Shono, whose restaurants won awards like Tokyo Ramen of the Year and the Ramen Walker Grand Prix. It has 18 outlets worldwide, including a Michelin Guide-approved branch in San Francisco. 
Chef Tomoharu Shono
Prior to this, the eatery was rather quiet on its soft launch weekend, observed our editor who dropped by for dinner on Saturday. However, when she returned a week later, the place was full-house – on a Monday at lunchtime to boot.
When it first opened, Mensho’s ramen prices ranged from $26 for a Classic Toripaitan with pork chashu, to $38 for the Signature Toripaitan loaded with A5 wagyu, duck and chicken chashu. There was also a delish Garlic Knock Out ramen for $28, and a rather convincing version of Chilli Crab Ramen for $32.
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Slight price adjustments for a new restaurant still finding its footing is not unusual. But why the noticeable price reduction here? Mensho Tokyo’s PR rep explains: “During our soft launch, chef Shono collected feedback. He decided to reduce prices because he wanted to make it more accessible for everyone to enjoy his ramen, without compromising on the quality”. Despite the price drop, he states that serving portions and toppings have remained the same.
Our editor, who visited the restaurant a second time after these adjustments, noted that the ramen tasted different. Whereas the soup for the Garlic Knockout was rich, creamy and full-bodied with a shiok garlicky kick on her first try, the second bowl tasted milder with less chicken flavour, though still decent. It turns out chef Shono “made minor changes to the house-made noodles and soup here, based on customers’ feedback,” says the PR rep. 
“Initially, many diners felt that the creamy chicken soup base was delicious but quite rich. That was the same soup base used for the San Francisco outlet, which was in the Michelin Guide. But, after [the Singapore shop’s] soft opening, chef made a slight tweak to the base so that it’s lighter. And with the slightly lighter base, the noodles now need to be thinner also to go with it,” Mensho’s PR rep shares.

While more affordable prices are always welcome, we suppose something has to give. And in this case, it just might be the slightly less hearty soup, though we’re told cost isn’t the reason for the recipe tweak and that their crowd enjoys this lighter version.
Since these changes, Mensho’s PR rep adds that “business has been good”. However, he can’t say for sure if it picked up specifically due to the price amendments, since Mensho officially opened not long ago.
Will there be more outlets soon? “For now, we are concentrating on doing the first restaurant well. We want to perfect our craft and aim to become a Michelin-recognised ramen restaurant in Singapore,” declares Mensho’s PR rep.
Mensho Tokyo is at #03-43 Raffles City Shopping Centre, 252 North Bridge Rd, S179103. Open daily 11am – 10pm. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Florence Fong
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