Menya Mappen

Im really not a fan of this place.
Unless you love udon and soba noodles and noodles are what you love then maybe this is for you.
Otherwise id go next door to pepper lunch or oiden any day of the week.
I didnt think the tonkotsu had enough flavour or thickness.
Just tasted really light and plain

Following the advice of Unilocal I went to check out the ramen at menya mappen.
It was ok, a cool experience.

love this place. delicious udon with good price. stop by whenever I feel like eating udon

This canteen style udon restaurant is seriously busy! The system is easy, cheap and efficient– by time your food is ready there is a seat free.
I felt rushed to decide due to the hustle and bustle, so I ordered the mini Karaage Mayo bowl (deep fried chicken, dried seaweed with sour teriyaki sauce & mayo on a small bowl of rice $ 4.90) with a side of mini udon ($ 2.50). My meal was prepared in minutes in front of me and I could add extra toppings along the way such as prawn or vegetable tempura just to name a few.
The fit out is retro Japanese with wooden stools and large share tables to enjoy your meal. Everyone is tucking in and happily slurping away on their udon with bits of liquid flying around — if you’re carefully not staining your top, that all of a sudden you are head down, desperately searching for that last noodle.
The affordability of a meal at Menya Mappen is practically unheard of in Sydney CBD, so jump on it!

Unbelievably good value. Pretty much always go for the bukkake soba with tempura prawns yum

Menya Mappen is my favourite place to have a quick lunch in the centre of Sydney. My standard order is the small size bukkake udon noodles, served hot, along with a sweet potato tempura and one of those little green seaweed salads, all for about $ 8. Very tasty, great value and it feels pretty authentically Japanese! Originally you often had to queue up behind a long queue, but I haven’t had to deal with queues the last few times I’ve visited, and regardless it moves fast as people are served (and serve themselves). Just be warned — no-​one likes someone who reserves their table before buying their food, and it’s helpful if you return your own tray (next to the self-​serve water dispenser).

This is my proudest budget find in Sydney. Cash only.
A little over $ 3 for a small kake udon (which is pretty huge portion for one-​person). Really fresh kimchi is $ 1. Fried crumb-​like toppings + green onions are free. I sometimes just frequent to grab some kimchi to go.
If you want to go fancy, add an egg, tempura, bean curds, grab a takoyaki, etc. It won’t break the bank and you’ll be happily full too.

If you’ve had Marukame Udon in Honolulu, you’ll love this place.
Reasonably cheap eats and yummy udon.

This place is unbelievable good. Great place for cheap eat. If you are on a budget… Stay away for the tempura and toppings! Cash only… So don’t forget your cash!
This little cute Japanese place is like a supply chain… You pick what type of noodles first, egg/​no egg, tempura, and then toppings!
Don’t forget to grab your drinks before the noodles!
Food– 5 (cheap and amazing)
Prize– 5 ($)
Service– self service
Will come back again!!! Multiple times :)

Probably the least inspiring tonkotsu ramen I’ve had in Sydney:
–The only noodle choices are udon and soba (admittedly, personal preference)
–Broth is salty and flavourless (how can it be both at the same time??)
–Almost no ingredients other than the noodles and broth. The $ 3 «deluxe» add-​on got me a small, sad-​looking, hastily-​thawed piece of pork
Sorry, Menya. If you want to compete in this neighbourhood, you’re going to have to do a lot better than that.

Have walked past this centre many times but didn’t realise there was a ramen place right near the cinemas! This is a great spot to get some quick din dins before the movies!
Got an invite to try some good olé Ramen by Yuri from Washouku Lovers (its a benefits card that is free just by signing up). Got the Curry & Beef with Sobu noodles and my partner got the Tonkotsu delux with udon.
You need to walk around the left of the shop front to order near the drinks station, they will either give you your ramen there or at the end of the line, grab yourself a tray and pick any toppings you like — options include gyoza, tempura items and then walk on down to the cold section of the self serve to get your kimchi, seawood salad and sweets then once all done pay at the register. Go sit and enjoy your meal.
To be honest i have never been to a self serve ramen restaurant before and it was different.
Overall, good first visit and yes i will be back, the prices are pretty cheap!

They only offer soba and udon. For me, it was not a good experience. The froth was not thick, little bit salty, and I prefer ramen rather than soba or udon. Btw, their vege tempura was awesome.

I just wasn’t in the mood for a gob-​smacking tonkotsu ramen for lunch from my favourite ramen join — Menya Noodle Bar on a cold Sydney afternoon but I did want something warming and light but with noodles so I decided to try out Menya’s sister restaurant — Menya Mappen on George Street — for some chewy udon.
I have walked passed and even had a peek into Menya Mappen over the years but never had the courage and go in as it was always busy with customers lining up waiting to put in their order and I could never see a spare seat.
The place decked out as if you were walking into a hip noodle house somewhere in Japan with really cool vintage Japanese movie posters plastered on the walls.
I decided to try the karaage chicken with kake broth and udon and a ontama egg ($ 6.90) as well as picking up a stick of takoyaki and a piece of tempura sweet potato from the Mappen Bar.
The soup was intensely full flavoured with benito flakes and soy and the udon were superbly firm, slippery and chewy. The generous serve of sliced kaarage chicken was satisfying (I really didn’t need two serves from the Mappen bar).
I wasn’t too blasted away by the takoyaki — it had been hanging around in the bar way too lomg and was cold — while the tempura sweet potato had a nice, firm and crispy covering of batter.
Menya Mappen dishes out a good bowl of udon for a winter’s day and at a good price considering its in the Sydney CBD area.

Mappen is my go-​to lunch spot in the CBD — look no further for delicious yet affordable Japanese noodles!
I always go for the Tonkatsu Udon, usually adding on a mini curry bowl and takoyaki. All up I pay around $ 10 for a very satisfying meal. Love the self service idea and the general feel of the shop — will continue to come back until I am able to find a better place to satisfy my udon cravings!

I tried cold Mt. beef soba, tempura soba, seafood udon. Udon seems to be better than Dragon Boy (of course with higher price).
Cold soba is not really the cold I’m expecting. I am looking for the similar cold like Korean cold noodle. Maybe it’s just my taste. However, it’s still a good dish.

Value for money for a delicious bowl of soba!
It is my first time dining here. I thought it was very nice of the chef to recommend me the Bukkake Ontama Mentaiko Soba. He further explained that by having it hot, I’ll be able to enjoy the buttery taste of the soba.
Indeed it was a sumptuous meal! I added a prawn tempura as my side dish too. Have I mentioned that there is free flow of tempura sauce?
Will def come back to try the best of their udon/​soba.

This self-​service Japanese noodle bar is next to Oiden Bowl Bar which is a self-​service rice bowl bar. I am not sure if they have a same owner.
Ordered Tonkotsu Udon. I’m a big fan of Tonkotsu soup but this one is not up to standard, not made onsite possibly. The udon is straight from the package, soggy and lack of freshness. The tempura fish cake is OK.
Generous portion at a very reasonable price. But in terms of taste, very average.

Very good udon with lots of delicious deep fried sides (love the takoyaki). The ultra-​sugary slushies are also very tempting. My friend loves the spicy salmon on rice — which looks very tempting and much healthier but I just can’t go past the perfectly cooked udon …

Self-​service Japanese place where the base meal are noodles either Udon or Soba and the fried tempura style food are the sides. I must admit for a first-​timer it might be a little confusing, just imitate what the person in front of you is doing you’ll be fine.
TONKOTSU UDON
Rich broth very peppery and might have too much heat for some. It’s a good think I enjoy pepper a lot, was just perfect for me. Great depth of flavour, the udon was also very good, just at the consistency that I like.
BEEF CURRY UDON
Beef was tender and thin, soup had that classic Japanese curry taste with a sweet after-​taste. Again udon was cooked nicely.
MISC TEMPURA AND FRIED FOOD
Overall tempura was well done, it’s not just dipped in batter but fried with additional with tempura crumble to add extra texture and sinful oiliness. Do not expect light and fluffy here, it’s more about indulgence here. Just stay away from the sausage, deep frying something so fatty as this cheap sausage is really disgusting. It’s very unhealthy and does not taste good.
Veggie «biscuit» and prawn were nice and crispy. The karage chicken had a good flavour but not crispy, very tender though, I do not know whether that was intended.
Conclusion
Above average hot-​food noodles and tempura as from 11:30am everyday. Just be prepared to queue during peak hours just because of the self-​service prone to bottleneck system. Noodles are cooked to order so it’s worth the wait. Excellent value considering the quality and beware that you will most likely have to share a table, so I don’t recommend it for big groups.
@thesydneynoob

This had been on my list of Must Eat Ats for about 6 months and things were getting ridiculous. Everything else had been ticked off. Why was Menya proving so elusive?
This had to be rectified. And quickly. Equipment was gathered, companions vetted, and a mission mounted to the hive that is George St on a Sunday night. Weaving in and out of glowing froyo bars, dodging drunks and gaggles of giggling girls I landed, lined up, ordered, sat down, breathed in all the aromas emanating from the tray stacked with spicy pork miso bowl ($ 3.90), a large cold tsuke soba with dipping sauce ($ 5.90), side of kimchi ($ 1), side of seaweed (30c). For just over a tenner I had a feast, a damned feast, that I destroyed — furiously, blindly — like some kind of delicious culinary piñata.
There were splodges on my shirt. Soy, probably. That don’t come out easy. Eh. Who cares. My one regret was not trying the black sesame frappé. It looked like a high class slurpee, and I’m all about the slush. Next time Gadget, next time.