Mazemen, the July Special from Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai

Recently, I needed some work on my car done in the Convoy area. Since it was kind of a long wait, I decided to find a place to grab lunch, I really wasn’t feeling like getting Greek or mediocre Taiwanese…..and of course ramen was not really on the list of items I’d be wanting to have on this warm day. Until…….well, I saw a poster for a limited time offering at Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai. So, I decided to check it out.

The place was not busy at all….I mean ramen in this weather?

The item that interested me was this special for the month of July…..

Yes, RedDevil I know you asked about Mazemen in my last post on Baikohken Ramen. To be honest, I hadn’t had a decent Mazemen in SD….though what really made me hesitate was that I haven’t even had a decent version Hiyashi Chuka either! They had two versions available. One with Mentaiko Cream…which really isn’t my thing and a basic version. You can even add more tamago, chashu, and nori for $2.50. Which I really didn’t need to do.

I just got the original ($16). One of the good things about Ban Nai is that you can request your noodles “katame”; extra firm which is what I did.

I got a kick out of having oi-meshi, basically rice served with this dish. It’s literally called “follow-up rice” and you mix it with whatever tare and leftovers you have after you finish your noodles. That onsen tamago was super runny, as I gleefully mixed everything together making a mess.

There was a ton of scallion, both the green and white parts, as is typical with versions I’ve had. The shoyu tare was on the milder side, but quite thick. Which were nice and chewy. The noodles, the curly, “Kitakata” style is good at picking up the thick tare. It was my favorite part of the dish. There was quite a bit of noodles as well.

I didn’t care much for the addition off gyofun in this as it added a bit too much fishiness to the dish…but perhaps that mild tare needed it. The chashu was, like on my previous visit, on the chewier side, but it did well in small cubes, mixed in with everything.

And then of course……

The oi-meshi, which was on the firmer side…..was actually perfect for mixing with and soaking up all the leftover drippings, nori, scallions, and whatever else was sticking to the bottom and side of the bowl.

In the end, perhaps not the best mazemen I’ve had….but I did have a lot of fun eating this. Though my mom would have slapped me upside the head for “playing with my food”.

So, RedDevil, perhaps you can enjoy “playing” with this version of Mazemen. Though it’s only available for the month of July.

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai
7951 Othello Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon-Thurs 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm
Friday 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm