There was often a short line outside Menya Rui (3453 Hampton), Steven Pursley’s 24-seat ramen shop in Lindenwood Park—before Yelp named the restaurant second in its recent “Top 100 Places to Eat” list and Food & Wine magazine named Pursley a “Best New Chef” (one of only 11 in the country) in 2023, at which point the line grew longer. With tables turning quickly, however, the wait at Maiya Rui is not excessive.
Of the six ramen varieties offered, Pork Shoyu is the best seller. As with all traditional ramen, there are five components: the tare (the sauce/seasoning), stock, noodles, aromatic oils, and toppings. The shoyu (soy-based) tare includes three types of soy sauce (including shiro, which lightens the color), sake, mirin (sweet sake), and various dried seafood products, including kombu (kelp), niboshi (dried sardines), and katsuobushi (smoked and shaved bonito). The result is what Pursley calls “a super umami-infused soy sauce blend.” The body and velvety mouthfeel of Pursley’s ramen is the result an 18-hour, slow-simmered simple stock made from chicken bones and feet. The noodles (“the star of our show,” according to Pursley) are made in house on an imported noodle-making machine using three wheat-based flours (with different protein levels), plus a bit of tapioca flour to create slipperiness. Two aromatic oils are added—onion oil (diced-up yellow onions, cooked until caramelized) and bits of rendered pork back fat—which provide a “sweet roundness to counter the salty umami punch of the soy-based broth.” Finally, the toppings are a classic ensemble of scallions, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), char siu (braised pork shoulder), nori (seaweed), and an optional medium-boiled egg.
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Of note are the two sides: karaage (marinated and fried chicken thigh chunks served with lemon and Japanese kewpie mayo—eggier and with more umami flavor than its American counterparts) and house cucumbers (both pickled and miso dressed).
Menya Rui is open from 5–10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and customers should note that there’s no takeout or delivery, because to-go ramen does not travel well and is virtually nonexistent in Japan, so Pursley wants to stay true to the genre.
Within three years, Pursley hopes to open a second location in St. Louis that features a completely different style of ramen.
