In heavily Asian Fort Lee, no-frills ramen parlor arrives by way of Korea

A vegetarian version of Miso Ramen with an extra-cost topping of fresh spinach at Menya Sandaime in Fort Lee.

Karakuchi Ramen with fatty slices of pork gets a little heat from Korean pepper.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss some of the changes in the dining scene in Fort Lee, which boasts a diversity you can't find in neighboring Palisades Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Fort Lee clearly remains the leading destination in North Jersey for lovers of Asian food.

New and old Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants tease the palate of the adventurous, and filling, inexpensive meals are widely available.

Menya Sandaime, the borough's third ramen parlor, took a circuitous route, according to Chopsticks NY, a free English-language guide published by a Japanese newspaper.

The ramen parlor's "parent company is a yakiniku barbecue restaurant in Tokyo [that] opened a popular ramen chain in Korea," according to an August 2014 review in Chopsticks NY.

The spot in Fort Lee, a Hudson River town with many Korean and Japanese residents, is its first branch in the United States. 

Last Friday, a review in The Record of Woodland Park identified Menya Sandaime as "part of a South Korea-based chain," but didn't mention its Japanese origins.

Cheap and filling

The menu is limited, but filled with comfort food:

Tokyo- and Sapporo-style ramens for $8.50 to $11 each (plus such extra-cost toppings as spinach and boiled egg halves); a stir-fried dish with seafood, a couple of small rice bowls topped with pork or beef, and pan-fried pork dumplings.

On Saturday afternoon, we waited only about 10 minutes before we were seated at a table for four. 

Depending on the review, Menya Sandaime has 22 or 25 seats, but when the restaurant is busy, customers also are seated in an employee break room.

Don't expect any frills. 

The floor in the dining room and unisex bathroom appears to be bare concrete, and the music on the sound system is loud, perhaps to encourage you to eat and leave as quickly as possible.

The ramen -- pork-bone broth, house-made wheat noodles, hard-boiled egg, vegetables and fatty pork belly -- doesn't quite fill the bowl.

Still, this is a cheap, tasty and filling meal.

The best ramen in Fort Lee? 

I haven't eaten ramen in several years at the other spots, Batten Ramen and Ramen Setagaya, so I'll let their loyal customers fight it out.

At Menya Sandaime, bowls of ramen come with a wooden ladle you use as a spoon, and chopsticks.

Vegetarian options

I love Asian soups, but don't eat meat, so looking at the menu, my eyes were drawn to Ankake Yaki Ramen, a dish of noodles topped with seafood.

The server said they were stir-fried.

But I could have a vegetarian version of Miso Ramen ($11), a soup made with soybean paste, by eliminating the pork, and I understood the server to say a vegetarian broth also is used.

It was a delicious bowl of soup filled with firm noodles, cabbage and bean sprouts, but I'm not sure the fresh-spinach topping was worth $2.

My boiled egg half was cold, and the yolk was hard.

My wife and son ordered Tonkotsu Ramen ($8.50) and a spicy Karakuchi Ramen ($9.50), respectively, plus two orders of pork dumplings, and they enjoyed all of it.

You get six Gyoza (pork dumplings) per order for $4.90. Though I didn't try them, because I don't eat meat, I'm skeptical of one newspaper critic who claims they are the best in North Jersey.

Menya Sandaime is a BYO with seating at tables and at a counter facing the kitchen.

The small dining room on Saturday around 4 p.m. Loud music discourages lingering.

The menu is presented in an open box.

Menya Sandaime occupies the first floor of an old house on a street with new construction and high-rises.

Details

Menya Sandaime, 1638 Parker Ave., 1st Floor, Fort Lee; 1-201-482-4141. Open 7 days. 

The name translates to "third-generation noodle shop," according to one review. BYO, metered street parking and small lot behind building.

In the Oak Tree Center, below, you'll find Batten Ramen, the first ramen parlor in Fort Lee (2024 Center Ave., cash only).

Next door to Batten Ramen is Saigon Kitchen, below, a restaurant that specializes in Vietnamese pho, a noodle soup with an anise-flavored broth.

In addition to several phos, Saigon Kitchen's menu also offers a tamarind soup.

Vegetarian Pho also is offered.

Soba Noodle Azuma, the flagship U.S. branch of a large Japanese chain serving handmade buckwheat noodles and other dishes, opened at 246 Main St. in Fort Lee, opposite Ramen Setagaya.

After 25 years, Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant at 230 Main St. has closed for renovations, according to signs on the front doors, below.

Silver Pond's lunchtime dim-sum service was eclipsed by Lan Garden, 88 Route 46 west in Ridgefield, where dumplings and other treats are available all day and late into the night.

The Silver Pond sign is dated Sept. 1, 2015, and construction permits are visible nearby.

Ramen battle is on in Fort Lee

Spicy Miso Ramen at Ramen Setagaya in Fort Lee.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The slurping of soup noodles has become especially loud near Main Street and Center Avenue in Fort Lee.

For more than a decade, Batten Ramen has slung authentic Japanese noodle soup, gyoza and other dishes in a no-frills setting on Center Avenue.

About 3 months ago, a branch of Ramen Setagaya, a popular Manhattan ramen spot, opened around the corner on Main Street, though you might have trouble finding it, because there still is no sign on the storefront.

Both Ramen Setagayas are outposts of a well-known chain in Japan.

The new place offers eight flavors of ramen at lunch and dinner, compared to five at Batten Ramen, including a kid's portion with fried chicken.

Ramen is based on a slow-cooked pork broth filled with chewy wheat noodles, topped with seaweed, sliced pork, egg, corn, vegetables or other garnishes.

Ramen Setagaya is a bit more expensive, but claims to serve "100% natural ingredients" with no MSG. The menu boasts of special sea salt and soy sauce imported from Japan.

I had lunch there on Thursday with my teen-age son, and the Asian man next to us made loud slurping noises as he sucked the soup noodles into his mouth -- a sign that he was really enjoying himself.

Ramen Setagaya offers table and counter seating.

The kitchen is behind large glass panels.

The man was having the set $13 menu -- a bowl of Shio or Syo-yu Ramen with Buta-don (sliced pork and rice), Curry Rice or Gyoza (Japanese dumplings).

We were the only non-Asian customers in the restaurant.

Two young, enthusiastic servers did a great job, but the volume on a flat-screen TV was annoyingly high as it repeatedly played a Japanese video on how ramen is made.

My son ordered Spicy Miso Ramen (soybean-paste flavor) with barbecued pork, bean sprouts, bamboo shoot, corn and half of a nearly hard-boiled egg ($10.50).

He said it was seriously spicy, reminding him of the spicy Korean instant ramyun he is addicted to.

I tried some of the noodles from his soup, and found them deliciously firm and chewy, far superior to any instant noodle soup.

Because I don't eat meat and I'm cutting down on carbohydrates, I ordered Seafood Gyoza ($5); Shumai, another dumpling filled with minced shrimp ($5), and Menma-zara, a bamboo-shoot salad ($3).

Gyoza are available with three different fillings.

A crunchy salad of Salt Taste Bamboo Shoots.

I once ate ramen regularly at Batten Ramen, either with my wife and son or with a friend who lived in Japan for three years and taught English at a junior high school.

I also liked other items on the Batten Ramen menu, including rice balls.

Batten Ramen serves only pan-fried pork goyza, but when I ate meat, I loved its version of this popular dumpling.

When Saigon R opened in a small storefront in Englewood, where I lived at the time, we discovered Vietnamese anise-flavored pho with rice noodles, and never looked back.

On Thursday in Fort Lee, I walked around the corner to pick up a takeout menu at Batten Ramen, and noticed it had more customers than the challenger. 

Ramen Setagaya, 243 Main St., Fort Lee; 201-585-0739. BYO, no American Express cards. Metered parking.

Batten Ramen, 2024 Center Ave., on the street side of Oak Tree Center, Fort Lee; 201-461-5465. BYO, cash only. Free parking in small underground garage.