Man Ke Wu Ramen 滿客屋拉麵 @ Beitou, Taiwan

My day 3 at Taiwan was spent at Beitou (half day), a place that is famous for hot springs! Lunch was at this local ramen place called Man Ke Wu Ramen 滿客屋拉麵, just few stones throw away from Beitou Thermal Valley.

While I was researching about this ramen restaurant prior to this trip, I found there are two restaurants with the same name (based on an old blog post and other online searches) called Man Lai Hot Spring Ramen. One is located near Beitou Thermal Valley at Wenquan Road while the other is located near Xin Beitou MRT Station. Are they related?

Here’s the story of the confusing Man Lai Hot Spring Ramen:
Once there was a ramen restaurant named Man Lai Hot Spring Ramen 滿來溫泉拉麵 at Wenquan Road. It has been operating for about 15 years. But one day, another ramen shop came along and registered the trademark Man Lai Hot Spring Ramen. The original restaurant did not register the trademark and therefore were forced to change its name to Man Lai Man Ramen (info from ALangOntario-Tripadvisor) and eventually what we all know today as Man Ke Wu Ramen 滿客屋拉麵.

The story above was told mostly by Escape2Taiwan. So, nope the two restaurants are not related.

I actually did not know what was the new name of the restaurant previously called Man Lai Hot Spring Ramen (at Wenquan Road). All I knew was it’s still at the same place (at Wenquan Road). Only after I came back from my trip, did I searched up the name because I can’t read Chinese characters… and found out it’s called Man Ke Wu Ramen.

Now that we have the name cleared, let’s continue on the main story. We arrived at 12pm after our visit to Beitou Thermal Valley and there was a short line ahead of us.

While waiting (stools are provided), we were given an order sheet. Uhmm… do I have to use Google Translate to scan and translate all of them?

Thankfully they have English menu. Noted at the menu bottom: Minimum order is NT$100 per person.

Less than 10 minutes later, we were seated and eating our ramen.

Miso chashu pork ramen @ NT$120. My sis ordered this. She said it’s not delicious.

Original chashu pork ramen @ NT$120. I ordered this one and was immediately disappointed by everything. The broth was really really bland and the thick sliced pork was tough! Another put off was the thick noodles.

We ordered 3 bowls of this and not one of us finished it. And when I looked at other tables, the others seem to be enjoying their ramen. Were we spoiled from yesterday’s outrageously good Ippudo’s ramen? Nah, I doubt it. And I cannot really compare both actually because this is not Japanese ramen. It’s Taiwanese style ramen.

Also ordered couples of side dishes…

Hot spring egg (half boiled) @ NT$25. Beautiful runny just like a typical half boiled egg. It was served cold.

Hot spring tofu @ NT$25. Another cold dish. Very smooth.

Seaweed (sweet thin cut) @ NT$50. If I remember correctly, it’s a bit sweet and salty. Yet another cold dish.

Last to come was this warm inviting fried pork chop @ NT$65… SO GOOD!!! The flavor and texture were perfect. The saving grace of an otherwise totally horrendous lunch.

Now, is that other ramen shop any better? I don’t know. You tell me.

Man Ke Wu Ramen Restaurant.

Perhaps if you come here, try order other ramen like the fried pork chop ramen? or just order couple of plates of that divine pork chop!

Address:
Man Ke Wu Ramen 滿客屋拉麵
No. 110, Wenquan Road,
Beitou District, Taipei City,
Taiwan.

Tel: (+886) 2 2893-7958
Nearest MRT: Xinbeitou MRT

Map: