Review Men Tatz Japanese Noodle Restauran - Auckland Central

Perfect Japanese diner. Inexpensive and generous serving size, recommended for everyone, especially students and family. Authentic koshi udon noodle soup available both as cold and hot dish. Self ordering kiosk and food came out soon after.

Went there already twice. Loved the food, it's really Japanese cooked by Japanese. And it's not expensive at all ! Takoyaki were really good. The cold udon could use a little bite more soup to it.

I only got the chicken katsu egg don but that was pretty fantastic. If I were from around here, I'd be back for that.... I came back and got the udon and tartare chicken. Okay, and less impressive. I wish I'd ordered the chicken katsu again.

Been here several times now, always eaten the udon with kashiwa chicken tar tar. Reasonable price for the porion and taste.

Tasty ramen and rice options. I was happy to find vegan miso ramen and the prices are reasonable. The other vege option is fried tofu don. The gyozas seemed to be frozen, but I'm not so sure if they're made fresh or not. Service was quick. The place seems not so clean and the floor and tables are sticky.

We enjoyed our udon - we got the small size btw (you can choose to get a small or large bowl) as reference to the photos, and it was still a good amount! 🤗 you can choose a variety of sides to go with it. Good experience overall, would definitely come back!

At first I was worries this could have been just another "NZ ramen", not the Japanese one that I love. Unexpectedly this one was as good as what a Japanese ramen should be. I ordered a meat combination, hmm, yum yum, that definitely worth the money you pay. The lean pork and the pork belly were made perfectly. Juicy and tender, not a bit porky. Ramen itself and the egg cooked just fine, the best mates with the bone broth.

Definitely one of the best value for money, cheap eat spot in the cbd. They’re doing $1 per fried chicken which is tasty and great if you have a kid with you. I would recommend to have any of the noodles. The only thing I didn’t like here is that the Don having too much sauce. Staffs are lovely too

New owner taking over Mentaz. The udon taste great, it will taste even better if the soup temperature a bit hot. You should try kashinawa chicken spicy tempura. A bit pricey compared to the previous Mentaz.

The food is delicious, and the price is reasonable with a generous portion. The restaurant is always packed with people during peak hours, which means it might get a bit noisy and squeezy. There are only a few selections of side dishes, but this won't bother me as all their side dishes taste great. Staff is very friendly and they are quite attentive.

Amazing Donburis! For 15.90 I was provided with a regular sized bowl and a wooden tray to complement. Food took about 5 minutes to serve, and both water, cutterly including chopsticks was available at zero cost. The process of ordering was done online or on the menu screen inside the restaurant which provides a variety of options to suit their customers preference. If I visit this district again, I'll definitely be coming back!

I must say I was sleeping on this Ramen Place, walking past it over the years. The Mentatz Ramen here was crazy tasty! The servings were large very generous with the meat. The other Ramen we had was also 👌 anyone suggest a better place, I'm yet to find out. This will be my go to for now! The servers were friendly and patient with our orders. Will definitely be back here!

I had another package of food that I wasn't going to eat in mentatz but they said we have to get rid of it before entering. Needless to say, we didn't enter.<br/>

Went last night there was 4 of us. We ordered 3 ramens, 1 Chicken Kastu salad no tomato, Karrage, Fried Gyoza and Garlic Mussels. Everything else was delicious but they stuffed up soooo badly they made all the ramens and side dishes and forgot my meal the easier of all the chicken katsu salad. It came out after everything and when everyone was nearly done eating then to find they hadn't givene Chicken it was Pork and as hard as rubber. Pretty sure because he forgot he microwaved the meat which turned it to shit. The whole salad put me off. Definitely won't be back.

Very disappointed with this restaurant. I used to come here 4-5 years ago where their katsu dons were 9-11 dollars and the portion was generous. But now they their menu has changed (including price). Probz changed owner? Unsure. I would not come here again. There are much better restaurants elsewhere.

Ordered the chashu miso ramen with extra large. Once this came the soup vs noodle ratio was ridiculous, so once I asked if I could have some more soup to compensate the less poured soup staff was unfriendly and was not reluctant to give more soup. If they have told me that they would charge me more I would have gotten that, but the staff was about to argue that this was the norm.<br/>Enjoyed this restaurant in the past but would NEVER EVER come here again

I tried to order over the phone but the lady did not understand a thing, so it took me 20minutes to order 4 things. Then when I picked up the order, they forgot one of the tofu dishes and gave chicken instead, had to go back and wait for them too cook again. They also overcharged me. Not going here again.

Staff was frendley when walked in, even though it was busy got foid in a timely mannor and was amazing. Will go bck

I ordered chashu tonkotu noodle. The chashu and other ingredient were cold. A soup was too thick and only few. Noodle were too sloggy. It was my first time to have noodle like this. I was very disappointed.

There are a lot of good places to eat in Auckland CBD and most of them are not the big establishments, in fact the small eateries are sometimes way much better and this is one example, a small restaurant tucked in Lorne St in the middle of Auckland CBD called Mentatz. The dishes are great and servings are huge, there is a good selection as well but not too much that will leave you confused on what to order. From sushi to donburi there is something for everyone.

The tonkotsu ramen here is decent, the pork is super tender and flavourful and the soup is rich. I liked the texture of the noodles which were springy and had a good bite to them. There was a burnt garlic type ingredient in the ramen which I think is intentional but to me just made it bitter and astringent (although this complaint is probably my fault). I think they have a deal for $1 karaage per piece (which is a lot better than what is on the menu).

Have been here many times. Yummy and reasonable priced place on Lorne St, always have a long queue during lunch time. Tried new menu Italian Katsu Don for the first time, very cheesy with the fried pork on rice. Also recommend their Tonkotsu Ramen!

If you are after a cheaper meal, you can get better food along the street.<br/>Ordered Tonkotsu Ramen and soup was like Runny Starch. not tasty at all.

It was too oily that the soup tasted like 80% oil and 20% salt. Miso Katsu don took almost 20 minutes to come out.

A go-to student meal in the city. The staff are friendly and helped with choosing what to get and ambience is pretty average. Flavours are good but nothing spectacular or unique, so you could probably go to any other Japanese place and get the same thing for a little bit cheaper :)<br/><br/>Food - 3/5<br/>Ambience - 3/5<br/>Service - 4/5

Wife and I shared the pork tonkatsu, struggling to chew through it. We shined a light on the inside of the meat, only to discover that it was barely cooked. Really not impressed by the carelessness that allowed this to come out of the kitchen. We notified the staff and the only response was to remove that single dish from our bill. <br/>Prefer not to get sick when I’m eating out, so will be happy to never return.

Their dons are way better than their noodles! Good quantity and quality for the price ☺️ serving time takes a little long but their vegetable tempura is so worth the wait, it’s so tasty!

The classic uni day lunch meal. I ordered takeaway, got the chicken and egg oyakidon and teriyaki chicken ramen dry noodles. Food was ready in 10mins and still tasted good after bringing it back home to eat. Generous portions packed with flavour. Always consistently good. Saving your wallet too.

I ordered the chashu tonkatsu ramen with extra noodles. The food was very average, but the restaurant itself was nice. The ramen is quite different in taste and texture from other ramens that I’ve tried before, and not in a good way. The complementary boiled eggs they offered was nice though.

A place to comfort a starving stomach. <br/>Teriyaki chicken don and takoyaki were both tasty. The wasabi octopus was fresh but too spicy for me.

One of my favourite Japanese restaurant in Auckalnd to go to get Japanese ramen and donburi. My favourite dishes are Miso ramen and Chashu-men.

Able to eat Japanses ramen Easily and lightly. Their price is cheap compare to the other resturants but food is also small amout that made me to eat more.

Popular and cheap japanese meals this is the place. At peak times expect a small queue outside of the restaurant but turnaround time seems to be short, 10 to 15mins.<br/>I enjoy their Cold salad ramen during the summer, a huge plate of noodles, chicken, mayo and veges.<br/>My regular order is the Pork katsu miso donburi. I really enjoy the miso sauce, nice and sweet. I've found that the pork is quite fatty and they give you a lot more rice than the katsu or veges but it's very cheap.<br/>Service is quick and efficient. Sometimes orders on the table are not brought out together.

Ordered the teriyaki tofu don ($9) - price is super reasonable compared to the dish. The teriyaki sauce wasn’t too sweet and the tofu itself was very soft. Comes with salad and rice. There are two types of rice - white & brown which was nice to change between. The dish itself would be a 9/10 as it was very cheap and I really enjoyed the dish. <br/>However, the place only gets 3/5 as when we came here yesterday at around 6:30pm the staff were very unorganised. Took them a long time to even get acknowledged by the staff so we were standing by the doorway for a very long time. Also, when we were seated we weren’t given a menu and there was 0 customer service from the staff. We were then approached 4 times to order which made us feel very rushed. After finishing the meal they were really pushy in regards to us leaving which was kind of rude. <br/>Good place for cheap & quick eats but do not recommend if you want a place with decent customer service as it’s below average.

We've been here for a couple of times. The taste of their ramen used to be so delicious, almost similar to the taste of the ramen in Japan. However, the last time we visited the place was a bit disappointing. Although we ordered the same ramen but the taste was quite different and the serving got smaller. According to the staffs we talked with, there were a lot of changes happened. Well, I just hope that they bring back the old recipe.

Been going to Mentatz for over 10 years now, and they've just changed their menu. Food was tasteless, presentation was way worse than what it used to be like, even the menu itself has been changed from a really nice folder to a few laminated sheets. That's the last of Mentatz for me :(

Tonkotsu ramen is not too bad, but far for authentic. Broth needs to be a bit more flavorful. Egg was overcook. Ramen was around 10$, kaidama was 2$ extra. Water is self service.

Been coming here the past 10 years. Recently mentatz changed their recipe and portion and also increased the price. The wafu tonkotsu ramen used to have thick broth and flavorful. But now not only do they reduce the portion the soup is now tasteless. Its a shame but i won't be coming back.

It tasted all different. Ramen was not salty as before, thus is good. But the soup doesn't smell delicious anymore. It changed the noodles from thick to thin, sad. Moreover, the portion becomes less than before.

Good place to get a quick lunch. They have a large variety of ramen to pick from. Some downsides to the restaurant is that it can get quite stuffy from all the cooking fumes and can get quite packed on weekdays.

OMG! Food safety grade is C 😂😂 . I am not having it again even they are cheap. Can't believe it's a Japanese managed restaurant. Please be responsible for your customers.<br/>

It was ok. It was cheap and restaurant is clean and all. I guess it was just all hyped up that time when we ate. But yeah its all good. Not that cheap but quality wise its alright.

Always loved the food here. The food is alright this time, even though it's a little bit salty. They changed the menu recently, the price is more expensive and there are not so much choices compared with before. The staff are quite busy I guess that's because there were too many people during lunch time. However, what disappointed me this time is that the waitress just put my bowl away directly when I was still having it（maybe she thought I was finished? She did ask me whether she could put it away but she was doing it while asking, and I had no time to answer）...and we ordered the dish through the Waitress but the kitchen didn't get it, so we had to cancel the order after wasting 20 mins there.<br/>The service is not as good as before, which is a bit daunting...Hope it could be improved.<br/>Thanks.

Used to come here once a week after work. Visited today for lunch. Surprised that they change menu and recipe, price went up but the quantity become less. It used to be tasty but now, so so. So disappointing :( please bring back the old menu.

Very disappointed about Mentatz. I used to like this Japanese restaurant cuz it’s cheap and close to uni. I used to like the miso katsu don and came here almost everyday during school. However, the food quality and quantity drops significantly this year and tbh the service is awful. I think I won’t come to this restaurant anymore. Good bye.<br/><br/>Ps, I want to give one star but consider about the old time sake, two stars is enough.<br/><br/>

noodles here are too salty, cannot finish. For ramen I’d recommend daikoku ramen by quay st, which is more affordable with the right seasoning. I have no idea why this place Is always packed :/

This is probably the cheapest ramen place in town. It’s almost always packed every time I pass by so it’s better to get there early during dinner so you don’t have to wait in line.<br/><br/>

Cheap eats that make you happy.<br/><br/>Service: 10/10<br/>The waiters and waitresses were all so kind and helpful. Whenever we asked for anything they would immediately come to our service.<br/>The guy at the cashier was also very friendly.<br/>The food was also served quite quickly considering the amount of people in the restaurant.<br/><br/>Food: 7/10<br/>I ordered the prawn tempura ramen which came with the chicken broth base.<br/>The broth was packed with chicken flavour, it was actually quite salty.<br/>The tempura was super soggy even though it was just brought to the table. I can understand that since it was in soup it would get a little soggy, but the batter was complete mush.<br/>The noodles were perfectly chewy and had a good bounce to it.<br/><br/>Ambiance: 6/10<br/>It doesn’t really resemble your typical kind of Japanese restaurant since it is quite noisy and crowded inside.<br/>It is pretty dark which doesn’t feel very nice since it can feel gloomy. The dark furniture also absorbs most light that is shined into the restaurant.<br/>It can get quite loud since it’s cheap and Uoa is nearby.<br/><br/>This is an affordable option for Japanese food especially if you’re an university student. Not really the most authentic Japanese food I’ve had though.

It used to be very good place to have ramen. I came back after a year... Taste like instant noodles... It was totally different what I remember... So sad... I won't come back anymore... Miss mentaz I had really nice ramen...

Recently changed their menu, price went up, but the amount of food (e.g. ramen) they give you decreased quite a lot. Quite disappointing. Hopefully they will restore the qality (and quantity) of food they serve!

Love this restaurant. The food is yummy and big, for a good price. The restaurant is also very nice but a bit cramped. Waiting time is okay. When ordering take away, there's no where to sit so you kind of have to stand outside.

Cheap, happy go lucky, simple Japanese. Always full and if you don’t go early, hard to find seats. Generous servings and reasonable price due to the University vicinity. Note that they take a break from 3-5:30pm. Prefer their ramen than their donburi or nabe. Gyoza, Takoyaki and karaage quite good too.

Not like the photo, everything is soggy. Don’t order the katsu don. Came late as well. Not like the photo, everything is soggy. Don’t order the katsu don. Came late as well Not like the photo, everything is soggy. Don’t order the katsu don. Came late as well

I have no joke, been coming here since i was 10 or so. It used to be a family favourite however, I've found that the standard has dropped in recent years. Many of the dishes are good, typical japanese dishes, however i have had raw chicken served to me on 2 or more occasions. Sure the service is quick, but what about health and safety? I have also had a ramen drowned in oil which was different to all the times before. I feel like Mentatz needs to focus on consistency as sometimes, the food is great and other times, it's completely inedible.<br/><br/>I am now very wary of coming here.<br/><br/>Raw chicken pictured too.

Mentatz used to be my go-to as a broke uni student for some cheap Japanese food. However, they've recently changed their recipe for the pork miso katsu don which was my favorite- the sauce and the pork cut is unfortunately different and tastes a bit less satisfying than what it used to be :( However, overall dining experiences during my many vists have been satisfactory and filling for the amount you pay. Its quite a popular place so you have to time your visits during off-peak hours to avoid waiting in line to be seated. Not the best place for ramen, but they serve some cheap, satisfying donburis and the food is served promptly. If you're on a $10 budget and after some Jap, Mentatz is your best friend.

I seriously love this place so much. Mentatz offers lots of great food, at a very affordable price. Around $10 for a decent sized bowl of ramen/ donburi. The food takes a little while to come but it’s really worth it at the end and even when it’s busy it still comes in at the same time. I’ve been here multiple times and never got disappointed, and I really recommend people to try Mentatz.

| Spicy dry ramen | -<br/>A cheap and fulling meal under $10. They are very accommodating to vegetarian, this dish they swapped the bbq pork for tofu. I love the bamboo shoots other condiments that goes so well with the noodles. The spiciness level is very mild!<br/>Rating: 4/5<br/>

Mentatz is the go to for Ramen in Auckland. The Wafu Tonkatsu Ramen is my favorite. The opening hours are a little disappointing on the weekend. I don’t recommend ordering other dishes outside of ramen here and occasionally the noodles can come over-cooked. But overall this is great tasting busy little restaurant where you can have a filling meal for as little as $10.

Great authentic japanese ramen and very affordable!<br/>The ramen's portion are huge and always had to take away half of it.<br/>I also recommend the miso katsu donburi and takoyaki.<br/>

Always a great ramen here and such a reasonable price too! Came here for lunch yesterday and had the teriyaki chicken dry ramen and it was so flavoursome! Only $11 for a massive bowl that I couldn’t even finish.

Abura Soba - finally found a restaurant in Auckland that serves a decent Abura Soba. After trying the Abura Soba in Japan, I was hoping to find a ramen shop in Auckland that serves at least a decent one. So far, this is only the second shop I've found that even serves Abura soba and it taste pretty decent. The noodles are tasty but only moderately chewy, would have preferred it more chewy. The Abura Soba taste is there but would have preferred more garlic and a more porky taste in it. The chashu taste good but is on thr dry-er and more chewy side compared to the chashu that is normally served with ramen that is so soft that it just falls apart or melts when you take a bite. The egg taste good but I reckon it is overcooked. Usually the yolk of a ramen egg is almost liquidy or jello like and is bright orangy-red. The taste of the bamboo shoots are good and has a bite to it, not compliants there.<br/><br/>Rating: 3.5 / 5<br/><br/>Would definitely eat this again even though some elements are not as good as it could be with a few tweaks.<br/><br/>

Had the teriyaki tofu donburi, really lacked flavour, very little sauce and didn’t taste much of teriyaki. Tofu wasn’t the best either. Need more sauce with that portion of rice or put some soy sauce on the table. Pretty hot and stuffy inside, place was packed as always. Definitely need some ceiling fans. Won’t come back. Their outlet on Anzac Ave does a better donburi.

I'm a regular here and the service is always lovely and food comes quickly! The ramen is delicious and the soup base is very flavorful! Great place to stop in for a quick meal on your lunch break even when its busy!

I haven’t been back to Mentatz since my days at uni but the quality and taste of food has definitely diminished. The staff were nice still, but everything was so tasteless!<br/><br/>It’s a quick cheap meal, the whole table came to $50.50 but it was so bland and flavourless I couldn’t finish my ramen.

Spicy dry ramen + salmon sashimi with super big portion to fulfill my craving for Japanese food the whole week.. and i can say this is the best one, even-though i like their other branch in Anzac avenue which have more bigger portion of Sashimi 🤪😛

We had chicken and pork ramen, however taste was not as good as we expected. I thought it was bland compared to other ramen eateries. Fried tofu and BBQ chicken were delicious. And rice wine was satisfying. Ambiance is pretty good and location is handy.

Great service and good food for the price. I wish they would have more varieties on the dumplings. Good place to eat when you are on the go.

Great place. The prices are very reasonable for students and the portion sizes are quite good. The ambiance of the restaurant is nice. Would totally recommend coming here!

Well first of all the the ramens were great suit to my likings with big portion and cheap price. The thing is the customer services here is really bad. We ordered a tempura (second pic) and got an overfried looking veggies. When we askes the first staff if its overfried she said no. I went over to the kitchen table and ask another staff and she said its just how the color of the oil are. So i ended up sorta gave up and sat down but thinking about if the oil is tht dark colour then its not new nor healthy i ask the same staff and she said do you want me to redo it without any remorse or apology and the staff also looks very unhappy. (I didnt touch the tempura at all so it was still new when we ask her to redo it) it came back after about 20 minutes (first pic) it was better but still very oily but we ended up just eating it. The staff needs training because the services is really bad, not friendly and no smile. I would enjoy my meal more if the staffs r robots at least they can be program to be polite🙂🙃🙂🙃.

Came here by myself and was seated at the bar seat near the kitchen so I saw all the orders coming out and they made me so hungry. I had quite a long wait and finally my special shoyu ramen came. It had a combo of pork, egg and spinach with ramen noodles. Noodles were chewy and the chicken soup base was quite rich. <br/>The food in this ramen place is very affordable so it’s good for having dinner here if you are having limited budget. <br/><br/>Food: 3.5/5<br/>Service: 3.5/5<br/>Overall: 3.5/5

If you want to taste authentic Japanese ramen then this is the place to be. Their prices are really really reasonable and their ramen and soup base is delicious. Their donburi are also a huge portion and really cheap too.

Good ramen and an extremely affordable price point! Had cha shu ramen for $12 and got 5 relatively thick slices of tender cha shu.<br/><br/>Shop seems unassuming from the outside, but menu is very extensive. But the atmosphere in the restaurant is rather noisy due to the background music (One Republic?) and the crowd in the restaurant.

Should probably stick to its closing hours. I went here at 2:30 and they were just closing despite the fact it advertises it closes at 3. Maybe you should change hours online.. also the food is something you could eat from a noodle bowl.

Overall a below average experience, I've been to Mentatz on several different occasions and all my experiences were less than satisfactory. The food itself is decent and value for money, the miso katsu don was adequate but quite oily, the sweet sauce on the katsu was delightful - these are the only highlights of the experience.<br/><br/>Mentatz can get quite busy around lunch time where uni students and workers want to come down for a nice lunch. It was expected to be busy, but upon arrival we waited for service at the door, after 5 minutes of waiting we were finally greeted. We required 4 seats, the hostess was then interrupted by another customer waiting behind us who requested 2 seats. The hostess ushered them in and served them first despite us waiting for a table still.<br/><br/>After waiting another 10 minutes we were seated and the orders were taken. Service is quite slow, understandable for how busy they get, but its inexcusable to be waiting for food for 30 min.<br/><br/>Final note is: you get what you pay for.<br/><br/>Taste: 6/10<br/>Size: 7/10<br/>Price: 8/10<br/>Service: 3/10

I used to be a regular here when I was at university and it does have a good atmosphere. I was a regular at Mentatz Fine until it closed and I didn't expect the same quality of food here in the Lorne st but what I received was quite possibly the worst meal I have ever had at a Japanese restaurant. Cha shu- the pork had been cooked&then frozen(uncovered)⁢ had freezer burn and was microwaved. It was dry and disgusting. I should never have eaten it but I was in a hurry and hungry. I complained but just got a silent blank stare. The mussels were fatty, greasy and not good either. On the upside, the gyoza were very nice and the wait staff friendly although they wouldn't get me a water and napkin when requested. Overall, disappointing!

Been here now twice, and really like the ambiance. Small menu makes it easy to choose from and you m own it will be fresh quality too. Will definitely come back again🍲🍤🍥🍜

Ordered a teriyaki chicken don, it was salty and the chicken was burned ....<br/>Don’t understand why there always have a lot of people waiting outside the store

Been coming here for the last 2 years. The food here is always delicious, and the price is incredibly cheap and you always receive a large amount. The staff here seem very friendly and the wait times are minimal even though this place can get packed out. Will continue to keep coming here

Very good price. I guess I can't complaint for such good price, but the soup of  tonkotsu Ramen  is way toooooooo thick, is even became jelly like........ . I ordered the seafood grill twice, the first time was great the second time was not so tasty, but overall not bad

Today's trip to Mentatz consisted of just the two asians today as our other half couldn't be there. We've always wanted to try it out as it is seemingly packed every time we walk by and ya'll already know we loooove our asian food. A large range of choice made it difficult to choose what to eat however in the end Lucy ordered the tonkatsu while Amy chose seafood ramen with chicken broth and then a side of takoyaki to share. While waiting for the food, we were pleased with the atmosphere of Mentatz, with nice lighting, decor and an authentic Japanese mood in which the staff spoke in Japanese. The only downside to this was the need to maximise space due to how popular they were and so the tables were close together, making it a little difficult for there to be wiggle room. The tonkatsu broth was both thick and creamy, a real hearty and flavourful dish. However it was a touch too salty and after a while, became slightly sickening due to the rich flavour. A lot of water was consumed hahaha. The prok was really tender and seasoned and cooked well - not too salty or fatty. However overall, a good dish, perfect for cold weather and a reasonably sized portion. In terms of the ramen, the broth was both light and refreshing and was complimented perfectly with the thin and chewy ramen. A subtle seafood flavour made it enjoyable to eat with there also being a good variety of seafood such as squid, prawns and mussels. The takoyaki was pretty average, a little bit soggy in texture and we've had better before, so would not be our first recommendation.<br/>Overall, a solid 3.5 rating from us.<br/>Signing out,<br/>2 and a 1/2 A's

Amazing place ~ must come here ~ Delicious and affordable. I highly recommend this place. Staff provided great service and I spent less than I would usually spend when I eat out. Ramen is top notch and also all their other dishes. Check it out fam.

Came here on a busy Wednesday for lunch hoping to eat some hot ramen on a very cold day. This store is always packed with uni students and there’s always a queue but it goes pretty fast. The wafu tonkatsu ramen was indeed filling and hot - it soothed my cold body and the size of the ramen bowls is always big. However I wouldn’t eat this every day because it contains a lot of fat and you get sick of it very easily. The soup was very strong in flavor which contains a lot of fat oil that filled me up very quick. In terms of taste, no doubt these ramens are good and delivers warm and exciting flavor. The pork was always cooked nicely.<br/><br/>The average price is around $10 for a bowl which is very reasonable. <br/><br/>Taste - 7/10<br/>Size - 8/10<br/>Price - 9/10<br/>Service - 7/10

This place is central and super convenient for uni students looking for a cheap meal. Portions are large and lots of variety. However can get crowded during peak hours and you may end up having to wait in queue for a table.

This place is great for a quick bite. Ramen comes out pretty quick. The price is great around $10-$12 per bowl of ramen. Taste is great however it is lacking meats and veges in ramen. Service is also good.

Came here on a Saturday. Was pretty busy and it was obvious why. The prices are fairly cheap with a bowl of ramen at around 8 to 10 nz dollars. Ramen soup was on the salty side but overall was worth the price paid.

I've been to mentatz a few times now. They get super busy around dinner so recommend coming earlier to avoid waiting or book a table. Service is fast and efficient. Staff are friendly. Very reasonably priced. Place is nicely dimmed to create a nice atmosphere. Chatty, lively place. Definitely recommend.

I came here twice and I haven't been able to find a dish I like. One thing I really want for the topping of Ramen is a boiled egg with semi soft inside, not hard boiled one with bruising egg yolk colour😨

Terrible, no flavour. Ordered the chicken teriyaki with rice, the chicken had not even a hint of teriyaki. It tasted as if they had just boiled it and threw it on rice and served it to honest paying customers. Do not go here, there are plenty of other places in the city.

The great thing is the amazing food quality. Cannot complaint for that amount of food with such a cheap price. We got there around 9 and it was super crowded. The only thing that need to improve is customer service. I dont know whether it is because of the busy hours or not but the waitress shows no friendliness at all. She does everything so quick that I feel like being forced to make order. She is polite but for me it’s just so industrial. Would come again for the food but it’s a no-no for the service

I've been a regular customer of Mentatz for almost 5 years, today I gave this review because I found out that they serve unfresh, sour tofu bought from the day before. For everyone who doesn't know about tofu: IT GETS EXPIRED OVERNIGHT ONCE OPENED AND TASTES SOUR. The chef and the manager apparently didn't realize this problem and think it's okay to leave them overnight.<br/>BTW the tofu was from Chinese supermarkets, not Japanese, as they explained, however, we didn't get the point of it.<br/>We reordered two small dishes, waited for another 40 minutes.<br/>No apologies from any staff. At the end, we tried to explain the right way of keeping tofu fresh but the manager didn't give a shit.<br/>Been truly loving this restaurant but this mistake is not forgivable and sadly I will have to find myself another favorite Japanese restaurant in CBD. <br/>Goodbye Mentatz.

I went there as a big group in the lunch time. I was a lil surprised coz Ramen shop is usually not so fashionable place to go in Japan, but Mentatz's inside was kinda modern fashionable style.<br/>I ordered "R2 thin Tonkotsu noodle". <br/>It was cheap but small potion. I think it's not enough for men(even for me).<br/>Taste.... noodle was just average, but soup was really light like a very cheap Ramen shop in Japan.... so flat and no strong taste of pork, it was disappointing because the menu pic made me remind Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen which is one kind of Japanese Ramen style that has very strong pork tastes soup. <br/>My friends ordered Miso Ramen and this soup was also right in someway.... Uhmmm, it's not terrible but I felt something missing. I can eat it but it's not like I wanna eat it again.<br/>But the stuff were nice and kind even the shop was really busy at that time.<br/>It might b good for people who want to have Ramen in a nice clean modern restaurant but not for people who expect real Japanese style noodles like me.<br/>

This place is ALWAYS ALWAYS busy during food hours, so go early or later. If you go in you’ll notice everyone eating ramen, and that’s because they're the better dishes the restaurant serves. My friend and I ordered rice dishes and they were incredibly average I didn’t see the big deal about mentatz, but when I came back and tried the ramen, I can 100% see why it’s so popular. My meal came to about $9.50 which is amazing for a hot meal in city. Definitely recommend, but don’t go with a big group and expect seats, because that’s pretty much impossible and especially during food hours.

Me and my friend went here for dinner. Staff was all over the place. Even though i put my hand up and see me, they do not come and take my order. Once the food came, the timing between dish 1 and dish 2 toom a while. Donburi was watery and pork was dry. Noodle was ok and not too bad. Something. Definitely can improve more

Had the octopus balls, tonkotsu ramen and katsu don. Had high expectations because it's always packed. Quite a letdown though. This is another place with an inflated rating because it's popular with students. Everything is just average.

We have been at Mentatz for several occasions and I'm always looking forward for their cheap price but high quality food. <br/><br/>Like most restaurants along Lorne Street, Mentatz is often packed with customers, most of them are students from nearby universities. I always wished that the resto space will be a bit wider but nonetheless waiting time for a table wasn't so bad at all.<br/><br/>The most striking experience we had was when we rushed to the table right after the other customers shoot off. A senior staff immediately stopped us and we though we were held for something - but to our relief, he just wanted to make sure that the table was clean and ready before we took our seats. I really appreciate his action as despite how busy he was dealing with the rest of the crowd, he took time to ensure that we will have a comfy dining experience.<br/><br/>As previously stated, the menu is of very good quality and very cheap. I would personally recommend the Tonkotsu Ramen, Shoyu Ramen, and Seafood Tomato Ramen. Also, don't forget Takoyaki, Gyoza, or Tempura for your sides.

The only thing good about this place is the cheap price, and the fact that it is in the heart of Lorne street makes it crowded all the time. Food is salty, ramen is oily, and the customer service is extremely bad. I have to agree with the negative comments about this place. The waitress totally ignored me and my friend when we were dying to order. The food was literally slammed on the table, not placed. We sat in the front of the store and she opened the door even though it was so cold and windy outside. I'm definitely not gonna go back. There are 3 better Japanese restaurants just around the corner, The Don, Renkon and Yoshizawa. I don't mind paying a few more bucks for friendly service.

Heard so much about this place in the past and finally got to try their food here. As a solo visitor, I ordered Grilled Garlic Mussels and Wafu Tonkatsu Ramen. <br/>The ramen was served within five minutes. Kitchen worked fast. The soup base was heavy, salty with limited meat and lots of spring onions. Egg was fully cooked. Thin noodles were sticking together. Probably it was just cooked enough to serve.<br/>The mussels were grilled with Jap mayonnaise and garlic, it was very tasty. A wedge of lemon balance it. I enjoyed this side dish. The menu is a budget one. The place is very popular after 5:30.

Most authentic tonkotsu ramen I've tasted in Auckland so far! Has the same type of broth as you'd find in Japan. Just take out the garlic pieces they put in at the bottom of the bowl and it's quite tasty. Or maybe if you can be bothered just ask them not to put it.

Agetashi tofu should use soft / tender tofu NOT firm tofu. Even I pointed out this is a mistake, the staff only said this is their owner's choice, there is nothing they can do. I will never order agetashi tofu here.<br/><br/>However, I do love the ramen here. Good taste and served in good portion. Other side dish I will recommend is chashu pork and takoyaki. I will come back for ramen.

Out of the Japanese places I have tried in Auckland, I would say this is the best place yet!!<br/>Been here a few times with friends and family and it's been busy every single time. Last time I was here, it was a Friday night and we had to wait I n line for roughly 15ish mins which is quite understandable. <br/>The food are all well priced for the large portions they have, and it's only $1.5 for an extra bowl of noodles (quite a lot for a single serve of noodles)<br/>Personally I found their ramen soup a bit too salty, and had to drink heaps of water afterwards but maybe that's because Japanese ramen tend to go for more strong flavour? < Not quite sure, but their taste is very genuine Japanese ramen flavour similar to the ones I tried in Japan. <br/>I have also tried their takoyaki balls and it was also very good!! Never tried their donburi dishes so can't say much. <br/>One downside I found was that the Japanese workers weren't very fluent in English and it was a little hard to communicate through your orders. <br/><br/>Overall I would definitely recommend this place to other people!!<br/><br/>

Mentatz has efficient and great customer service. We were promptly seated and given menus immediately. Not only do you get a good portion for your money but you always get great and tasty food. We ordered so much food and the bill was still relatively cheap. You can get a chicken don for only $10.

Ugh, had no idea what the lady was saying. When repeating what I had ordered it sounded like a mumble. I understand she is probably fresh off the boat from Japan n is now overstaya but I would like a confirmation I am getting what I ordered. Got the spicy noodle in soup, no idea what it is called all I think is "mhmmslalba". REALLY LOVE IT THO AS A WHITE PERSON I COULD HANDLE IT

When I first went to this place I wasn't impressed of the food, it was so bland although cheap and big serving. I went back a few years after to try again with my sister and still very disappointing. The place is so packed so service can be a bit of a wait. They have forgotten my takoyaki so I reminded the staff, when it arrived it was cold in the inside!!! I have never eaten a cold takoyaki before, so I told the staff about it, and when it came back it was obviously been put in the microwave. Not impressed at all so I didn't finish it. I got some sort of ramen, big portion but tasteless ! My sis and I didn't enjoy our meal. Sad to say I won't be coming back here nor will I recommend this to anyone.

Tried this place out once with my friend. I had the ramen and she had the tempura set. We were seated quickly but it was really crowded. The food was good however my friend didnt like her tempura. She said it was just full of tempura batter and I saw the disproportionate ratio of batter and shrimp. I will come back to try other stuff and hopefully it will be better.

Big size and cheap! Really worth the price. Highly recommend the classic ramen with pork or chicken soup. Seafood one was quite salty. Always need to wait for queuing. Overall it's a great choice:)

Last time we came here a while back it was a terrible experience and if i had been writing on this then i would definitely given it a one star rating. Service was so slow and when they brought our dish it was given to the wrong table and sat there for a bit until they realised the mistake and came to sort it out. Anyway to cut that experience short it kind of made us never want to come back again....but i guess we thought we'll give them one more chance. As was not to our surprise we got there just before opening time and there was a decent size queue forming. This can be taken as a sign that somewhere is good to go to ...and cheap( maybe ). Anyway on entering the staff were really good at telling people where to sit and in no time at all the place was full and a queue was forming yet again outside of people waiting to come eat.  After looking through a decent choice on the menu i chose the Pork Miso Katsu Don and the Takoyaki ( Octopus Dumplings ) . My other half ordered the Teriyaki Chicken Ramen.  And lets not forget the Asahi for that bit of liquid refreshment. Well now ...the Takoyaki came out pretty quickly and they were so YUM!! The Ramen followed soon after and the opinion on that came over as okay...not bad and not fantastic.  Then waiting for my dish a while longer one of the girls came up and apologized for the delay in getting my dish out but it took a while to prepare and it was so busy.  They actually came to us twice to tell us so. Fantastic!! By me that's okay...at least they came and apologized instead of saying nothing. Very good.  I was impressed by the service this time. When it did come out the dish had a decent amount of pork on it but was a little bit tougher than what i have had before . But still it was really good and to be honest left me full at the end of eating, such was the portion size. So overall this time i would give it a whopping 4.5 , service was great despite delays , the food was very good and the price well worth it.  And they even apologized for a third time when went to pay the bill!!! Will definitely be coming back.  Thanks for not having us lose faith in you again!!

Pretty up there for the worst Japanese dining experience we have ever encountered. <br/><br/>Waiting staff are in dire need of training. Not welcoming at all and unfriendly. Once we were seated by the waitress, after a few minutes she asked us to move again, right to the back of the restaurant for some reason, and left us there. (Lol?)<br/><br/>Another waiter noticed us trying to get our order taken after several attempts. If only he didn't, we might have walked out and avoided this 😂<br/><br/>All food came in intervals. Sashimi butchered and not fresh, edamame was zapped, top half hot bottom half frozen. Salad was drowning aka soup with lettuce. Broth was intensely rich, thick, 2 slices of meat. <br/><br/>What topped it off at the end, waiter comes over, ever so rudely "pay now, closing".<br/><br/>Wasn't expecting much for a casual meal but just awful service and under average food. So many other choices in the city; or just stay home and cook instant noodles!

I visited Mentatz on a busy Friday night, the wait for a table wasn't too long but our food did take about 20 or so minutes to arrive. I ordered the seafood tomato ramen which was hearty, we also ordered the gyoza which was juicy and the tempura kakiage was hot and crispy albeit the batter slightly thick and oily. I find the portions here to be generous and the food is consistently tasty. The restaurant is always bustling and it's easy to see why, they serve decent food at decent prices.

My friends and I came here few months ago. At that time, we wanted to try it because its rating was over 4.0. I also tried other Ramen restaurants over 4.0, they didn't let me down. But this one I don't know how to describe the tasty. Out of respect for food, I only say it bad. That day, we ordered dumplings, but after we waited a long time, my partner went to ask if the dumplings was ready. The waitress told her it sold out. Why didn't you tell us earlier when we was ordering it? Anyway, we won't come back again.

Ate here with a group and they couldn't get out of their way to get us a table so we had to separate. At the end when a group left we just moved around tables ourselves. Anyway, I loved the tempura and not so much their prawn egg don because there's always too much rice on their bowls. In general, all Japanese restaurants do this to make it look like there's a lot but there's just too much rice that I can't finish.

Not the best lighting but really yummy and authentic. Everyone spoke Japanese to each other and the potions of the Kakuni ramen was so big. I also ordered takoyaki which came first. The pork belly in the ramen was very nice but quite chunky and big. The broth tasted very like boiled pork.. Very yummy place to eat if you want some cheap and delicious ramen place!!

Been a regular for many year and must say they really know how to drag me back in every time. They provide best bang for buck meals (that is why this place is always crowded with university students) with authenticity! My regular dish is Miso Katsu don, and oh boy, they serve the crispiest and most juicy piece of pork cutlet ever! And I hear from some reviews people complaining about rice being too sticky, but short grain rice is very commonly used in Japan and this is something I personally love. If you are looking for a comfort food with big portion, this is definitely one of the most recommended place to go in town! (And it won't hurt your wallet) p.s. Food preparation can be quite slow during peak hours. So prepare to wait for those delicious meals.

Cheap food, good food. <br/>$3 shaved ice, $9 (huuuggeee) spicy prawn salad. Their miso ramen at around $10 and most of their Don at that price too. This is the place to be for hungry university students. <br/>All their food tastes really good especially the Miso Ramen and Spicy Prawn Salad. <br/>Recommended!!<br/>

Ive been here a few times, each time ordering the same thing. Teriyaki tofu don, its my favorite! And very well priced too. Went on a busy Saturday night and got seated quickly although very busy.

I ordered Teriyaki Chicken Donburi and it was the worst one as there was no teriyaki on it.  The chicken was cooked like it was just boiled and had a little soy sauce. The slices where not in equal strips with skin.  THE WORST ONE.  Will NEVER go back. My rating is ZERO.

Located goodly and priced goodly.<br/>Understandably convenient, especially for university students who rely on Studylink for income.<br/>Service was relatively standard.<br/>Flavours tingled my tastebuds.

Good food at relatively cheap prices. The serving of their ramen is so large! I really enjoyed it until I can't eat anymore. Lol. Going to go back here sometime soon!

We had :<br/>1. Tonkotsu ramen<br/>Which is pork based broth. The taste is quite nice.<br/><br/>2. Chicken ramen.<br/>My friend really like it somehow.<br/><br/>3. Prawn tempura egg don.<br/>It was delicious. My friend likes it.<br/><br/>4. Takoyaki.<br/>Slightly different texture with the other takoyakis I've ever tried. However, it was quite nice tho.<br/><br/>In overall, the foods were nice. We really love the takoyaki. Price compared to the portion is reasonable. Nice warm place to hang out with friends.<br/><br/>Xoxo

Ordered a miso katsu don at night on 30th May.  The pork was over cooked that the crumb was burnt and the meat was dehydrated (see photo).  Before consuming the food, I have asked the waiter to replace the pork.The other waitress came back and said that the oil of the deep fryer was not change and admit that the pork is overcooked.She refused to replace the pork and say that they can't change the oil and all the pork will be cooked (burnt) as well.  She also said that I can order something else but I will need to paid for both of the meal.  She also passed me a plate and said that I can put the pork aside.  I was shocked and I questioned her how could they force me to eat a bowl of rice with the burnt pork next to it.  This is definitely not complying with consumer guarantee act, which stated that food with unacceptable quality must be replaced or refunded.  Also, by sitting close to the kitchen, I can see that the batter of the tempura they served to other customer was golden yellow, and the misa katsu don they served to others were not as burnt as mine.Thus I complained to the manager again, who was not feeling sorry.  He admitted that the pork was overcooked and the oil was not changed for a while but refused to apologise.  He mentioned that they have 2 deep fryers, and they decided not to cook me another piece of pork with the other deep fryer.I was a regular for 4 years, but due to the hygiene and staff attitude, I will never ever go back to that restaurant.

perfect ramen for rainy, cold days. reasonable price. staff are attentive. must come early as there is always a queue esp. weekends. highly recommended!

Food - Great<br/>Ambiance - Cozy<br/>Service - Good<br/>Price - Good<br/><br/>Best Japanese food I've tasted around the City. We had tempura and special ramen, which are tasty. Ramen itself is not floury. A bit of veggies will add more flavour to the soup but otherwise it is still a go to come back for. We also ordered Tempura veggies which makes it now my favourite to order. Its crunchy and light dip it with the soya sauce makes the flavour play in your palate. <br/><br/>Very popular so come early to guarantee a seat. At busy times food gets delay in service but it is reasonable time to wait. Definitely coming back!! 😊

Tried their Spicy Shio Ramen. <br/><br/>The shio soup was delicate(not too oily like donkotsu/ miso ramen) with hint of chili oil on it. It was pretty good. <br/><br/>But what made me disappointed was the egg, it was a well-done, totally boiled from-inside-to-outside egg. But for my personal opinion, authentic Japanese ramen always comes with medium rare eggs. <br/><br/>And there were just a few of vege in my ramen. <br/><br/>But for this price( around 10 bucks), I think their ramen is not bad though. <br/>

This was the worst Japanese food I ever tasted. Absolutely terrible. My sister and I have ordered 4 dishes and they all tasted not fresh at all. I will never come back !!!

Really cheap good eats with huge portions! Miso ramen was slightly spicy and creamy, loved the sweetness of corn on top. Special shoyu ramen was lighter in taste but was on the salty side. Noodles were still undercooked when we first got them but after letting them sit in the hot broth it was alright. Gyozas were stuffed full of filling and bursting with flavour, despite some bitterness from being a little burnt at the bottom. Overall, a reliable option in the city that is sure to satisfy.

Japanese ramen, student budget friendly. Again, another store worth checking out. Great as a place to hang out with your mates after tiring lectures. Ramen was good, the broth was rich and tasty....... and the shaved ice too, should give them a try!!!

Very busy Japanese restaurant in CBD.most of uni students prefer to go mentatz because the menu is affordable & the meals are delicious.further,large quantity of various dishes. lastly, Very warm welcoming service . 🇯🇵 <br/>

Yummmmm........... honestly this place is really cheap considering it's generous portions and delicious food. The staff are also very welcoming.

good flavor at reasonable price. The meat is chuncky and tasty. The dessert is yummy and fresh. Highly recommended Japanese restaurant. I think I will bring my friends here. The only thing I think they can improve is that it is not spacious but it is understandable because it is at Lorne st!

Meh... Place is always packed. A good sign? Well it's a great location. So close to the Gallery on Lorne Street. The food is very nicely priced. Dare I say cheap. You get a big portion of food. All good things. Buuut the flavour of the Ramen... Pretty bland. Pretty watery unfortunately. Even the table condiments (for chili and soy sauce check by the register) couldn't save it nor should they have to. Additionally the noodles were just like spaghetti noodles. And I like my food thermally hot, but damn. Was not expecting the first cautious bite to leave my tongue like a hunk of rubber for 3 days. Buddy of mine had some chicken that was a bit over cooked it seemed and tough. Staff was fast and efficient. But again not so flavourful.

Ramen: Tonkatsu ramen (the left one) and wafu tonkatsu ramen. Both broth are really thick and flavorful but quite fattening. Hope they serve soft boiled egg instead of hard boiled one. <br/><br/>House sake: taste was so so but it is cheap. $6<br/><br/>Sashimi: not very big piece and tasted just okay. One of our sashimi was dirty (there was a dark spot on it) so we requested to change buy the lady refused to at first. <br/><br/>Overall, not a bad experience but won't be returning that soon. <br/>

This place offers good food for its price. The interior is great and theyre always playing nice jazz. The food always tastes and they prepare it fast. This place is really for a rainy day when you want something warm to eat :)

One of my favorite spot in city~ this place provides the perfect spot for quick lunch and the food is beautifully presented. There isn't much places like this in city which provides great food at a excellent price~

Self service water...I thought I was in a restaurant but I guess not. Food came out pretty quickly but did not expect the chicken teriyaki chicken to be covered in fat, gristle and skin. Very off-putting. Hardly any sauce ap very bland and dry. This is my second visit in 3 years and I won't be hurrying back as there are much better quality Japanese restaurant around the city at that price point.

Went for a Birthday dinner to Mentatz. We got seated at the bar while placing our order. It was a Thursday night & the place was packed. We got the takoyaki, hot pork pot, grilled oysters, teriyaki chicken, grilled gyoza and butter corn shio ramen. I had the takoyaki which tasted divine, the gyoza was good too (not as good as the takoyaki) & I enjoyed my ramen a lot. But, as it was a generous serving, I couldn't finish it.<br/><br/>3 hours later...at home, I had a mild case of food poisoning ( thank goodness I was able to go in to work today). I am not sure if I was allergic to anything or if something was off.<br/><br/>Having said that, nothing happened to the others, so may be it was the ramen!?!?! I have no clue; but all I know is the food at the time was yum.☺

Great ramen place with yummy broth. I have also tried their oyako don and it's also good. This place is family friendly. Visited with my wife and our toddler and they immediately offers small bowl and high chair without we even asked. Excellent service and satisfying food, definitely deserves my recommendation!

Love miso pork katsu! I think it is the best priced katsu in the CBD. Its good quality and portion with the price. You better be there out of lunch and dinner time because they are super busy and wont able to find any seats. Also cold salad ramen and spicy ramen is recommendable.

I went there on Thursday and ordered Katsu Don. When a waitress served me my dish,my eyes widened because of the size!<br/>Besides,the taste was just perfect and unbelievable.<br/>I paid only 10 NZD so I absolutely recommend this restaurant.

Lovely ramen in town with rich soap, decent toppings and good quality noddles. I particularly liked their dumplings- nice and juicy! The staff are really friendly too.

We all know that their ramen is a real winner. For the sides, I really liked the takoyaki and agedashi tofu. Reasonably priced given the generous serving and taste.

The noodles taste average. It is always busy and crowded. the customer service is poor! Also long waiting time during peak hours! Only the price is a perk - not too expensive.

I am a regular customer/ loyal customer therefore I decided to bring my friends to enjoy it. He ordered beer and dumplings as he isn't mood to eat and I ordered ramen as usual. Somehow incredibly bad customer service just occurred to my friend. Beer is served then my ramen arrived. Somehow my friend dumpling not coming after almost 20 mins which I finished my meal and all new customers all been served with meal even their side dishes. This is ridiculous for a professional Japanese restaurant as we know Japanese good at customer service. This is the worse customer service I have ever encountered in Japan restaurant. Highly Unrecommended. Good luck.

Really like this place, great tasting ramen for a cheap price of around $10. Place looks nice too! I normally get a ramen with takoyaki. My favorite ramen is the pork + chicken soup with miso ramen. Though be warned, this place is super packed during weekend dinner times.

We had dinner here last week. The place is clean. The servers were courteous. I had katsudon and gyoza! The food was delicious and affordable. Definitely I'd go back.

Well, the secret is in the broth, I believe, which made the Ramen dishes so yum!  My Japanese friends told me that it tastes the same as back home. After reading other reviews here, I am keen to try other dishes other than my fav ramens!

Dined in at Mentatz for dinner after trying to find a spot. I ordered the Egg and Tofu donburi, Katsu Donburi and the Tempura Donburi with a side of the takoyaki and sashimi. The food was definitely great and filling and the space of the restaurant was toasty and warm. Enjoyed it.

I am a big fan of broths and the flavour they add to any kind of food. In Mentatz I found one of the best pork stocks I've ever tried in Auckland.<br/><br/>My dinner was a pork noodle with dumplings and agedashi tofu. All portions were well served and delicious.<br/><br/>The service wasn't the best, but I would definitely comeback to try other dishes.

Went here on a Wednesday night with my husband as we we're craving for some Japanese food. The place was packed and we had to wait for a wee while to get seated. <br/><br/>We ordered Takoyaki, Miso Ramen w/ Chashu and Teriyaki Chicken. The takoyaki was good - it was one of the best I've tried so far. The Miso Ramen was so-so, the noodle was good but the broth was just okay. I still prefer Tanpopo's ramen overall. I was disappointed with the Teriyaki Chicken. When it arrived, it didn't look appealing at all. The sauce wasn't enough and the chicken itself was lacking the teriyaki taste.<br/><br/>I guess what's good about this place is that food price is cheaper than other Japanese restaurants. However, nothing special on the food itself.

Mentatz has been one of my go-to Japanese restaurants since I was a uni student. This joint is known for serving hearty, authentic food in generous portions and I’m glad to see that it hasn’t changed much over the years.<br/><br/>The dons here are easily among the most value-for-money meals you can find in the CBD. Although it's a bit of a cliché, my favourite is the teriyaki chicken don. It  comes with juicy chicken, heaps of rice, salad, and that delicious Kewpie mayonnaise! I’d prefer more substantial greens for the salad but let’s be honest – what they give you is already amazing compared to the oily stir-fried mess other eateries offer for ‘salad’. <br/><br/>For something lighter, I’d recommend the elegantly flavoured agedashi tofu or a plate of edamame beans as appetisers.<br/><br/>The only word of caution I would give is that, due to its popularity, Mentatz gets packed around peak hours. Best to avoid the rush by going for a really late lunch or very early dinner (at around 4pm).

You can enjoy the real Japanese cuisine. <br/>Their speciality is Ramen (noodle with soup). You can choose the soup flavours from syoyu (soy sauce), tonkotsu (pork bone stock),and miso. Don dishes are also available.<br/><br/>There are few thing this restaurant need to fix. The waiters are not cheerful as they should be, and don dishes are bit soggy... Therefore I rate this restaurant 2.5 .

They do decent noodles (ramen) here. However, the seating arrangements are too crammed for my liking. <br/><br/>The prices are not too unreasonable although they could be a bit lower. <br/><br/>The food itself was decent but not fantastic.

Been here a few times! I love how big the meals are I can never finish it. I had chicken ramen tonight it was delicious. It took 10mins before we could be seated as it was very busy, despite this I enjoyed my time.

Very affordable and tasty ramen place. Casual atmosphere. Staff is friendly. Ramen we were served were tasty and was alot more filling than it looked.

I think it's one of the most well-known ramen places and I've been there many times now. The taste of ramen isn't as good as Tanpopo's and it's a little inconsistent every time, but Mentatz's price and location make up for it all. Perfect place for students because it's really cheap and close to uni :)

First time trying this place and could not be more impressed!<br/><br/>Service was fast and friendly, the portion sizes were HUGE, and the price was beyond reasonable! Their teriyaki sauce and takoyaki were a lot better than other places we have tried 👍👍<br/><br/>Definitely a go-to place if you are craving Japanese comfort food!

use to come here all the time during uni, it's the closest raamen place. The raamen is not as good as tanpopo. however on the plus side it has lots of side dishes available to order from.<br/><br/>Competitive prices and close to cafes to sit and chill nearby!<br/><br/>Food Quality: 3/5<br/><br/>Food Quantity: 3.5/5<br/><br/>Environment: 3/5<br/><br/>Wait time: 4/5<br/><br/>Price Range: $20pp

Been here a few times now and they seem to be always busy. Service wasn't so great the first time I came here on a Friday night. But the next time I came it wasn't as busy and the service was better. <br/><br/>The ramen here is good and it arrived pretty fast considering how busy they are. It's not very filling if you just order a bowl of ramen and no entrees though.

A bad experience. My friends and I ordered together and my food comes first. After 20 minutes my friends food was served. In the meanwhile my food got cold. Also between our tables order another team of 5 was served before us that arrived at least 10 minutes later than us. No apology of any kind.

There's always a line leading from the entrance to the store - even before the store is actually open. Evidently, they're doing something right, and I have to find out what it is. <br/>Authentic Japanese ramen, or if you're not up for that, nice snacks like gyoza or takoyaki (recommended!) or filling dishes like donburi. Many, many different ramen options available, so it won't be hard to find something that suits your taste. You can also ask for additions or deletions of toppings, which is great if you're a super picky eater like me. <br/>The place is often crowded, and so you might be seated in some...slightly awkward places, if I may, like wedged right next to the stairs and the pillar. The staff are very professional and efficient in terms of seating, order-taking and food delivery. There is a slight wait for the food to be ready, especially if you go during lunch rush, but quality is always worth the wait. The serving sizes were unexpectedly large - I found it hard to finish a bowl of ramen even when I went with a completely empty stomach. You may find some of the tonkotsu ramen slightly oilier than typical, so do be cautious if you're easily nauseous. <br/><br/>Overall, the price is reasonable even for a university student, and you should always come out with a full and satisfied stomach.

Obsessed with this gem on Lorne Street. The food is so insanely cheap and such amazing quality. The portion sizes are perfect. There's a few really great vegetarian options and I usually get the tofu teriyaki don. Highly recommend if you want some tasty Japanese on a budget, although it doesn't feel cheap at all.

■ Cheap eats<br/>■ Great food<br/>■ Great atmosphere <br/><br/>■ Very busy <br/><br/>This place is one of the best cheap eat joints Ive been to. So reasonable and well worth the portions. Very good for those of us on a student budget. Speedy service despite the constant bustle so its always expected to be super busy! Their donburi's are delicious so it's usually what I get. I am yet to try to their popular Ramen and Calamari dishes but their Donburis are just so consistent that I always end up ordering the same everytime! For a place so fast paced, the service is real prompt too. If youre ever in town, it's def worth dropping by here for a Japanese fix at really good prices. <br/><br/><br/>

Mentatz is a hidden not so hidden gem… Hidden in the sense that if you don't know about it, you're likely to walk straight past the restaurant. No so hidden given the hustle and bustle this joint boast! Come lunch time and this place is packed! <br/><br/>Not to worry though, restaurant is bigger than it looks from the outside and food is served up pretttttty quickly! Today I had the Miso Ramen and my friend the Teriyaki Chicken Don, we shared grilled dumplings and he had a beer. $30 for the whole lunch! SooOoOoo cheap and decent portions therefore a win win for all! <br/><br/>Tastewise I could critique the chicken (not very flavoured, tasted like plain grilled chicken) but for a quick, cheap and cheerful lunch, definitely not complaining. Service was good - attentive and efficient. <br/><br/>Give it a go!

Came in here with a friend at lunch hour and I was surprised there wasn't a queue this time. I heard about this place since it's one of the popular cheap eats restaurants that students like to dine at. We both ordered the Prawn Tempura Ramen for only $10. Now that's worth it! The soup base is great and the ramen was delicious as well. The hype for Japanese food is real. Staff are nice, there are so many customers every day, thank goodness there was a table for us! I will come back to try their Donburi next time! Very satisfied.

The ramens are very consistent sometimes,<br/>Often they're salty then sometimes they're okay.<br/>The donburis are so good though!!<br/>Definitely one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in town :)

Always very busy !<br/>Their food is affordable and delicious.<br/>Ramen, I've tried better such as tanpopo or kiraku<br/>But their don is very yum as well<br/>Great variety on their menu<br/>Very good location, close to uni so good to go there for quick meal<br/>Would come back if I crave Japanese and I can't be bothered walking too far 😂<br/>Wasn't amazing, but good<br/>Lovely service

my all-time favourite ramen place! a place my family goes to when we want comfort food. very generous servings and the prices have remained the same in the 10 years my hubby & I have been going to their place, which is awesome! i like how they've now renovaed the interiors a little and added those funky lights. my 'default' order is shio butter corn ramen and it never fails to satisfy.

Food quality is OK, prices are cheap<br/><br/>But, the customer services are super BAD.<br/><br/>Japanese restaurant are famous for its service quality, but I can't be sure this shop is not the one. The manner of their stuffs are sooooooooo bad. They makes you feel like they are the GOD. Yes, they are, not you!

Price 5/5<br/>Food 3.5/5<br/>Quality 3.5/5<br/>Service 4/5<br/>Cheap eat in CBD <br/>Popular Japanese restaurant<br/> <br/>

This place is amazing! Prices are so cheap and you get a lot for what you pay for. Staff were so helpful and friendly. I can definitely see why a lot of people come to this place because of the amazing food!!! I ordered the fried dumplings and the chicken with rice-so incredibly filling! Will definitely take my friends here.

Great place, always busy and food is served fast. More for students and casual friend catch ups and not a date as it is quite noisy and cramped. Food is amazing and portion sizes are large! Got to try the spicy shrimp salad!

nice quality japanese food! love their ramens and pretty good service as well. Always dine here when i'm running low on $$ as their food are relatively cheap for its size, totally worth it!

Delicious donburis for a very reasonable price. The place is nearly always packed so it's definitely a popular place to eat Japanese food on a university student budget

So good!! Will definitely return!<br/><br/>I've always walked past this place and it was always so busy so when I visited it was no exception, but the staff were super friendly and attentive regardless. <br/><br/>Everything about my ramen was perfect, and my friend thoroughly enjoyed hers too. There's not much to say but, yum!

Really not sure why Mentatz has so many negative reviews - I come here a lot for lunch and regularly order the wafu tonkatsu ramen and am never disappointed. I've tried a handful of ramen dishes in Auckland but nothing really compares to Mentatz. Definitely full during lunch time, you want to come in early or trust your luck in finding a seat but I've never had to wait too long. Mentatz is definitely the place to go for an inexpensive and incredibly filling meal! I always leave with a full tummy and love bringing my friends here.

One of my new favourite places to eat in the city, this place is cheap, has great ramen and has got a good vibe.<br/><br/>I recommend the ramen over their rice dishes, just because I think ramen is harder to find then dons and Mentatz does it wonderfully. Their portions for their dons and their ramen are generous which I really appreciate, because food is love! You shouldn't skimp for portions of food, that's the skimpiest thing out there!<br/><br/>My favourite ramen is the miso ramen which is spicy. I used a lot of tissues while eating it, and my spice tolerance is average for an Asian (I can eat those Korean Nongshim noodles no sweat) so if you think jalapeños are spicy then the miso ramen might be a bit too spicy.<br/><br/>I also really liked their takoyaki which is a bit expensive for what it is, but for some reason takoyaki is always expensive :( but it's sooo nice. I have been thinking about it all week, because I had it for the first time when I went to Mentatz on Sunday. I think I am a takoyaki convert. Can't get enough of them octopus balls! <br/><br/>I don't recommend getting the butter ramen. I could not taste a difference between it and the regular ramen. I also had the house sake with my meal a few weeks ago and I'm sure I've had better sake, because this was so hard to swallow. Never again! <br/><br/>However, i would definitely come back, have taken my friends to it and am trying to plot my next visit. Love love Mentatz! <br/>

A really nice place to have a bowl of pork ramen for less than 10 bucks. Been there twice in past week only, The portion is really good for the value of money. <br/>The tonkotsu ramen was my only choice since the noodle is firm and the soup was thick and very rich. Loved it!! <br/>Went there on Sunday where they opened the door a 6 pm and the place is cramped with costumer in 15 minutes. That's how popular this place is. <br/>Surely will comeback for my other tonkotsu ramen. <br/><br/>I'm not going to review on the service since I'm just there for my nice cheapass pork ramen. :D

Convenient and cheap place to go for dinner when I finish work late . Staff are alway nice and smiling . We were both so hungry but did not want to over eat (health conscious for summer lol) so I got the Salmon pot ($11) and my partner had the tofu don ($9) . <br/>The salmon pot came with 5 -6 small pieces of cooked salmon with few cubes of tofu and some white cabbage all in a meso pot. Nothing impressive , but OK for its price . It is quite salty tho so be prepared to drink lots of water after <br/>The Tofu don looked nice , 4 reason chunks of tofu with crispy/ crunch layer. And some salad with rice. <br/>I like the place for its price and convenience

I ordered the tofu don and my partyner ordered the katsudon with tempura on the side. The tofu don was real creamy but the tofu was yum yum. The katsudon was "not crispy enough and too soggy" and in my opinion was too salty. The tempura was the worst though, it was advertised as "deep friend veges and prawn" but the composition was 60% batter, 35% veges, 5& prawn. <br/><br/>Not good enough mate

Great food, very cheap and great customer service. About $75 for 5 plus sides. The food arrived fast but we sat next to the door and however it was windy it was inside it was still warm. I would definitely come here again!

Wasabi Ramen is a must try, which was surprisingly nice and refreshing. Good portion and fresh ingredients. Good selections of ramen and as well as rice dishes. 👍🏻

The staff there are not nice at all. They wish they can have less customers that make their life easier.<br/><br/>Ramen soup was good, but noodles need to be harder if you call it Japanese Ramen, and Chasyu (pork) is too thick... <br/><br/>I like the Gyoza, and Garlic Cheese grilled Mussel. <br/><br/>If you would like a bargain and quick meal, not a bad place to go.

Great place! I'm a huge ramen fan and I really enjoyed my meal here. Had the hot pot for two($25) , pork ramen ($10 so cheap) and grilled cheesy oysters($16). The oysters were a bit expensive as there only 6. I can buy a pack of 12 for $16 -.- not worth but the sauce is soooo good! The noodles were nice, the hotspot was handy as we can heat our food and make it nice and hot. The shop is a bit small but such nice deco and interior. The soup has a bit of fat in it which was ew, but tastes really good. The ramen is pretty cheap and really worth. Keen to come back!!!!! :D

A very nice warm restaurant, with all kinds of ramen, donburi, noodles, and other dishes. Quite clean and busy. Polite staff. Reasonable prices. Dreamy lighting. And delicious foods.

The service here is very efficient, staff are very friendly and portions and prices are great! They're also very busy like all the time! I had the takoyaki, a bowl of rice with their seasoning and grilled calamari with miso sauce! So delicious!

Well what can I say, great hangout for a few students, prime location and nice staff. Although the staff did take awhile to take down our orders the food was short of worth it. Would recommend ordering the spicy pork soup, pretty much kimchi stew. The soup came out in a nice fondue bowl with a blob of gel that was lit on fire underneath it. Pretty much Instagram or snap chat worthy.

This is a bias opinion since I've only been there once:<br/><br/>- serving size is generous<br/>- cheap meal in town<br/>- close to uni is a plus<br/>- seating arrangement awkward but satisfactory<br/>- service is good, the guy who welcomed us was nice considering it was busy and we looked lost <br/>- good ambience<br/>- need music playing! XD<br/>- i got park katsu don - slightly chewy but i'm not fussy but i was given good size (the more meat the better!)<br/>- will come again

This place is great for a hearty meal at a reasonable price. Portion size is quite large for both the rice dishes and the ramen. I use to come here once every few weeks as it was a favourite amongst my friends since it was quite decent for taste and size. During lunch would be super busy and sometimes there is a bit of a wait at the door. The food is quite tasty but due to being here so often I ended up getting a little sick of it. However, I do still love the garlic mussels and tokoyaki! Overall good eat and really filling at a decent price.

Mentatz is always full, and for good reason. The wait staff are lovely, the decor is nice, abd the food is excellent. <br/>We hadn't been for ages and I was happy to see that it's just as good as I remembered. We got a table after a few minutes waiting outside. The dishes were massive - way too much for any of us to finish, especially the tempura kakiage, though this lacked a little bit for seasoning.<br/>The prices are extremely reasonable. We usually go to the Don, down the street, but this one is a close second for our favourite Japanese in the city.

Not sure why Mentatz has quite a few bad reviews, everyone knows it's the to-go place for a really good, cheap meal in town! The first time I came here was a few years ago with my cousins and was immediately wow'd by the bustling restaurant, the delicious ramen, and of course the extremely generous serving sizes, I wasn't even close to finishing it by myself. <br/><br/>Recently decided to get a tofu salad to takeaway during my work lunch break, having had a delicious one at it's sister restaurant Genzui ramen bar and it was pretty much the same but the tofu was just plain, firm tofu that had been cut into cubes. Wish they fried it like Genzui because it does need that bit of oomph/ crunch.

Mentatz is another of my favourite ramen restaurants! I used to come here all the time when I was in the city, and even more since I started uni. I ALWAYS get the shio butter corn ramen, which is delicious. I love every part of the dish especially the corn, seaweed and bamboo shoots. Sometimes I get extra bamboo shoots for my soup ahaha. I've also tried other ramen here, but shio butter corn will always be my favourite. <br/><br/>I've also had the chicken hot pot, which came out on a pot with a little fire underneath. The concept was cool, but it wasn't as nice as the ramen. <br/>The donburis are good also! And I love the teriyaki chicken sides as well as the tofu steak. Yum! Prices are cheap for the value and portion sizes that you get. Service isn't too bad either, with meals brought out quite fast! :)

One of the best cheap eats in town! A large bowl of donburi only costs between $9.5-11! They also have an extensive seafood and noodle menu. Our servings were delivered real quick! We got the oyaku donburi, katsu don and the salmon. The serving sizes so large you'll even struggle to finish it. We didn't even get to finish half of it because we were so full already so we just took the rest as takeaway. The taste is definitely worth the price. The staff are really nice, they're actually japanese so you can trust the authenticity of the food. The interior is really nice too and their seats are comfortable. ZomatoStudents

A popular and affordable restaurant offering a wide range of Japanese meals.<br/>The manager could be friendlier and the dishes take a while to come out.<br/><br/>Food: 6/10<br/>Service: 3/5 <br/>Ambience: 3.5/5<br/>Value: 4/5<br/>Overall: 16.5/25

True value for money<br/>Great consistent good quality <br/>Awesome seafood and home made ramen<br/>I'm a big fan of their bamboo shoot salad and their mussels in garlic butter <br/>I keep going there and I will do that always<br/>Great job chef and staff

Dined in on Sunday evening with a group of friends. We ordered our food way before others sitting at nearby tables. The group sitting next to us, who arrived and ordered food way after we ordered ours got theirs served first. Our food didn’t turn up so we had to grab one of the staff to ask if they had forgotten to serve us. After a long wait, the food finally came and we asked the waitress who served us with the dish for an extra set of cutlery. She didn’t even respond back to our request and pulled a discontent face as if we had asked for something we shouldn’t be asking for. The ramen we got was loaded with salt we simply could not eat without gulping down gallons of water.  <br/><br/>Overall dissatisfied with customer service and food. Some staff there seriously require some training on how to provide GOOD customer service for its customers.

BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. Went on Sunday evening. The place used to be very friendly and nice but today was very disappointing. We seat near the door and it was windy so I asked a staff member if they don't mind if I close the door. Than, she just said no and walked away. (It maybe restaurant's policy but the way she said and walked away was a little annoying.) And than, our food wasn't getting delivered even after people who came 10,20 minutes got their meal. So I walked to the same staff to ask about our food. Than she just walked past away even after we had eye contact. So had to ask another staff. Than, when we got our food, we ask for extra spoon. That staff member was staring for 1,2 seconds without a word but annoyed look...<br/>   <br/>Other than unfriendly staff members, food was ok value for the money. But as many other reviewers pointed out, it gets salty and oily as you eat more. <br/><br/>If owner or manager of Mentatz were reading this, please educate your staff member some attitude please. It was my first and worst customer service from a Japanese restaurant.

We came here on a Thursday night after a movie. The restaurant is a strange shape, quite long and thin so the seating capacity isn't that good. We ordered some katsu, a japanese salad type dish and some Gyoza (dumplings). The dumplings were delicious. Incredibly thin skin and strong flavoured filling. The katsu was tasty but the meat was way too tough. Never experienced meat that tough in a Japanese dish before. Good food, just need to finetune a few things. With meals between $9-12, it is great value.

A very popular Japanese restaurant especially with uni students in Auckland City<br/><br/>I've visited Mentatz a number of times but only ever had their donburis which is full of rice but it's cheap so it's hard not to come here. We decided to come here to try the ramen because I heard it's really good and the highlight of the restaurant. I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen and my friend ordered the Miso Ramen. The place was very busy on a Friday night and a lot of staff to assist you. We waited around 10 mins for our food.<br/><br/>At first, the Tonkotsu Ramen was okay but soon, you start to taste the saltiness. It was VERY salty and oily. I couldn't finish it because I had to constantly drink water. The same goes for the Miso Ramen; it had a really weird taste to it as well as salty.<br/><br/>Picture:<br/>- Miso Ramen ($9.50)<br/>- Tonkotsu Ramen ($9)<br/><br/>Honestly, I cannot say we enjoyed the Ramen that we ordered. The plus side is that it is super cheap and filling but I wouldn't come back for the ramen.

I've been coming here since my uni days (many moons ago now) and their menu prices have not budged once, except for maybe 1 or 2 items. Quality is as good as it ever was, with generous portion sizes. My favourite is the miso pork katsu don. <br/><br/>Its a pretty relaxed and casual dining place, but great place to catch up with friends. The fact that they're always so busy is a testament to how good their food is.

Best tokoyaki in town! So damn fresh. I always enjoy the ramen soup, the nooes are high quality and the broth has sooo much flavour. Give the garlic grilled mussels a go! Took my mum here once, she just couldn't believe how delicious the mussels were. Great portions.

This place is a joke, the ramen tastes like instant noodles cooked by a 5 year old with extra packets of salt and oil. The katsu don is famous for its inedible rubbery pork. You will ever only come here to find out how bad it is.

We were super excited about this place but a bit skeptical about how cheap it was... We ordered the pork katsu, prawn ramen, chicken kaarage and deep fried dumplings. Dumplings were ace but everything else was below average. Poor quality of meat, too much fatty tissue and grizzle and the ramen was literally inedible because of the foul odor it gave off! Maybe we came on a bad night but wouldn't come again. Really cheap tho which is good but I'd prefer to pay more for better quality food.

Absolutely love this place for a quick lunch! The food is of high standard and it always comes quickly. The staff are kind but sometimes they don't quite understand any special requests (such as 'no mayo') but apart from that I can't really fault the food or service. The place is always full of people and has a great 'city vibe'. Definitely check it out if you're in the city and want a quick feed!

Nice restaurant, i was so surprise about the size. Cheap price with a big portion. Friendly staff. The taste is good, and main dish was too big for me. I couldn't finish it. Generally, the Mentatz beats the foodcourts around with low price, big portion, and good food with really nice presentation. Will back soon.

First time in Mentatz today... heard great things about this place and it definitely didnt disappoint. Ramen was on point and the tofu thingy on the side was fresh and complimented the whole experience. Will be coming back soon 😍

Great food, pretty good (if not hilarious) service, and great end to a progressive dinner...full review here: https://withapinchofsarcasm.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/a-dinner-of-progressive-proportions/

Such a cheap and awesome place to go and eat with friends. I love Asian food and all I ever think about is food so this was an awesome place to have something hot late at night. Have been here a total of four times and have only been dissatisfied once due to the pork ramen which tasted only of salt. I ordered the spicy pork/beef pot and it was delicious. My friend had ramen and we shared dumplings. Mentatz is a Japanese restaurant so you'd think the ramen would be the start but I highly recommend the Spicy pork/Berk pot packed with tofu kimchi and deliciousness 😊

Lorne St is full of eating places for us unqualified diners, however most of them look desolate, unimaginative and uninviting. This is one of the exceptions, tucked away or almost hidden if it weren't for the obvious small queue waiting to get in. Normally I wouldn't bother queuing at lunch (seriously who can be bothered - but shows how popular it is) but I wasn't going into one of those cafes nearby... The service was super friendly, we got sat pretty quickly and my teriyaki chicken don and gyoza were top notch. Great to see a menu with pictures and the prices seemed really good.. how long is that going to last I ask?? Get there quick if you can get in....

Salad ramen is my favourite dish in this restaurant its huge and big enough to share with two people. I would love to see their service improve tho.

Mentatz is always very busy... Because they're so popular! Unfortunately you can't book, so sometimes you'll have to wait. Because of this, a large group is not recommended as we tried once and it was quite troublesome for them to fit us in. Their food is very good; full of flavour and their dishes are very generous in size. Staff are quick and very friendly. I enjoy coming here for a quick lunch :)

My sister introduced me to this place a few months ago. I probably wouldn't have tried this place if it wasn't for her. From what I know, this place is popular for uni students because of the cheap but filling food. <br/><br/>I've been here a few times and my first order was a katsu donburi. I didn't expect the bowl to be filled. It was a great size for what you pay for so I understood how great this place is for uni students. The food is affordable and you get a lot. My donburi was okay. I've had better. I think I was overwhelmed with the portion and there was so much of everything. The bowl is also small for how much is in there. The rice is all the way down the bottom and it's hard to dig through unless you eat all the salad and meat first to make room. <br/><br/>The last time I went here I tried the prawn tempura ramen and also ordered the dumpling as a side. My sister said he dumplings are better than the gyoza. He dumpling were quite nice but nothing extraordinary. <br/><br/>My ramen was pretty good though. It had more prawn tempura than I expected which was good and it was tasty. <br/><br/>If you're after a quick, cheap and filling Japanese meal, this place is a pretty good option.

It is a MUST GO place for japanese food in auckland CBD. I like both of their rice and noodle dishes. People can also sit at the bar and watch chef cooks.

Enjoyed the ramen here, nice flavour and a good amount in the bowl. Found it very filling. Good amount of space inside and friendly service. Feels like a nice restaurant experience without the price tag. Meals average around $10 a head, leaves lot of change for drinks and dessert.

This is definitely a convenient and good value for money place for uni students and people who work in the vicinity. The dishes come in large portions, so much so that i couldn't finish mine last time, which normally doesn't happen as I was trained from a young age to finish everything on my plate. It is almost always very busy when I go for lunch, which reflects its popularity and is a nice place to catch up with friends.

Heard all the rave for Mentatz but I think it's over-rated, true it is cheap given it's huge portions and decent price (between $11-$15), but maybe I just ordered the wrong dish. I assumed their noodles would be their specialty, so we ordered ramens, but I found it 1) Bland; 2)Lacked ingredients.  After the initial few bites (with a small slice of egg and some spices/leaves, I literally felt like I was just eating noodles....with nothing else.

One of my all time favourite ramen places on Auckland! The best value for money in my opinion, with too many delicious flavours to pick from. So good on a cold winters night. The portions are very generous, and they don't skimp out on the meat/other ingredients either. Favourites would have to include miso ramen and teriyaki chicken ramen. The wait time is always really quick, and the staff are friendly. I also like sitting up at the bar which looks into the kitchen, so you can watch the chefs prepare the dishes :)<br/><br/>Sarah Reynolds #challenge

Oyako Don. Big bowl ! Reasonable price ! Although i have to queue about 15 minutes, i gonna do it again for the tasty meal !!! Lol there are many people on Friday night.

Mentatz is a friendly, cozy place to have a cheap and filling meal. The interior of the restaurant is inviting and the service is great. The ramen was tasteful and rich and we really enjoyed our experience. For a cheap, inviting experience we would recommend Mentatz.

I'm giving this place a 4.5 because my partner and I dine here all the time, we love it! We come here at least every 1-2 months ordering the same thing. He always gets the Teriyaki Dry Ramen and I get the same, OR I get the Teriyaki Donburi. The chicken is always amazingly tender which we look forward too. There is a generous amount of noodles or rice and japanese mayo! We always get sashimi on the side and 1-2 bottles of hot Sake. The meals are reasonably priced & great portions too. I dont think I could try other things on the menu though. I did try their dumplings and didn't enjoy it as much. I've also tried their tempura prawn donburi once and didn't enjoy that because by the time you have your 2nd mouthful the tempura prawn was soggy and not crispy. Although this isn't enough to change my rating because I still think the food here is fantastic! We are always left very full and wanting to go back the next day. Not to mention my partner took me on our very first date here a few years ago so it does have some sentimental aura to it.

I have a soft spot for Mentatz, seems to be the popular view that it's over-rated. But I think it's consistent, well priced and very good portions. It's not always my first pick for Japanese, but it's my pick if we don't want to put too much effort into finding a place to eat (only to be disappointed). You know you won't walk away unhappy from Mentatz. <br/><br/>Had the ramen and katsu dishes, both good quality and filling.

I always leave Mentatz feeling so full, and in a good way. Their rice bowls are amazing and the portions are huge. This place seems to be always packed which is a great testimony to its delicious food & great service. The moody decor is a nice upgrade too. Definitely, Japanese comfort food on a budget.

As a little boy, I always had a passion for exploring. While the Internet expanded my horizons for knowledge, culture and information, exploring on foot provided a more immursive way to expand my physical environment. I remember every weekend in the early 90s I would go exploring with what society would call my 'friends'; Davey & Brian. First we'd explore our street, then we'd go to the local park and explore the bushes behind it, our courage building everytime we laced up our dirty sneakers and ventured out into the neighbourhood and cover more land. Eventually we mustered up the bravery to explore into one of the lesser traveled areas of the suburb; a little gully known as Friday Stream. Rumour had it that a boy was drowned in the stream back during the Nixon Administration on Friday the 13th, but our jolly trio brushed off the thought as we waddled through the long grass into Friday Stream. A small twinkle caught Brians eye as the stream came into view, it was coming from behind a tree root, so we decided to take a look. It was a tag, attached to something buried by the tree. The three of us spent the next 2 hours trying to dig up a small cardboard box about the size of a toolbox. After smashing the rusting lock open, we opened the box and our lives changed forever.<br/><br/>The point I'm trying to make is that if you commit yourself to exploring, you might find yourselves your own little gems. In this case, that gem was Mentatz. While I was exploring along Lorne Street one day, I decided to try out this restaurant. I had always seen it, out of the corner of my eye, it was like a recurring dream; you never think much of it during the day, but when you rest your head at night, it's again familiar like the sweet scent of spring. The menu had a myriad of Japanese food, from donburi, to ramen, served in all sorts of different styles. I ordered the miso pork katsu donburi, and pulled a tired smile at the waiter as I handed him the menu.<br/><br/>I looked around at the restaurant as I waited, the restaurant was almost full, there were about 5 busy runners serving and waiting tables. There was an old man in a suit eating his ramen up by the kitchen counter, he could have been a teacher, or the experienced senior CEO of his company, but there was something off with the way he moved, as if every time he lifted his arms, it hurt him. There was a young couple, in conversation about grades and who was the best lecturer in their Medsci class. Around a table nearer to the street, a group of 3 businessmen with their jackets off, were just finishing their meals as they continued a convoluted conversation about the office, their words caught in a loop revolving around accounts management, their commute times and their mortgages.<br/><br/>When my food came out, the flavor was just something else. The pork was fried to crispy perfection, the breadcrumbs golden, fragrant and crunchy. This was the first time I had pork katsu since I was a young man eating it back at the local foodcourt after high school. The salad was fresh, neat and brightened up the dish like a new chandelier hanging from an old ceiling. The rice was steaming, glistened by the miso sauce, and I could almost smell the slight build up of moisture on each individual grain. This was a must have dish, a gem hidden among the various other choices on the menu.<br/><br/>This brought back memories of when Davey and I would eat Japanese food after high school some days; the youthful days almost like a dream as we found ourselves lost into adulthood. But I would never forget the day that we explored Friday Creek together with Brian. The three of us promised to keep what we found in the box a secret, a secret that has been kept up to this day. Davey and I bonded over this secret, our friendship lasting all the way up to when he suddenly left his wife and child behind and disappeared to Europe.<br/><br/>Brian on the other hand, didn't do so well. Ever since he'd been exposed to the contents of the box he changed, all throughout high school he was always the quiet kid that kept to himself. When we graduated, he never really kept in touch with us, or even added us on Facebook. I don't know exactly what he's doing with his life right now, I just hope that he found peace with himself after Friday Creek.<br/><br/>As for the contents of the box, we had divided it equally among the three of us, and it's safe to say that I would not have been here today had it not been for that discovery. When I tell this story to others, some people believe the box contained large amounts of cash, or small firearms, or even drugs. All I can say is that I've kept in hidden a hole in the wall in my childhood home after returning from the creek that day, where it will probably remain forever, as my room there has been empty for over 20 years.

Nice restaurant, good service, good price for the food especially in CBD, the noodle size are big enough to feed a male adult. I love the cha shu men and the salmon hot pot.

Staff are very friendly here and their vegetarian dumplings are amazing ! I love the flavour all though they are more like mini mashed potato balls rather than dumplings I also got the teriyaki tofu don the tofu was delicious only problem with it would be there is more rice than anything else which was quite saddening... My friend had one of the chicken dons and didn't really enjoy it very much either .

It will be the last time I spend my hard earned money in this place. The service was good, the decor lighter than I remembered but the food does not do Japanese cuisine justice.<br/>I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen, my lunch date ordered Wafu Tonkotsu Ramen along with a side of Takoyaki and Chicken karage.<br/>Our ramen soup tasted as though it had been thickened with cornflour, and mine had with one slice of tough and cold pork. We left the oddles and oodles and oodles of noodles sat in the pretty bowls.<br/>The takoyaki were tasteless balls of gluggy flour with bits of octopus and the kaarage chicken was chewy and not enjoyable at all.<br/>My lunch date and I rate our food experience a 2.<br/>

Not quite sure how some have rated this establishment a mere 2.6, but clearly some people don't know a good bowl of ramen when they see it. I've been periodically visiting Mentatz for the past 3.5 years, and every time they've upheld the quality of their cooking. The broths are distinct without trying to hard to be different to each other, and the char-shius are cooked perfectly. Daring too - they've got a Wasabi Ramen that's great for showing off how tough you are. A staple for University students and those whom enjoy a good simple bowl of ramen.

Surprised to see this place is rated so low! I went here tonight and it was packed! I only saw a empty table once the whole time we were there. We ordered a few tofu dishes (miso sauce / teriyaki) and the vege balls between us - just the right about for two people. The food was pleasant and portions were good. All had delicious sauces to top it off. It's cost $24 all up which is was very reasonable! The service was ok, nothing less than you'd expect for such a busy evening. <br/>

Another restaurant that I can not agree to be an average 2.4. Ok.... Ill get this straight. If you're looking for an A+ grade japanese restaurant that serves utterly delicious but small servings of food and perfect displays, then you are clearly in the wrong place. Ive been going to this place for over 6 years now. This place is the powerhouse for students that want good japanese food with GOOD portions. For donburi that average $10, it tastes good and the overall portions BIG (nice thick cuts of meat). I do understand the let down is the customer service. This place is usually PACKED and the waitresses/waiter are full on most of the time. I know this is not an excuse for bad customer service and is something that they definately should improve on. In terms of Ramen, to be honest, a lot of the japanese restaurants that serve ramen is quite bland in Auckland. I mean, most of the soup is based on miso and soy which arent the most flavourful ingredients to a soup (mostly being salty). If you want to go to this place, try their donburis, GREAT value for money. In terms of ramen, I normally only go for the spicy shio ramen, and for good reasons (Ive tried literally 90% of the ramen there). For entrees, their kakiage (seafood pancake) is VERY well portioned and tastes ok. Their takoyaki and sashimi are good also (but most takoyaki, actually most japanese ingredients for that matter, in Japanese restaurants are purchased from the same place so nothing spectacular). Id recommend this place for student and those who want PORTION size.

This place was an utter disappointment.<br/><br/>I usually love Japanese/Korean cuisines - seeing the line pile outside at rush hour is generally a good sign that the restaurant is delicious. Other reviews I have read say that this place is amazing. <br/><br/>In all honesty, the food was average. I went there at rush hour on a Saturday. I understand that restaurants are busy during this time, but I wanted to see how they cope with it. Everything was in a rush.<br/><br/>I had ordered the teriyaki don and the garlic mussels. Everything was a huge disappointment. The food was lacking the flavours I had expected. Note that I have high expectations for foods - travelling worldwide, trying all sorts of different cultural foods. The garlic mussels was terrible. No garlic whatsoever - if you added your own salt and pepper, it would have tasted better than the "special garlic sauce" they added. The Teriyaki Don was also a huge letdown. The flavours were lacking so much - barely any teriyaki sauce and barely any flavour. The most delicious part of the whole dish were the vegetables. <br/>Furthermore to add to the awful experience was the cramp space we were given. A table for 3 with barely any leg room. <br/><br/>Although the food was average - the only positive upside was that the price for the amount of food was very generous. If you are looking for cheap places to eat - this would be the place to go.<br/>Overall - It was pretty terrible. Certainly will not be coming back to this place ever again. I would better go to McDonalds than to come here. <br/>Follow for more reviews.

Even though I no longer frequent the CBD area I still find myself at Mentatz on a fortnightly basis. The menu is quite diverse with many options of Ramen, Donburri and side dishes. The sides are particularly interesting ranging from salted whole fish,salmon, pork belly, bamboo shoots, takoyaki balls (octopus) etc. The ramen comes with 3 different broth and I suggest trying them all if you go several times. Prices are amazing for how much they offer; most of the times I barely manage to finish a whole bowl of ramen that costs 9-10 dollars. Talk about a decent meal without breaking the bank!<br/><br/>I've heard and read a lot of complaints about the slow service at Mentatz yet I've never really had a problem. Every time I've been here my orders are taken within 10 minutes and the food out 15-20 minutes right after. The service, although not polished, is polite and quick.

Went a couple of months ago with a friend for dinner. We both ordered the tonkotsu ramen, but found out they were out of the tonkotsu pork broth! Interesting for a ramen restaurant. I settled on a chicken salt broth, and she got a teriyaki dry ramen.<br/><br/>They were pretty good, with decent portions for the price, especially compared to other Japanese eateries. Great texture of noodles, I've always loved ramen. Friendly staff, decent waiting time, filling meal. I want to come back to try the pork broth, I was a bit disappointed to come and find they were out.

The food here is actually not that bad, the major let down is the service, i use to come to this restaurant all the time when the service was good, now it has gone downhill and I've had a handful of bad experiences which is why I'm not coming back here anymore. For anyone looking for a good japanese restaurant go to Genzui

The food is ok nothing spectacular. What this restaurant stand out is that the service is really bad. So if you are in a good mood and want to have a meal here, prepared to be a disappointed. One horrible experience is that they descrimate you in how you look. I was having the same order with another person who came minutes later then me and worst of all they ask me to transfer another table in which I am already comfortably sitted and waiting for a meal just to give it with a couple who were their business attire. Another experience is that they asked me to pay the meal first in which I feel offended because this is a pay later restaurant. They should have a good system.

Had shoyu ramen and tonkotsu ramen.<br/>Nothing special about ramen, not that good.<br/>Gyoza looked very pink, it wasn't appetite even though waitress told us that is safe to eat. I will not go again.

<br/>It's been a while since my last visit to Mentatz and I decided to pop in for lunch today thinking back of the "good old days".<br/><br/>We ordered Shio Butter Corn Ramen ($10) and Wafu Tonkotsu Ramen ($10). Our food came to our table pretty much straight away, within 10 minutes after we've ordered but to be honest, I was fairly disappointed at the taste of both ramen. They weren't the taste that I remember but were rather bland and flavour-less. Wafu Tonkotsu Ramen made a big statement as I could taste something burnt, and ashy but could not make what it was exactly.<br/><br/>Maybe there's a different chef in the kitchen now, I'm not sure. But I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon.<br/>

Paid Mentatz a visit today for dinner, and it was packed! Arrived at 6pm and managed to get a seat at the back of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the cushioned seats against the wall were acutely uncomfortable. The seats were way too high for the table and my back started to hurt. So we moved towards the front. <br/><br/>Food: I ordered the Miso Tofu Donburi ($9), and it was exactly the same as the picture in the menu. 4 small pieces of fried tofu and a heaping a pile of rice underneath it. That's it. I found it really unreasonable for $9, 4 small pieces of tofu, some shredded cabbage, a generous glob of unnecessary mayo, and really mushy rice. Then again, Mentatz IS a ramen bar, and perhaps I should have ordered the ramen instead. <br/><br/>Service: average, and brisk.<br/><br/>Overall: I definitely will not be back for the donburi. For $9 there are other places in the city that give more bang for your buck. I will be back to try the ramen though.<br/><br/>thegrapefruitfoodie.wordpress.com

I came into this restaurant in the hopes of being "cured." Yes, you heard that right. You see, one of the "arms" of my prescription glasses snapped off. But despite the DIY repair using Super Glue, the realignment caused a major headache on one side. And based from past experiences of eating ramen helping soothe my upset tummy, I decided to come here.<br/><br/>The place was almost packed with customers a little after 6pm, but luckily at least a few tables were available. I chose one of the front tables nearest the counter where you can get your own glass of water. The assistant handed me the menu, and after browsing the first two pages asked her the difference between tonkotsu and shoyu ramen. Since tonkotsu had the thicker soup base, according to her, I chose it.<br/><br/>When I approached to get water, I noticed that it wasn't cold. There was no slice of lemon in it at all, compared to most restaurants. This is a bit of a letdown as the sister restaurant Genzui had a lemon slice and ice (or at least served cold) in the water jug. While waiting, I managed to scan the interiors, which was lovely overall, so took few pictures of them.<br/><br/>After just a few minutes, the lady assistant placed a steaming bowl of ramen in front of me. Presentation-wise, could have done better. It looked like it was made in a rush. Well, understandable since Mentatz is always packed every time I passed by, but the presentation of miso ramen at Genzui was way better. When I slurped the first tablespoonful of soup, however, I was relieved. It was indeed thick. The noodles used was different from that at Genzui. I did wonder how they managed to prepare and serve it immediately, until I saw a microwave behind the counter. The Genzui chef cooks all dishes from the stove, and doesn't have a microwave at all. Hmm...<br/><br/>Although there were not many veggies on my bowl, I reckon the thick soup and mushrooms made up for it. The big question now is, was I cured after eating it? Yes, I can say with confidence. The headache disappeared, although my tummy became too full I had to get out of the restaurant immediately to walk towards Britomart. Didn't bother to consume the water from the glass as it was not cold. <br/><br/>The price was reasonable, NZ$9, as opposed to other ramen restaurants that charge at least NZ$10. Would love to come back here though, as I think tonkotsu in ramen is much better than miso.<br/><br/>UPDATE: I have visited few more times after this was posted. Really love their ramen.

I heard so much about their yummy ramen. Tried it last night and it was so disappointed.<br/><br/><br/><br/>First of all, I really appreciate their price range. Cheap eat in the city central with reasonably good seating. <br/><br/><br/><br/>As it was almost full house last night during dinner time. We waited almost 1/2 hour for a bowl of ramen to arrive. So, don't go there if you are in the rush or need to go to a show afterwards like us.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Very small portion of Ramen in a big bowl of Tonkotsu Soup. The texture of soup looks very thick as compared to usual Tonkotsu soup. It looks like they have put in a lot of flour to thicken the soup and it's not tasty at all. Presentation was bad. Maybe they were too busy coping with a lot of orders.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Agedashi Tofu turned out to be disappointed as well. They use cheap type of Tofu (not the japanese silky type) and the crispy coating was not a usual japanese type.<br/><br/><br/><br/>I will understand why this place its so packed, due to their price. However, if you really like Ramen as me. don't bother to go there.

I read reviews with some ridiculously low rating so...<br/>Let me start with this,<br/><br/>I have been going to this restaurant since 2006 and I would always eat at this place AT LEAST once a week. I have tried Daikoku and Tanpopo, other ramen shops in Auckland and this place beats them hands down.<br/><br/>Undoubtedly one of the best ramen place I know of, I've been to Japan and I still believe this place is still one of the best.<br/><br/>Food here is very cheap (Considering the price range of food in Auckland CBD) you can eat a very generous portion with 10-12 dollars per person. And not forgetting to mention again, food is amazing.<br/><br/>Reason why I find it hard to give 5 stars despite my love of this place's food is,<br/><br/>1. Serving time around lunch and dinner peak time is ridiculous.. it takes good 20-25 minutes minimum to get my food.<br/><br/>2. Staff is pretty rude, they could improve a lot. <br/><br/>3. Very very busy and cramped. Why? Because despite the bad customer service, food is too damn good and cheap. People still come back.<br/><br/>People giving low rating are ridiculous. Take my word for it, This place is one of the best Japanese restaurant in Auckland if not the best in NZ. it's extremely busy for a very good reason. <br/><br/>If you are 'customer-service-decides-all' person, I recommend you not go there, because you won't get what you want.<br/><br/> This place serves one of the best food I know of out of all the food I had so far in my life and I am not even exaggerating. I took my girlfriend, mates and even guests, in casual lunch, dinner, to drink sake with and many different occasions. They have never disappointed me or my company with food for past 8 years and I am sure they will not for years to come. <br/><br/>This place does not deserve any lower than 4 star rating even with their bad customer service.

Admittedly they have undoubtedly the best Ramen in town. However, the service is horrible from top to bottom. The European guy is quite rude, yes I totally agree. So is the manager. I went there with my mate a few days ago, the food arrived late, there was no apology, the European waiter guy just simply slid the bowl over to us. My dish came out a few minutes later, the Ramen chef politely called me and handed the bowl to me and to my surprise he got told off immediately by the young, medium high female manager. Although she was talking in Japanese but I could guess through her gestures she was giving him a thorough talk not to waste time by just calling me up and sliding the bowl to me. Was a terrible experience. Although the food is nice and cheap, but it hardly makes up for the poor service and Japanese reputation of being kind and friendly. Wish I could give this restaurant a -1.

I can't believe there are so many bad reveiws about this place. I've been here quite a few times now and have never had any problems.<br/><br/>At the end of the day it's not a 5 star restaurant - it's a cheap place to eat and the food is pretty damn good for what you pay. You can't expect 5 star service from a place where you're paying a pittance for a meal - becasue if you want cheap food you have to sacrifice something.<br/><br/>The place is always packed and you always know this a sign of very decent food. <br/><br/>I'm heading here again tonight so can't wait ;-)!!!

Described by the following:<br/>Terrible customer service, rude chef (who lied right in front of evidence), misleading menu<br/>Cramped spacing- you can hardly get around without bumping someone on the head when its busy! I didn’t mind this as much until I got bumped by the waiters!<br/>Only good thing is food arrives fast (about 15 minutes after ordering), but its pretty much a self service place<br/>Bad heating too to add.<br/>Will not be returning!

This is a place where one goes for the food and the food solely. Don't expect too much for service at busy periods though due to cramped conditions and not enough staff on the floor.<br/><br/>Seating problems do indeed occur at busy periods. But that is to be expected at a fast-paced ramen place. I've had the experience of being seated next to a wooden pole once. But I am a very chillaxed person that understand the stresses of being a wait-staff, so no biggie for me; the people I ate with made the experience fun. <br/><br/>When people complain about service at busy periods... what do you expect when you pay $11-16 for a ramen bowl that fills you to the brim? Men Tatz is obviously short-staffed. But that is mostly the mentality of Asian eats in Auckland to make prices reasonable, which I have no problem with since food quality is what is most important to me. One has to consider prices in correlation to food quality and service. <br/><br/>Good selection of portion sizes with salads that are accompanied by chicken teriyaki, prawns etc. Fine sliced cabbage gives it a nice fresh, sweet crunch in the salads. I remember once when I wasn't that hungry, ordering a chicken teriyaki salad. Good stuff for someone with not a huge appetite then. <br/><br/>The ramen is fine. Just as is. Others may find it salty, but I've eaten ramen at good places in Japan (Tokyo and Osaka) and that is just how they do it. Went once with a Japanese friend, and he drank the soup non-nonchalantly away and said it was nice.

I went to Men Tatz for lunch with my friend a couple of days ago and I was hugely disappointed. <br/>The service is horrible.<br/>We felt unwelcome as the staff never pays attentions to new customers; no hello or anything. <br/>Standing there for a bit, wondering if we can come in, we just decided to grab a menu and seat.<br/>When we were eating, I heard "Excuse me!" at my back with an angry voice. When I looked back there was a staff with a trolley wanting to go through the seats between me and another customer behind me. The old man eating at behind me didn't seem to be able to hear the staff, and the staff kept saying "Excuse me!!" to him so many times, showing his irritation clearly. The old man's seat was closer to the staff so he wanted him to move first. When the old man noticed, he pulled his seat a bit but it didn't change much. The staff looked super frustrated, his arms crossed, and glared at the poor old man. So I stood up and moved my chair and also the table so that the staff can go through without the old man moving. But when I stood up I knocked over the chair because I was in a rush and my bag with my laptop which was hanging on the back of chair got smashed on the floor:'( The staff was impatiently looking at me so I quickly moved the chair and table, apologizing, and he just silently went through. No "thank you", or anything. <br/>Moreover, when he came back to go through us again couple of minutes later, he carelessly hit my chair hard with the trolley and gave me a fright. He didn't say anything again, and just left.<br/><br/>This made me mad and I found the attitudes of the staffs at this restaurant totally unacceptable!!!! I am a Japanese, and I feel ashamed when I see other Japanese people behave like this and give people in NZ bad impression of us. Especially when it is a staff at restaurant. Where is your spirit of Omotenashi, (the treat)?!, I want to say.<br/><br/>Also the self service glasses for water looked so dirty, and I found a piece of hair in my meal... I noticed about it when the meal was nearly finished so I didn't complain, but I AM NEVER GOING BACK. AAaaarrrggghhh!!!

Extremely popular restaurant, especially busy and packed during the dinner time! It has pretty good food, tho the pork based soup ramen are really salty and has way too much MSG in it. Service is usually ok, however, slightly going downhill now, with some of the staff being extremely rude - especially a new European employee that treated our table VERY badly , he took my sister's chair when she went up to get some water and gave it away to another table without even asking us if someone is using that chair AND blew my friend and I off after serving the customers in front of us to their seats. Starting to dislike this place since March this year.... things need to seriously improve, it use to be a favourite restaurant, and now, i'd rather find somewhere better.

Great place to have ramen here. Tongotsu ramen was the best since I have been Auckland. You guys well done. However, the service need to be improved tho.

I've been eating here since my uni days, and 3 yrs on I still LOVE it! The prices are very reasonable and are of generous portions, and the food is divine. The fact that they are always packed is evidence of this. I've eaten at many Japanese restaurants and this is always my favourite. Sure their decor isn't flash, but this is of no worry for the price and food you get. Service is also great too, even when they are absolutely packed. <br/>They specialise in ramen, Japanese style noodles, but my favourite dish is their miso katsu don, which is deep fried pork fillet on white rice, topped with miso sauce and salad. Their menu is the same for lunch and dinner, and the price remains the same too, which means dinner outs don't break the bank. <br/>I say definitely give this place a go, and be sure to turn up early- although its still worth the 10-15 min wait!

We visited this restaurant sometime a year ago and thought the food was OK and we decided to pay this Ramen place a visit again tonight.<br/><br/>It was Rugby World Cup Australia vs Ireland night. Bars and pubs were busy. We were rather relieved that Mentatz was only 40% full with quite a lot of tables empty. There were 5 of us. They sat us at a table meant for 4.<br/><br/>A waiter pulled out a foldable plastic looking chair from behind the counter and placed it at the edge of the table for the 5th person - not the best start I should say. My friend gave it a go and the chair was too low and was entirely uncomfortable and dining while sitting on that chair was never going to be an option.<br/><br/>As there were MANY chairs empty, he decided to exchange the horrid foldable chair with a proper looking wooden chair just behind him.<br/><br/>A young Japanese waiter saw that and stormed to our table telling us off and demanded we change the chair back to the foldable plastic chair. We explained to him it was too low and uncomfortable. He said one word - "NO" and stood there glaring at us.<br/><br/>Needless to say, we did not even bother arguing with him. We all stood up and walked off. He walked back to the back of the counter with his back to us while we told the other staff what he did was absoutely unacceptable. <br/><br/>Unfortunately, the restaurant staff were not great at communicating in English and had no idea what we were saying. <br/><br/>The whole night was ruined. Thanks Mentatz for making our night so darn memorable - for all the wrong reasons. We will definitely not come back.<br/><br/>Before I finish , this restaurant is small and congested and is absolutely a horrid place to bring a child into. The toilet is small and dirty (from memory of my first visit). If you like dining in a restaurant packed like a sardin can, with rude and unreasonable staff only to have OK food, this would be the place to go.

This place is really popular for students because it fits students' limited budget and I used to go there all the time but less so now that I'm working only because I can afford other choices.<br/><br/>Great food and very consistent standard. Its rice bowls are generally better than its sashimi, and that's what most people go there for: hot meals.<br/><br/>The $5 green tea shaved ice is a really good dessert to share with someone to finish off the meal.<br/><br/>Staff are always busy because they have a lot of customers but still, it's not hard to get their attention.<br/><br/>Excellent place for having a quick satisfying meal.

I wanted dumplings Japanese style so i went to this place. They had just dumplings with veggies or seafood or pork+seafood. I wanted just meat so i had to change my plan.i ordered noodles with pork. I was with 2 friends, they got their plates and i had to wait 5 more minutes for mine. And my pork noodles were without pork! So i called the waitress to tell her, and after a while she arrived with a slice of meat still cold from the fridge. Really a bad experience and awful service. I'll never come back. My noodles also had a weird taste so i just paid without eating anything and no one asked me why i left everything in my plate

One of my first favourite ramen places in the city because it's affordable with excellent portions. It's always packed at night but if you stand or sit at the bar and wait for a bit there'll soon be a free table for you. It's really cosy in a crowded sort of way that's particularly great for winter nights. All the items there are around $9-$12 and the bowls generous, so it's great for a cheap filling meal on a cold evening. I really recommend the tonkotsu ramen with its delicious thin slices of meat and fragrant rich-coloured broth. You can actually taste the pork bones they use to make the broth as opposed to tasting some artificial flavouring, and I always finish off all the soup as well. The noodles are seriously amazing, with a smooth texture and soaking up all the flavour, and most importantly they aren't too thick. The bowl looks deceptively small but it seems to go on and on and finishing it each time is always a feat. I guess the noodles are hidden in the broth. Ramen makes up most of the menu, but there are also similarly priced donburi and gyoza (dumplings) if you prefer. Personally, I eat so much rice at home and ramen is their specialty, so I definitely recommend trying out their ramen.

mentatz is pretty awesome, it's cheap and the food ain't too bad either. it's authentic japanese food in the heart of auckland. I personally think that the ramen dishes are better than the rice dishes, especially their shio ramen. I also recommend the miso katso don if you're into rice dishes more. <br/>all in all, this is a good cheapeat place

Mentatz is a relatively cheap Japanese restaurant on Lorne Street in Auckland City. They have a large menu that is largely ramen, donburi and a relatively large selection of other dishes. Prices are affordable, with most of the menu being under $10 dollars and portions are generous, especially if you order ramen. <br/><br/>The core of the menu is probably the ramen, there are several different kinds based on different stocks. I like their Wafu Ramen quite a lot (which is advertised as a special normally), which has thick and flavourful stock and pork. It is rich and hearty, but is not paired with fermented or pickled vegetables in the way that some of the other Ramens are. I also enjoy the shoyu ramen as well, which is a pretty standard ramen with pork belly.<br/><br/>Like most lunch crowd oriented Japanese places, there is also a selection of Donburi. The rather intense, rustic and somewhat unsubtle nature of the cooking at Mentatz, means I think the Katsudon and the Miso Katsudon and bolder donburi are better than those that require finesse like the Oyakodon. The pork in the Katsudon is usually a bit undercooked and so not quite as tender as I would like, but the sauce is nice and the protions big. The coating is generally pretty good. Mentatz is providing hardly flavoursome fare and as such the attention to detail is sometimes lacking, but the accompaniment of salad with their food is good. <br/><br/>They also have a range of sides. I am a sucker in general for seaweed salads, which I almost universally like unless they are too sweet. Mentatz is pretty respectable, although for what you get at the price point, it isn't an amazing deal. I think the Agedashi (fried tofu) and the Takoyaki are the best of the sides, although be warned both are served piping hot.<br/><br/>They also have a menu of other dishes without rice that can be shared with others. The tempura is quite good, althought it is not a traditional tempura, rustic and heary, rather than refined and light. It is julienned vegetables fried in batter and is affordable, but gives you a lot of food. The sashimi is hardly worth it and while not bad, is really nothing special in terms of fish. They also serve icecream for dessert which is fine, although nothing special.<br/><br/>I like Mentatz, but largely because it is cheap and easy. It is not the best food around, but at its price point it offers a very reasonable option in the city, particularly for students and it is popular for a reason. I am glad places like Mentatz exist, because I can get a nice bowl of Ramen on a cold night, for not a lot of money.