“Hey, what’s for lunch today?” I hear this question on a near-daily basis, whether I am passing someone in the hallway or the one prompting it. Menlo has one of the best school lunches in the area, with fresh meals, a variety of soups and salads and plenty of build-your-own stations. Some days, though, the lunch gains a bit of extra attention — more so than usual. The orange chicken line has a chance of not ending until lunch is nearly over, and can we really forget chicken and waffles? While these options are both delicious, they pale in comparison to Menlo’s ramen, which is by far the best lunch at school.
With customizable broth and a large variety of toppings, this ramen is suitable to fit anyone’s needs and tastes, hence its popularity among many students.
“I actually really enjoy the dish […] I think people really enjoy the broth and all the vegetables and the chicken and veggies with the noodles,” sophomore Naina Nimaiyar said.
She definitely has a point. Since FLIK offers so many toppings, students can adjust the dish to fit their needs. My personal favorite is the soy marinated eggs. I always make sure to add extra, and I think it’s amazing that Menlo offers us such a good lunch.
According to Director of Dining Services Thien Hoang, he heard from students that the staff was serving the ramen too often, which is why the staff stopped bringing it out for a period.
While I heard it used to come out every Wednesday before I came to Menlo, I did not feel like they were bringing it out too much last year. Certainly, there was no point in removing it from the menu in the second semester. Still, Nimaiyar agrees with the student sentiment that having it too often feels boresome. Since she went to middle school at Menlo, she recalls that eating it every week felt a bit too much.
“I kind of had mixed emotions [when it first left] because I went to middle school here.
They used to do it every Wednesday, so I feel like people were getting really tired of it,” Nimaiyar said.
This year, Hoang says the dining staff plans to bring out the ramen in a three week cycle, allowing students who enjoy the ramen to still have it while not growing tired of it this time. Personally, I’m just grateful to have the ramen back on the menu and see this as the perfect balance. This way, students who enjoy the ramen, like myself, get to see it more often, and it does not arrive excessively to the point where students demand it be removed entirely again.
