Many people who love food are averse to the chain restaurant. It’s not that the restaurants aren’t capable of producing good food, but responsibility to shareholders over diners invites assumptions of bottom-line cost measures. The word "chain" reinforces connotations of pre-processed uniformity. It runs counter to our desire for all that is lovingly handmade from scratch. (Even though we’re in denial if we believe that all nonchain restaurants start all their dishes from scratch.)

Menchanko Tei is an exception to that theory. It’s part of a small chain of restaurants that stretches from Japan to New York. The Hawaii restaurant is run like a mom-and-pop operation, with three generations in the kitchen and the dining room.

The ramen and nabe restaurant recently moved from Waikiki to Keeaumoku Street, filling the spot next to Glitter Salon that was recently home to Broadway Oyster Bar. Its layout remains the same, and so does the Menchanko Tei menu.

Yuko Yoshida was the first of her family to work at Menchanko Tei, as manager when it was in Waikiki. The company’s owner, Akihide Yonehama, knowing Yoshida’s mother Michiko Ishige’s expertise in the kitchen, invited her to join the company as well. At the new restaurant they’re joined by Yoshida’s son Kei, who waits on tables.

Key to the restaurant’s Hakata-style ramen is its three kinds of custom noodles, made in Hawaii by Sun Noodle, to specifications from Japan. Yonehama was in town recently for the restaurant’s grand opening and, according to Yuko Yoshida, pronounced the noodles and the broth, which starts with locally raised chicken, superior to those in Japan.

Fast eaters who like to slurp their noodles quickly gravitate to kikuzo ramen ($7.75), with its thin noodles and most basic accompaniments of thin, meltingly tender pork slices, bamboo shoots and scallions in a soy sauce broth.

A slightly thicker noodle is offered with the Hakata-style ramen ($7.75) in pork broth with simmered pork, red ginger and scallions.

Then there is the thicker, curlier menchanko noodle, which is my favorite because I love a noodle with substance. If you love the chewiness of udon, this is the noodle for you. As the house noodle, it’s served several ways. At its most basic ($8.25), the noodle is served in chicken broth, topped with shrimp, rice cake, pork, tofu, cabbage and Chinese chives.

What’s great about this place is that if you’re ordering side dishes, you can place a half ramen order ($5.95) for the three basic styles, which I find just right.

With the menchanko noodle, you can also opt for miso ($8.75), hot miso (at four degrees of heat, which isn’t very hot even at the "Very Hot" distinction, $9.50 to $11.50), curry ($9.50), seafood ($14) and motsu (topped with beef intestines, $12) styles.

Broths here are clean and clear, more Japan style than the pumped-up, throw-everything-into-the-pot local style, which makes it tamer and blander than what most people expect. To wake up your taste buds, try adding a dollop of the chili-yuzu sauce sitting at your table. It’s a real eye-opener, sort of the LSD of the dinner table.

There’s a bit of izakaya action going on here as well, with multiple side dishes available after 5 p.m.

These range from an ahi and avocado tartar salad ($9.50) to a house specialty of fried chicken ($7.75) and tender and mouth-watering soy-simmered kurobuta pork loin ($9.25). A bar menu of sake and beer helps it all go down.

Also amazing here is the premium pork loin katsu ($17.50 a la carte, $19 set with rice and miso soup), coated with light, crispy bread crumbs and served with a house-made light, tart katsu sauce that blends onions, tomatoes, apples, pineapples and spices.

A chewier loin katsu is standard if you order the katsu curry ($11).

Bring along three of your friends if you want to try the "pièce de résistance," the original yosenabe, or seafood and meat hot pot. You need a minimum two orders at $19.75 per person for the soy broth, $21.75 for the miso broth and $22.75 for chige, or spicy, miso.

For the price you get an assortment of salmon, shellfish and chicken to cut into the brew, tofu and veggies. Menchanko noodles arrive last, when the broth is at its most flavorful and the emptied pot has more room to accommodate them.

If you run out of a particular favorite ingredient, more can be had with side orders priced from $2.95 (noodles) to $5.75 (meatballs).

Many of the Japanese diners tend to gravitate to the Hakata Motsu Nabe, which they deem a healthier combination of beef intestines, kim chee, vegetables and noodles. Once again there is a two-order minimum, with the per-person price set at $13.75, $15.75 and $16.75 for the respective types of broth.

Dessert of organic pudding ($4.75) — a creamy, none-too-sweet flan made with organic eggs and milk — continues to hit the right high-touch, homemade note.

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Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.