In September 2023, beloved Montclair sushi spot Daikichi officially closed its doors after 35 years in town. The closure came as a surprise for locals, who favored the eatery for its extensive menu of Japanese cuisine. Since then, members of the team have embarked on new ventures — former Daikichi chef Kenny Mar launched a sushi bar inside Montclair restaurant De Novo — but the 608 Valley Road space has remained virtually unclaimed. In February 2024, we reported on a new venture from the chef behind SLA Thai moving into the space — and now, we know that Minoru, a Japanese restaurant, made its debut in MTC on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025 on the second floor. Read on for more about Minoru, a new Japanese restaurant now open in Montclair, New Jersey.

Minoru's Arrival in Montclair

Though the front door at 608 Valley Road still bore Daikichi's name in February 2024, signage outside indicated that a new restaurant duo was "Coming Soon." The details on the banner were sparse, but telling enough: two food concepts, a ramen restaurant (Minoru Ramen) and an omakase sushi experience (Jonestu Omakase), would live under one roof. As of March 5th, Minoru is now open.

A little Instagram digging revealed that the forthcoming project is the work of established Montclair chef, Kamonthip "Meiji" Pattamasingcha, who co-owns SLA Thai just down the road. On December 27th, 2023, Meiji took to her personal Instagram to announce the project.

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There are individual Instagram accounts for both Jonetsu Omakase and Minoru Ramen, but neither of shared any more than a "Coming Soon" announcement at the time. Meiji previously shared with The Montclair Girl that the eatery would take up both floors of the building: Jonetsu Omakase on the first floor, and Minoru Ramen on the second.

A little under a year later, we now know that Minoru is open in Montclair. As per Jonestu Omakase's Instagram bio, the first-floor restaurant is coming soon and an official opening date has yet to be revealed.

Minoru's Menu

The menu of Minoru consists of traditional and unique ramen bowls, as well as classic Japanese dishes. This includes chef specials like the Wagyu Hot Stone; a DIY steak grilling platter assembled with sliced A5 wagyu beef, vegetables, yuzu kosho, truffle salt, wasabi, and A5 wagyu fat fried rice; and bowls like the Spicy Tonkotsu, made with pork broth, chashu, kikurage, scallion, ajitama, garlic paste, and spicy paste.

Diners can also find dessert items like the matcha parfait, which comes with matcha jelly, red bean paste, house cream cheese, caramel cornflakes, and green tea ice cream; and the Mango Parfait, featuring, mango jelly, house cream cheese, seasonal mango, caramel cornflakes, and vanilla ice-cream topped with mango puree.

About SLA Thai

SLA Thai opened at 596 Valley Road in 2015 with a promise to serve simple and authentic food made with love. Since opening, the family-owned restaurant has won the hearts of locals and critics alike with its expansive menu of Northern Thai cuisine, where both head chefs are from.

Per NJ Digest, Meiji's brother Yanin, and her husband, Wanat, both share the role of chef with her. The culmination of their experiences migrating to America resulted in a culinary endeavor that both honors their roots and blazes the path of their future.

In English, SLA is an acronym for "simple, authentic, love," but it takes on a different meaning in Northern Thai: "an expert, knowledgeable, and a specialist." The focus is on balancing salty, sweet, sour, and spice in each dish, and based on what’s coming out of the kitchen, the team is consistently achieving that goal. There are familiar Thai dishes like the pad thai or pad see ew, which are both made with rice noodles. If you're really looking to immerse yourself, though, try the nam thok pla tod— a whole fish fried until crispy, and worth the journey.

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