MYSTERY MUNCHER: Japanese ramen delight in private at Kyuramen on Route 70 in Cherry Hill.

We will get to the food in a moment, but Mystery Muncher first needs to talk about the special environment at the Kyuramen Japanese ramen restaurant in Cherry Hill.

Walk through the front door and you enter a typical open dining room. But turn right and into a hallway and move into an intimate and private dining delight.

The ramen noodle-specialty restaurant in the Heritage Square shopping center on eastbound Route 70 just past Greentree Road features private dining booths.

No, not the plastic-encased booths that many restaurants and diners have left up after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. These private booths have attractive white Kyuramen curtains, almost offering the sense of eating in a private home. 

And, when Muncher visited for dinner on June 2, the isolation did not get in the way of great service: our server showed up regularly and paid as much attention to us as if we were in the middle of a dining room. Just in case, there is a wireless "Call" button mounted on the wall.

It was a special dining experience for Muncher and companion, and we have not even gotten to the food yet.

"The purpose of Kyuramen is to let our general working class and student population enjoy the stress-free ramen in a stress-free environment," says the company's website.

70and73.com's Mystery Muncher is just that — an average restaurant customer who is not a reviewer.

How does the Mystery Muncher rate restaurants? By an agreed-upon "yes" or "no" with Muncher No. 2 about whether they would recommend the restaurant to friends. A "no" vote means you will never read about the visit on 70and73.com.

If you have suggestions for Mystery Muncher, email contactus@70and73.com. We dine incognito and always pay for our own meals, although we may reach out to interview restaurant management after our visit. Restaurants that make it to the Mystery Muncher series are ones we would recommend to friends. We dine as typical consumers, and not restaurant critics.

From beverage to dessert, we classify Kyuramen as a "do again." 

We must admit our heads were spinning a bit after consulting the menu: It offers the dishes alone and a list of combinations. Like any consumer, the Muncher started doing the math on the combinations to find out if there were significant savings.

We opened with drink/bun combinations.

Muncher No. 2 is a Thai iced tea aficionado, and — when called for — harsh in her criticism. The look on her face after the first draw on the straw showed Kyuramen's Thai tea to be a winner.

This combo ($6.99) came with a steamed Bao Bun with pork with Kyuramen's brand on the top of the bun. Some Asian restaurants serve the Bao Bun with fatty pork inside. This pork seemed to have very little fat and the sauce was tangy.

Mystery Muncher also wanted the Bao Bun, but Thai iced tea does not occupy a place on his palate.

The other combo ($6.99) option was lemonade, ordered reluctantly because Muncher is so used to the watery, often powder-based mixes that some eating places think pass as lemonade. Not this place's lemonade: It was tasty and infused with cucumber, giving it a side taste that made it even more refreshing.

We could not pass up another appetizer, the Ika Geso Kara-Age, or deep-fried squid tentacles ($9.49), which were nicely fried and accompanied the rest of the meal. The restaurant has a large selection of appetizers, ranging from popcorn chicken to fried Takoyaki octopus balls.

For our entrees, the Munchers chose Tokyo Tonkotsu Shouyu Ramen with black garlic ($15.99) and the Mega Ramen ($16.99).

The Tonkotsu Shouyu included pork chashu (pork belly), bamboo shoots, wakame (seaweed), half-marinated egg, nori (seaweed), corn and scallion in a pork broth. The Mega Ramen held pork chashu, shrimp, bamboo shoots, wakame, half-marinated egg, nori, corn and scallion.

Most of the dishes feature pork, but a vegetable ramen and chicken ramen with chicken broth are on the menu.

Five desserts beckoned on the menu and our server assured us that all were produced by the Kyuramen operation, even if not locally. 

Muncher went for the matcha (green tea) pudding with red beans on top ($4.99). Fresh milk is served on the side. Muncher No. 2, a mango lover, ordered the mango mille crepe cake ($9.50).

Like green tea ice cream, the pudding was not particularly sweet, so if you seek that in a dessert you might want to pass. The mango cake was sweet, and appealed to both Munchers. As its name indicates, the cake is layered with thin, pancake-like crepes with mangos throughout the cake and on top.

The company's website provides a tutorial on menu items from wavy versus straight noodles, chasu (pork) and black garlic, and its health benefits as an antiacid.

Is Kyuramen children friendly? Muncher saw no reason to leave the children home, and the private booths provide some shielding for restless kids. No kids menu was found, but they do serve "burgers" — such as fried chicken, teriyaki beef and pork belly. No traditional American burgers, however.

The basics

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Every day.

Address: 1871 Route 70, Cherry Hill 08003.

Telephone: (609) 269-2616.

Delivery: qmenu

Website: Cherry Hill location, kyuramencherryhill.com and overall company, kyuramen.com.

Facebook: Cherry Hill location, Kyuramen Cherry Hill