26934 Thu Dec 11 23:57:31 -0800 2003 10 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 110218 Help! My favorite Japanese Ramen house closed! Any tips?? Thu Dec 11 23:57:31 -0800 2003 0 Matt 1 110258 I don't know where you live, but I believe Ryo-ya (is that what it's called? anyone?) is still around - it's on University just west of Shattuck in Berkeley. Good ramen and to my inexperienced eye, seems very Japanese. Fri Dec 12 12:18:50 -0800 2003 110218 0 Alexandra 1 110262 I like the ramen at Iroha in SF Japantown. Iroha Restaurant (415) 922-0321 1728 Buchanan St San Francisco, CA 94115 Link: http://www.worldramen.net/World/USA/SFRamen.html Fri Dec 12 12:32:55 -0800 2003 110218 0 jen maiser 1 110274 Favorite ramen by far is the pork broth tonkotsu ramen at Santa in San Mateo. Be sure to get there early. Dinner hours start at 5:30, and by then there's already a line forming outside the door. I'm pretty sure they're open for lunch, too. Santa 805 B St, San Mateo, CA 94401, (650) 344-5918 Fri Dec 12 14:17:17 -0800 2003 110218 0 WBGuy 2 110349 I'll second this, Santa Ramen is quite good for ramen. To me it seems the same as the ramen I had in Japan. Sat Dec 13 05:24:36 -0800 2003 110274 0 manekineko 1 110308 Matt, Do the ctr f search for ramen on this thread lots of info and places to try with photos too ; ) Fri Dec 12 17:46:22 -0800 2003 110218 0 frediinski 1 110310 I have not found a really really good ramen place in the SF Bay Area (spoiled by last year's trip to Honolulu that had some great ramen shops there). However the ones that stand out from the others and probably deserve recognition: Ryowa - two locations. One in Mountain View on Villa/Castro. The other on University in Berkeley. Kobe style ramen, and closest resemblance somewhat to what I had in Japan (Yokohama ramen museum!) but still a while off. Santa - as mentioned by WBGuy. In San Mateo. A hit amongst Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese. Been around forever, but their noodles are kinda like linguini which isn't my cuppa tea. The Pork flavor soup is the best. Char Shiu is on the dry side and small portion. Nappa cabbage and pork soup is a great combination and enhances the flavor of the soup. Dohenkotsu (old name) - small little authentic Tokushima (small town North end of Japan near Sapporo) style ramen. Between Mitsuwa supermarket (same complex) and Tomi Sushi (also a great place for sushi in the south bay), 280 exit off Saratoga Ave (right across Tony Roma's / Applebees). Considered "San Jose area". The Niku-iri men has extra slices of char shiu, almost like a soft bacon texture. If you like the bone in cut of meat get the spare-rib-men. I like this place the best out of the three. Fri Dec 12 18:14:02 -0800 2003 110218 0 KK 2 110350 Sorry to nitpick, but I'm pretty sure Tokushima isn't near Sapporo, but instead near Osaka. I'll have to try your recommendation for Dohenkotsu though! Sat Dec 13 05:32:56 -0800 2003 110310 0 manekineko 1 110514 Just went to Santa in San Mateo last night for ramen since Lakuni (izakaya which I wanted to try) was closed. I've been to Santa about five times before, this was the earliest I've been (6.30pm). Many times they run out of the pork flavor if you go later, from experience. My companion had the stewed pork ramen in soy sauce broth, it was pretty good and strong, better than my pork (cha shui) with pork broth. My ramen okay, but the tonkatsu flavoring wasn't that strong or flavorful, and the cha shui is really dry. Also I feel their noodles are a bit too al dente, I like them a little softer. (Am reminiscing happily about tonkatsu ramen stall I tried in Shinjuku last year -- best ramen of my life.) Almost everyone at Santa is Chinese. Including me, I guess :) My favorite ramen in the Bay Area is Ryowa in Mountain View. Many people I know prefer Santa, but Ryowa has my vote. Their butter ramen and fatty pork ramen are both really delicious, esp. as the buttery/fatty goodness melts more and more into the broth as you're eating. Also they have complimentary kimchee which I eat a ton of whenever I visit. Many of their customers are actual Japanese. Ro-zan in San Mateo is just okay, but there's no lines (as compared to Santa). Have been to a couple of other ramen places in the Bay Area too and they haven't stood out. And just two weeks ago had ramen in Honolulu at this very busy Japanese chain (we were the only non-Japanese there), and to tell the truth, it wasn't that special. I guess there are many styles of ramen out there, you gotta find the one you like. Need to visit that ramen museum sometime, but heard it's packed... Mon Dec 15 17:55:50 -0800 2003 110218 0 PekoePeony 1 110633 My wife likes Sapporo-ya in SF Japantown. Soup broth is a little strong for me. I was given a recommendation for another ramen shop in SF Japantown called Tampopo. Any thoughts on Tampopo? There is a relatively new ramen shop in San Jose called Ramen Halu. It is on Saratoga between Kiely and Stevens Creek. Lunchtime is fairly busy, many japanese businessmen eating there.Expect a 15-20 min wait during lunch. Sat Dec 20 00:27:30 -0800 2003 110218 0 mura 2 110651 Here's a link to another mention of Ramen Halu. Do you have a favorite there? Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/26265#106657 Mon Dec 22 20:55:12 -0800 2003 110633 0 Melanie Wong