Mitsuwa SJ Store Grand Opening specials 7/4/12 - Black Kimchi Ramen 7/4-7/15 Limit 20/day

[hhc]

I'm on their mailing list for their ad. 7/4/12 they have what they call Grand Opening - I think they just expanded, same location though. 7/4 Only Free Eco bag for first 1,000 customers.
7/4 Wed Only: Looks like a bowl of udon for $5.95 + tax (Japanese characters I can't read)
7/4 - 7/15 - Black Kimchi Ramen $10.49 + tax - Limit 20/day
7/4-7/15 50% selected food items looks like sliced cucumbers, etc (can't read Japanese)
Mini Japanese Gourmet Fair - Ikameshi croquette $2.50 + tax; variety of Croquette $1.80 ea & tax
Fish cakes fried $2-2.50 + tax

Please report back if you try that Black Kimchi Ramen!

Address:
Mitsuwa Marketplace
675 Saratoga Ave, SJ CA 95129
408-255-6699
9am-8pm
www.mitsuwa.com

[Melanie Wong]

On Monday, I stopped by Santouka to try to snag one of the bowls of black kimchee ramen.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/7560567236/

Looks pretty much the same as Santouka’s standard kimchi ramen (see photos in this previous report, http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/734850 ) with the addition of black garlic oil.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/7560567818/

One difference was that the seasoned soft-yolked egg was a whole egg rather than just a half. Also, the nori was toasted and not completely soggy. So that’s somewhat of an improvement on the topping front. The black garlic oil contributed an extra note of complexity. But for me, this was not a striking enough change in the flavor to make a special trip. I’d be equally satisfied with the regular kimchi ramen.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

However, on the minus side, the noodles had an odd almost brittle texture. Never this branch’s strongpoint, the yellowish noodles had an initial gummy bite then broke apart. They almost seemed like they were parcooked and then finished for service. Santouka drops down to #4 in the rankings.

PERSONAL RAMEN RANKING
1. Ramen Halu, 375 Saratoga Ave Ste M, San Jose
2. Himawari, 202 2nd Ave, San Mateo
3. Orenchi Ramen, 3540 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara
2. Santouka, 675 Saratoga Ave, San Jose
5. Maru Ichi, 368 Castro St, Mountain View;
6. Izakaya Mai, 212 2nd Avenue, San Mateo
7. Ajisen Noodle, 47890 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont
8. Maru Ichi, 530 Barber Lane, Milpitas
9. Ramen Dojo, 805 South B St, San Mateo
10. Tanto, 1063 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale
11. Izakaya Restaurant, 1335 N 1st St, San Jose
12. Alexander’s Steakhouse Lounge, 10330 N Wolfe Rd, Cupertino
13. Santa, 1944 South El Camino Real, San Mateo (post-move)
14. Do-Henkotsu House of Tokushima Ramen, 4330 Moorpark Ave, San Jose (closed)
15. Ramen Tenma, 487 Saratoga Ave, San Jose
16. Ryowa, 859 Villa St, Mountain View
17. Orson Restaurant Bar + Lounge, 508 4th St, San Francisco (closed)
18. Sumiya, 2634 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara
19. Gen Ramen, 47890 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont (closed)
20. Hana Japanese Restaurant, 101 Golf Course Dr, Rohnert Park
21. Ken Ken Ramen, pop-up at The Corner, San Francisco (closed, moved)
22. Kyora Japanese Restaurant, 1217 Wildwood Ave, Sunnyvale (closed)
23. BY Grill, 3226 Geary Blvd, San Francisco (closed)
24. Norikonoko, 2556 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley
25. Dohatsuten, 799 San Antonio Rd, Palo Alto
26. Hana, 4320 Moorpark, San Jose
27. Ozumo, 2251 Broadway, Oakland
28. Muracci’s, 244 State St, Los Altos
29. Katanaya, 430 Geary Blvd., San Francisco
30. Tadamasa, 34672 Alvarado Niles Road, Union City
31. Masa's Sushi, 400 San Antonio Road, Mountain View
32. Ippuku, 2130 Center St, Berkeley
33. Nombe, 2491 Mission St, San Francisco
34. Gochi, 19980 Homestead Rd, Cupertino
35. Oyaji, 3123 Clement St, San Francisco
36. Ame Restaurant, 689 Mission St, San Francisco
37. Yu-Raku, 104 S El Camino Real, San Mateo
38. Namu, 439 Balboa St, San Francisco (moved)
39. Halu Restaurant, 312 8th Ave, San Francisco
40. Sanmi, 3226 Geary Blvd, San Francisco (closed)
41. Hatcho, 1271 Franklin Mall, Santa Clara
42. Kahoo, 4330 Moorpark Ave, San Jose
43. Tomoe, 810 3rd St, San Rafael (closed)
44. Ringer Hut, 1072 Saratoga Ave, San Jose
45. Noodle Theory, 3242 Scott St, San Francisco (closed)
46. Watami Shabu Shabu and Ramen, 5344 Geary Blvd, San Francisco (closed)
47. Where’s Buta by Elgin Espiritu and June Lee, Eat Real Festival, Oakland
48. Kumako, 211 E. Jackson Street, San Jose
49. Japanese Restaurant Hoshi, 246 Saratoga Avenue, Santa Clara
50. Ramen Club, 723 California Dr, Burlingame
51. Ryowa, 2068 University Ave, Berkeley (after ownership change)
52. King Won Ton, 1936 Irving St, San Francisco
53. Tazaki Sushi, 3420 Judah St, San Francisco
54. Ramen Rama, 19774 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino (closed)
55. Ogi-San Ramen, 10789 Blaney Ave, Cupertino (closed)
56. Kaimuki Grill, 104 S El Camino Real, San Mateo (closed)
57. Tanto, 1306 Saratoga Ave, San Jose (now Dan Izakaya)
58. Okazu Ya SF (Noriega), 2445 Noriega St, San Francisco
59. King's Garden Ramen, 39055 Cedar Blvd, Newark (closed)
60. Sushi Bistro, 445 Balboa St, San Francisco
61. Genki Ramen, 3944 Geary Blvd, San Francisco
62. Mitsuwa Hokkaido festival booth, 675 Saratoga Ave, San Jose
63. Dan Izakaya, 1306 Saratoga Ave, San Jose
64. Lakuni, 325 E 4th Ave, San Mateo
65. 100% Healthy Desserts, 1155 Taraval St., San Francisco
66. Mifune, 1737 Post St, San Francisco
67. H2A Noodle, 42318 Fremont Blvd., Fremont (closed)
68. Iroha, 1728 Buchanan St, San Francisco
69. Miraku Noodles, 2131 N Broadway, Walnut Creek
70. Manpuku, 2977 College Ave, Berkeley
71. Tanpopo, 1740 Buchanan Street, San Francisco
72. Sushi Yoshi, 39261 Cedar Blvd, Newark
73. La Shang Niang Ramen (OEC), 42 Dixon Rd, Milpitas
74. Oidon, 71 E. 4th Avenue, San Mateo
75. Taraval Okazu Ya, 1735 Taraval St., San Francisco
76. Suzu Noodle House, 1581 Webster Street, San Francisco
77. Bushido Izakaya, 156 Castro St, Mountain View
78. Fresh Taste, 2107 El Camino Real, Palo Alto
79. Asuka Ramen, 883 Bush St, San Francisco (closed)
80. Sapporo-ya, 1581 Webster St, San Francisco
81. Tokyo Ramen, 678 Barber Lane, Milpitas (closed)
82. Kamakura, 2549 Santa Clara Ave, Alameda
83. Mama-san!, 312 8th Ave, San Francisco (closed)
84. Katana-ya Ramen, 10546 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito
85. Hotei, 1290 9th Ave, San Francisco
86. Bear's Ramen House, 2521 Durant, Berkeley

[zartemis]

Mitsuwa has their popup kitchen up and Tsujita ramen is serving (of Tokyo and LA fame)

Serving only Tokyo soy sauce ramen. 10:30 to 7pm through Sunday.

[zartemis]

Here's a photo of the Tsujita Tokyo soy sauce ramen. I don't have a lot of familiarity with the varieties of Japanese ramen (though my favorite local places are Ramen Halu, Ramen Tenma, and Misoya Ramen) and have never been to Toyko.

This ramen seemed OK, but I prefer the local places. The meat was perfectly selected -- each slice half fat, half meat. Very strong soy sauce flavor (while I was there a woman came up to criticize the workers in Japanese -- though I caught an English phrase: "you use too much, too salty"). I didn't find it too salty for soy sauce ramen, but don't normally order this style. The noodles were slightly gummy.

The Tsujita publicity dude out front warned that it was not the style they serve at their west LA location (I was confirming they were part of that chain).

The other photo is of the cooking area inside the popup kitchen area. The stock and water pots are directly behind the fellow completing the ramen. The guy in the far back is handling the noodles.

I did not go check out the black kimichi ramen -that's over at Santouka. The Tsujita ramen is $9.50 a bowl, $14.50 extra chashu.

[Melanie Wong]

Thanks for the report, I would have loved to try Tsujita's ramen. I noticed the demonstration kitchen in the front of Mitsuwa when I stopped by on Monday. I hope we can look forward to more visiting ramen-ya's.