Cold weather means more time to eat ramen! With the winter months in the city, I’ve managed to try out a few more places. This time, I went to Ramen Yamadaya, Ushi Taro and 21 Taste House to see if any of them could beat my current favorite: Mensho Tokyo.
1. Ramen Yamadaya
Ramen Yamadaya is a small California chain with one location in the bay area. When I arrived, they were just opening, so it was a nice and quiet stop for lunch. They offer a great $20 omakase meal which consists of any of the ramen, gyoza or kaarage, and tea. I do love a good deal, and so I opted for the spicy miso ramen. They do several levels, but I chose the middle level just to be on the safe side, as I never know how spicy something is likely to be in advance. It is still a tonkotsu broth base, but with some spicy miso added in. The broth itself was really nice, and the first few sips of it I enjoyed the flavor and the lightness, but I didn’t think it was as spicy as I was expecting. It was also slightly on the cold side. It turns out the miso wasn’t mixed in, and once I found it and stirred it in, the spice levels and flavors increased quite a lot. There was both chashu pork and pork belly, and while it was flavorful, it was also a bit chewy, so I wasn’t blown away by that. I did enjoy the marinated egg, so that was quite a good bonus. The noodles were also the perfect amount of chewy and soft. It was all very moreish as I worked my way through the bowl.
2. Ushi Taro
I like to try a wide range of ramen places, so I ventured out to Ushi Taro in the Inner Sunset to give one of their beef ramen bowls a try. I went for the traditional paitan that has a beef broth with beef fillet and half an egg. I also asked for the addition of roasted bone marrow for an extra cost because who doesn’t like bone marrow with their beef? When it came out, the server had put in the wrong order, adding black garlic oil instead of marrow, but he quickly realized his mistake and ran to the kitchen for some marrow. The broth itself was really decadent. Beef ramen reminds me a lot of pho with the beef flavor, but the ramen really amps it up with the thick, luscious broth. The beef was okay as it was a bit tough, but the bone marrow really added another level of decadence to an otherwise rich dish. The egg was also really fantastic, and the black garlic (that I didn’t order but I still ended up with) added another depth of flavor that I really enjoyed. The noodles weren’t overly chewy and had a great texture and flavor as well.
3. 21 Taste House
Finally, I trekked all the way to Ingleside to give 21 Taste House a try. It also does ramen that isn’t just your standard tonkotsu, as here they make a lobster/pork broth with their house ramen (and many of their other ramens too). While some of the other ramens definitely intrigued me, I really wanted to get the house ramen as it comes with ground pork, chashu pork and half a soft shell crab on top, so I could try a surf and turf style ramen. Now, when the ramen arrived, I was a bit worried as it smelled extremely fishy after they put it down in front of me. However, once I tried the broth, I realized the broth wasn’t the problem, it was the crab. I really wasn’t a fan as the crab itself was not fresh. However, everything else in that bowl was brilliant. The lobster and pork broth really played on each other getting some of the richness from the pork with the brininess of the lobster. It really just gave a fantastic balance of flavors that sang in the mouth. Both the ground pork and the chashu were nice, but I do like my chashu a bit more melt in the mouth. The marinated egg was also very well done so I left feeling very satisfied with my lunch.
Winner: Mensho Tokyo
While I really, really enjoyed all three of these bowls of ramen, they definitely didn’t give me that feeling I had when I took my first sip of ramen at Mensho Tokyo. That being said, I would go back to any of them for another bowl, as I really enjoyed all four of them. So while Mensho Tokyo may be still at the top, there are definitely some strong contenders in the city that are really doing some amazing things with their ramen. Also, to keep my list up to date, I’ve removed both Hell’s Ramen (sadly) in the Mission and Slurp Noodle Bar in the Castro from the ranking as they have both closed. RIP to two fantastic noodle places.
I’ve also decided to revamp my ranking system as after several months (and years even!) it’s hard to accurately rank things. Therefore, I’ve now got the top ramen (pun intended) in the city, followed by four categories “Worth going out of your way for”, “Worth going to if you’re going to be nearby”, “Decent if you’re desperate” and “Don’t bother”. I think this will work out better as sometimes the ramen is too close to tell!
Top Ramen: Mensho Tokyo
Worth going out of your way for:
Ramenwell
Nojo Ramen Tavern
Iza Ramen
Kan Ramen
Ushi Taro
21 Taste House
Worth going to if you’re going to be nearby:
Izakaya Sozai
Slurp Ramen
Ippudo
Hinodeya Ramen Bar
The Ramen Bar
Ajisen Ramen
Marufuku
Ramen Yamadaya
Decent if you’re desperate:
Ushio Ramen
Coco’s Ramen
Ramen City
Katana-Ya Ramen
R&B Cafe
Yo-Kai Express
Don’t Bother:
Ramen Underground
Kiramachi Ramen
Orenchi Beyond
