ramen whaaa?

Ramen is one of those foods that I am never really picky about. Good broth+ good noodles= good ramen no? Clearly, I am no ramen connoisseur. While San Francisco has some of the best ethnic foods in the bay area, San Mateo has some of the best japanese restaurants I have ever had in my life. Ramen is no exception. Although i left New York before the ramen craze exploded on the east coast, I have tried the likes of Daikokuya, a ramen paradise people swear by in the Los Angeles region, and Katana-Ya, the SF hidden jewel of Union Square. Both of which were tasty but not worth the ridiculously long wait.

Some of my bay area friends seem to be more in tune with the qualities that make a good bowl of ramen- the consistency and flavour of the broth to the texture of the noodles. My ramen palette was expanded when I tried Ramen Dojo. This small 10 table restaurant is often sold out of its famous broths only a few hours after opening, weekday and weekends alike.

On this particular wednesday night, I ordered the Spicy Garlic Pork Flavor broth with extra corn. The extra corn is a habit that i had acquired in Hong Kong with their famous Butter Corn Ramen, which like its title describes, absolutely delicious.

After a short 10 minute wait and good conversation, our bowls of ramen arrived. Each bowl was adorned with beautiful colors, steaming and ready to eat! The original fixings come with a quail egg, kikuage mushrooms( similar to the crunchy consistency and texture of the black fungus that chinese people commonly use), beautiful green chives, roasted garlic cloves, and 2 pieces of fatty pork.

With my first bite of the noodles, they proved to hold a chewy and almost springy texture that many ramen places fail to achieve properly. I personally love noodles that have a chew , or some bite while others prefer softer alternatives. +1 on the noodles!

With most broth soups, even pho, I generally have a hard time finishing the broth. I rather feel full from the full consumption of the carbs then feeling full from liquid. Just a matter of preference though! The broth was rich and flavorful, mostly from the fatty pork. A good broth, but a bit on the heavy side for me. All in all- a delightful meal and the noodles are everything to write home about!