San Francisco is a melting for various cultures, offering a variety of foods to satisfy your palette. With a large Asian population, Ramen has become quite popular with many well known spots in Japan opening a sister spot in the Bay Area. While there are many too chose from, here are 3 “Must Try” Ramen spots in the Bay. (Please note that these are not in any specific order)/
1) Mensho Tokyo
I’m Surprised it took me until last week to finally try Mensho Tokyo. The spot located in downtown San Francisco near Union Square serves delicious ramen in an umami packed creamy broth with top notch noodles. The shop is small and lines could be upwards of an hour.
For my visit, I went with the GKO, which was a garlic packed spicy ramen topped with slices of chashu(marinate slices of pork usually shoulder or belly) and ajitsuke tamago(marinated soft boiled egg). The toppings were excellent and along with the noodles helped bring the dish together. This has quickly become one of my favorite ramen spots in the Bay!
Official Website: Here
2) Taishoken
One of the most popular spots in Japan, Taishoken opened it’s first sister shop in San Mateo, CA in 2019 with insane lines. My first visit was a 2 hour plus wait. This spot specializes in dipping ramen where you take cooled chewy noodles and dip them in a highly concentrated broth.
Everytime I go to Taishoken, I always order their Tokusei Tsukemen which is a dipping ramen that includes, Ajitsuke Tamago(marinated egg), pork belly, and sous-vide pork loin. The meal is always fantastic, but what really sets the tone is their unique buckwheat noodles. Their noodles are made up of buckwheat which is high in fiber but also create a distinct taste.
Official Website: Here
3) Ramen Nagi
Another popular spot with long lines(Pre-Covid) and delicious ramen, Ramen Nagi serves several types of Tonkotsu Ramen(Creamy Pork Broth Ramen). Ramen has two spots south of San Francisco, with one location near Stanford University and another in San Jose. Lines during the weekend do get pretty long, but definitely shorter than pre-covid levels.
My favorite at Ramen Nagi is their Red King, a spicy yet savory ramen that can be customized to be even spicier. The ramen comes with tender chashu, declious kikurage mushrooms, and a salted egg.
Official Website: Here
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