FOOD | My RAMEN addiction | Ajisen Ramen as my #1 pick

I've never been to Japan, and I would love to visit there one day so I can eat " authentic Japanese ramen" as much as I want to!

But for now, I'll be happy with the nearby ramen places I can go to whenever I have the craving!

Ramen restaurants have started booming here in California for the past 2 years. So far, I have tried 10 nearby ramen places (both good and bad ones), and today I will highlight 4 of them.

Let's start with "what exactly is japanese ramen"? 

Ramen consists of  noodles served in a meat or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, with toppings like sliced pork (or chasu), dried seaweed (or nori), green onions (or negi) and more (like corn, cabbage, garlic). The most popular ramen I know are the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen mostly known from Kyushu, Japan and the miso ramen mostly known from Hokkaido, Japan. 

I personally prefer tonkotsu  ramen! It usually has a thick, cloudy white colored broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, that makes the broth have a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency. It is believed to be healthy on the skin due to its high content of collagen. (Hmmmm which I guess attracts me to it, aside from its great flavor! lol)

And here are the 4 ramen experiences I have, that starts from my favorite:

1.) Ajisen Ramen in Fremont, Ca. 

I always order #2 - Tender Pork Ribs.

"Tender" is the perfect word to describe this dish. The meat melts in the mouth, it's gelatinous without leaving a sticky texture on your tongue. It's served with pork ribs with tendons, cabbage, seaweed and green onions. (Egg is also optional to add). All these combined in a creamy, rich pork broth makes my "perfect tonkotsu ramen!" I would eat this not only in cold rainy seasons, but even when it's super hot in summer!

##Ajisen ramen has other locations in the bay area such as San Mateo Ca and San Francisco Ca, but I and my husband prefer the one in Fremont Ca, because their ramen in that location taste more homemade and authentic. The ramen prices range from $9 to $12. Tasty appetizers such as fried octopus, fried chicken and more are also served with prices ranging  from $4-$8.
Their customer service can be better but can be overlooked as the food is just great with affordable prices.
You can check there website here .

2.)Mensho-Tokyo in San Francico, Ca. 

Mensho Ramen is actually an artisan Ramen shop in Japan! They specialize in high quality ingredients.
I liked the Tori Paitan ramen - a rich and creamy chicken soup base,  with pork chasu, duck chashu, menma, kale, burdock, & katsuobushi sauce.

It's a little on the pricey side for ramen. But they make their own noodles, so I guess that justifies it. 
The ramen prices range from $16-$18. They charge extra for exta meat.
Oysters in shoyu  dare oil is their only option for appetizers and it's $5 for 3 pieces.
##I didn't appreciate how they were stingy on the meat, especially knowing how pricey the ramen is. Also, the restaurant itself is so tiny! - only a few tables fit that's why there's always a line of people outside waiting to be seated. But overall, it was a pleasant experience!
You can check their website here .

3.) Marufuku ramen - Japantown San Francisco Ca.

This ramen place claims to serve the authentic Hakata-style tokotsu ramen using ultra thin artisanal noodles which perfects the creamy broth and pork chasu.

I enjoyed the Hakata Dx ramen - with rich pork broth, braised pork belly, soft boiled egg, corn, green onions, kikurage mushroom and bean sprouts.

You can customize your ramen's spiciness (which I rarely experience as an option in other ramen places). The ramen prices range from $10-$15. They also have plenty of appetizer options with prices ranging from $3-$7 and  small rice bowls with prices ranging from $2-$4.

##It's a plus that it's located inside Japantown in SF, making it convenient to go to after shopping around there!
##What I really didn't like in the ramen is that thick fat on the pork slice. It's soft and melts in the mouth, but I just found it weird and ofcourse unhealthy. 
You can check their website here .

4.) Ramen Dojo - San Mateo Ca.

This is my least favorite of the four places. It's very famous at their location and has so many good reviews on yelp but it just a standard ramen place for me.
I ordered the Garlic Pork flavor ramen and it came with roasted Pork (2pcs), fried whole garlic, kikurage mushroom, green chives, quail egg (1 Pc), chicken gravy (cooked ground chicken, chopped shiitake mushroom, chopped ginger, sausage, shredded red pepper).
It was not bad but was not so great either. For me, the chicken gravy overpowered the whole taste of the ramen. It was just too much that I felt like I was eating chicken soup instead of tonkotsu ramen.
Their appetizers were also not that great (just regular).
The ramen prices range from $9-$10. You can also customize the spiciness of your ramen.
I couldn't locate their website but you can check their yelp account here .

So, that sums up my ramen adventures! I hope next time I'll be reviewing ramen restaurants located in Japan!

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment and share your own ramen experiences!

Much love, Christie