Hokkaido butter corn miso ramen with smoked king salmon, pork belly, soy-marinated egg, snap peas, chrysanthemum greens, and shiitake. ($16)
Okay so, The Ramen Shop is not a place I would go alone. I think eating there alone would be particularly wonderful because ramen is the type of food to be eaten alone, and although the lighting might be too low for reading, it’s hard to read while slurping noodles anyway. BUT, the wait is just too horrible. This place has been hyped up since its opening in January, and it stays hyped. No sensical lone diner should wait an hour for a bowl of ramen.
It’s good ramen, though. I didn’t expect too much, and I was satisfied.
The broth was rich, although not hot enough (maybe I remember more than I should from the movie Tampopo, but they say the ramen broth should be boiling hot when arriving at the table). By American standard though, this is fine. I like that they keep the menu simple: 3 kinds of ramen – shio ramen with manila clams, veggie shoyu ramen with mushroom and salt-cured egg (yeah, ramen ain’t no place for vegan 🙁 ), and miso ramen with salmon. The only complaint: why no simple ramen with just pork belly? I understand that you want to make the $15 price tag seems more reasonable by adding some extra stuff, but the salmon really doesn’t belong.
Black sesame ice cream sandwich ($6) – The ice cream part is okay, but I’m not a fan of the sugar cookie.
The Ramen Shop is at 5812 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618 – (510)788-6370.
Ahhh I’ve been wanting to try this place too, but last time I went, they said an hour and a half wait and we decided it wasn’t worth it. And it seems really expensive for a bowl of ramen too…Hmm would you go back again though?
So far it is actually the best-tasting ramen I’ve had in the area, so yeah, I’d go back. I’d ask them to not put in the salmon though 😛