Kahoo Ramen - San Jose, CA

4330 Moorpark Ave.
San Jose, CA 95129
(408) 255-8244
Around the corner from Mitsuwa.

Can you smell the ramen incense blowing in the air? I can and it's emanating from Kahoo 香風! After a share of disappointments in the city, I decided to head south (again) to try another well-recommended ramen-ya from San Jose. One supposedly so good, our friend rameniac calls it "the best shoyu ramen in the Bay Area, if not the world outside of Japan." Wow, could this bowl be the one?


Shoyu Ramen: A deep, murky goodness that is both light and resoundingly flavored, one could definitely argue it's position for best in the bay. I, on the other hand, have a few objections. Indeed this ramen stood out, but I'm not sure it could beat out the likes of Santa, Halu, or even Shoki. Wouldn't it be fun if we could see them all duke it out? I'd pay to see that! (I'd probably be the only one too...)


The star topping was the pork belly. Next time I'm ordering extra! The rest (egg, menma, spinach, goma, negi, nori) were somewhat typical. But I loved how the spinach soaked up the wonderful soup.


The noodles didn't seem to match. Much too thin for my tastes, they really didn't feel like ramen noodles. I'm not sure what it was or if it was just me, but something a little thicker would have been nice.


Shio Ramen: The Shio Ramen wasn't as good as the Shoyu, but if you like a strong, heavy chicken flavored soup, then this would be the one to get. The toppings and noodles are similar to above with much the same impressions.


Once again, the pork belly was sensational!


Gyoza: Now why would they just bring out an empty plate? I thought I ordered gyoza! Sumimasen! Oh wait...there is gyoza on the plate. Daaang, that's some crazy camouflage. Are those octocamo gyoza skins? Hahaha. I was so intrigued with their appearance that I almost forgot to eat them. They weren't the greatest but they were 100x better than that Neon Palace!


Yup, it's official. You definitely need to travel outside the city for ramen to mean anything up here!

Maru Ichi - Mountain View, CA

368 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
(650) 564-9931
Google Maps

If you know anything about Bay Area Ramen, then you've probably heard of Melanie Wong, the reigning Bay Area Ramen Queen. Unfortunately, her busy schedule prevented us from meeting up this weekend, but she was still kind enough to email me with a recommendation--Maru Ichi's Kuro (Black) Ramen. So without further ado, welcome to Maru Ichi Japanese Noodle House.


Combo A - Kuro Ramen, Rice, Potstickers: You can order any of their ramen with Combo A, but I obviously went with the celebrated Kuro. According to a blurb in their menu, this "browned garlic" technique was born in Kyushu's Kumamoto Region and first made famous around 1960. Although it's not quite as powerful as Gogyo's Kogashi Miso, this dirty-looking soup really packed a punch. The black oil spill of garlic rests upon a sweet, creamy tonkotsu base so everything that goes in also comes out kuro. There's definitely no escape.


Three hours later, I'm still feeling its lethargic effects. I can only imagine what my stomach looks like after looking at the pic below. I can barely remember what all the toppings were because everything just tasted kuro. Not that I'm complaining!


The chashu was slightly disappointing. The flavor was okay but the texture was tough and far from being tender. Egg, seaweed, moyashi, negi, and kikurage made up the rest of the toppings.


The Hakata-style thin noodles were mostly a highlight, but I expected something fresher for being homemade. Yup, that's right, I said homemade. They have a special room just for making noodles. Unfortunately, there was nobody making any today and it looked more like a storage room for flour than anything else.


If I had known the potstickers were fried, I probably would've skipped the combo.


Maru Ichi also makes their own fresh kimchi, which went perfectly with my rice. It's located in a jar on the table next to the roasted garlic chips so there's no limit to how much you can take.


Tonkotsu Ramen: This Tonkotsu Ramen is basically a naked version of the Kuro. It's not as rich and full-bodied as one might think, but it still satisfies a minor pork bone craving.


Maru Ichi in its cozy, little Mountain View community does a decent job of representing Kumamoto in the States and does an outstanding job with the Kuro. It makes me wonder why more ramen-ya's don't use this method, especially in LA!

Ramen Halu - San Jose, CA

375-M Saratoga Ave.
San Jose, CA 95129
(408) 246-3933
www.ramenhalu.com

Believe it or not, I've never been to San Jose's Japantown until today. And although Ramen Halu is still 15 minutes from there, its popularity on CH convinced me to stop by. Luckily for me, Thursday is the first day of the week that they're open for lunch. I'm glad I didn't stop by yesterday on my way to the city! Ramen Halu (or haru) is just a few blocks from the 280 freeway and on the same street as Mitsuwa. As we arrived at 11:15, a line began to form that was easily 20 deep by the time they opened at 11:30. A long line is always a good sign and I was ready to hang ten at this surfer-themed ramenya.


HALU Ramen: "Our original chewy thick noodle is served in a cheerful and wealthy nutritious 2 kind of rich and clear soup broth blended. The rich soup broth is made from pork, its born, whole chicken & seaweed. The other clear soup broth is made from plenty fresh & dried vegetables, dried bonito, mackerel, anchovy, seaweed, chicken & pork. For making special taste, traditional Japanese fish broth & our original soy sauce are also blended. Home made seasoned tender pork;Cha-shu, ear mushroom;kikulage, seasoned bamboo;Menma, spinach;HO-rensou, Green onion;Negi, & seaweed; Nori on noodle in this soup broth." states the menu.

This Halu specialty was very unique with many different flavors. The broth was incredibly strong and surprisingly sour. It sort of reminded me of Taishoken's mori soba. The noodles were nice and thick like hiyamugi. I really enjoyed these noodles and the toppings were also top notch.


Syo-yu Ramen: "Original silky thin noodle is served in gently traditional plain soup broth is made from plenty fresh & dried vegetables, dried bonito, mackeral, anchovy, seaweed, chicken & pork. For making special taste, traditional Japanese fish broth & our original soy sauce are also blended. Home made seasoned tender pork;Cha-shu, Fish cake;Naruto, seasoned bamboo;Menma, spinach;HO-rensou, Green onion;Negi, & seaweed;Nori on noodle in this soup broth." states the menu.

Assari-shoyu just the way I like it. Far from being bland, this shoyu ramen hit the spot. The toppings were supreme and the super thin noodles were also quite satisfying. But I think next time I'll try to get this shoyu ramen with the thick noodles.


Afterwards, I made it down to Japantown and bought manju from Shuei-Do. They have the best tasting strawberry chichidango. I also thought about eating another bowl at Kumako ramen two doors down, but I chose to just walk around and burn some calories instead.