Shoyu, Shio, and Spicy Ramen at Shiba Ramen, Oakland (Northern California) USA

Clear Dark aka Shoyu Ramen

Shiba Ramen opened their second location in Oakland Downtown. I am so glad they finally can serve their ramen at an actual restaurant now. They still have their original shop inside "Emeryville public market," which is a food court that really limits their potential to serve pipping hot ramen. Anyway, I tried three ramen at the new location: Spicy, Clear (Shio), and Clear Dark (aka Shoyu Ramen). Out of all, I highly recommend Clear Dark, which its soup shows the strongest depth in flavor.

Shio, Organic (Shoyu), Tori Paitan, & Vegan Tantanmen at Mensho Tokyo, San Francisco USA

Shio Ramen - Clear chicken and pork soup, Shio dare, pork chashu, kale, menma, fried garlic, chives, nori

Vegan Tantanmen - Vegetable soup with kombu and mushroom, premium Japanese soy milk, seven types of nuts, sesame, cilantro, chili oil, green onions, menma, kale sprouts

Tori Paitan - Rich, creamy chicken soup, pork chashu, duck chashu, menma, kale, burdock root, katsubushi sauce

Organic Ramen (Shoyu) - Clear organic chicken and pork soup, shoyu dare, pork chashu, duck chashu, kale, kale sprout, menma chives, menma, nori

There were 4 ramens on the menu tonight, and since I have 2 more people with me, we ordered all 4 to try out all of them at once. Personally, I fell in love with their Shio ramen. The tasty umami from the Rausu kelp and Hongare Katsuobushi Dashi broth really perfected it. Let me tell you more about Mensho Tokyo and their delicious ramen!

Shio, Shoyu Ramen, and Tsukemen at ロックンビリーS1 (Rock'n & Billy Super 1), Hyogo JAPAN

Shio Ramen - Hinai chicken broth, chicken breast, menma, onion, scallions, yuzu zest

Shoyu Ramen - Hinai chicken broth, chicken breast, menma, onion, scallions

This is definitely one of the best ramen shop I've been so far! Recommended by many other foodies and ramen experts, 嶋崎 順一 Junichi Shimazaki's ramen has been ranked as one of the best ramen in Tokyo or as one of the "Tokyo Ramen Gods".

Made purely by one of the best species of chicken in Japan, (Akita's Hinai chicken) the chicken broth is clear and very delicious!! On top of that, chicken fat to make this bowl of ramen more addicting. The chicken breast pieces have great texture and tender. The bamboo shoot is actually crunchy (the veggie type of crunchy/crispy) and well prepared without any unwanted odor or taste. The ramen itself is thin and bouncy. It matches with the clear chicken broth perfectly.

I highly recommend all three ramen: shio, shoyu, and tsukemen. (They are all ranked #1 in 2012-2013 Ramen Reward in Japan) Of course, if you want me to really pick one, Shio ramen is the one that you can truly taste the pure Hinai chicken's flavor without any other add-on flavors. It's actually my favorite out of the three.

Clear Ramen & Miso Ramen at Shiba Ramen (Soft Opening), Public Market Emeryville, Northern California USA

Shiba Ramen with Clear Broth, menma, egg, chashu $9

Shiba Ramen with Miso Broth, corn, ground pork, egg, menma, bean sprout $10

Tonight is a soft-opening for Shiba Ramen! Here's all the ramen on their menu: Clear or Miso. Clear is actually very flavorful. The only down-side is that the bowl of ramen is overall warm, not hot. It will be GREAT if they can make a delicious hot bowl of ramen for this type of cold weather! 

Miso ramen is heavier than I thought, but is it still good. (especially for people who love heavier broth type) Along with menma (bamboo shoots) corn, and bean sprouts, the miso ramen is well balanced countering the heavy miso broth. 

Veggie Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Veggie Shoyu Matsutake Ramen $16.5

Shio Ramen with California Bamboo $17.5

Ramen Shop always select the best seasonal ingredients for their restaurant. For tonight, California Bamboo Shoots seem to be the ingredient for their Shio Ramen.

If you didn't know, Ramen Shop changes their ramen menu everyday. However, the "Veggie Shoyu Matsutake Ramen" is always available. I finally get a chance to try it tonight. I must admit, it is a bit too sweet for me, but I don't regret it. I wanted to try all of their artisan ramen recipes.
 

Shio Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Shio Yuzu Ramen

It is very difficult to find a good quality bowl of Shio Ramen. This is by far my favorite Shio ramen. It has a yuzu shio broth with topping of Roast Pork slices, Scallions, marinate-boiled Egg, and 2 meat balls. The broth is clear but it tastes very delicious. There is a slight flavor of sake too, which makes it distinctive and memorable.

Shio and Spicy Miso Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Shio Ramen

Ramen Shop always have the best presentation for their ramen. Since the day I was introduced to Ramen Shop by Jason, I just can't stop coming back at least twice a week for a hot bowl of Shio Ramen. Their marinated egg has a very beautiful orange yolk color. Mixture of green onions and cabbages taste satisfying with the Shio broth. 

Spicy Miso Ramen

Their Spicy Miso Ramen has a thick-texture broth that compiles both the miso paste with chili oil. There's also a subtle hint of ginger.