Soba at Soba Ichi, Oakland (San Francisco Bay Area) USA

Cold Soba (Seiro - Regular Size) with dipping sauce, pickles, and condiments

Soba Ichi is a restaurant specialized in Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodles. Their soba is freshly prepared every day from scratch. They are one of the Bay Area restaurants with Michelin-awarded Bib Gourmand status in the year 2019. Since they are the only soba specialty restaurant in the area, make sure to make a reservation one day in advance! 

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.

Tori Paitan Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Tori Paitan Ramen $17
manila clams, pork chashu, shoyu-marinated egg, maitake mushrooms, sweet onions, and mizuna

I just came back from Japan, and the first ramen I have when coming back is Ramen Shop. To me, Tori Paitan (Chicken white broth) always feel "nutritious" when compressing all the chicken bone, meat, essences into one bowl of creamy tori paitan. However it doesn't seem that way anymore when trying the Paitan tonight at Ramen Shop.

Monterey Bay squid and pork fried rice at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Monterey Bay squid and pork fried rice with wild nettles, cilantro, basil, cherry tomatoes, and Siew’s spicy shrimp-chili paste $15.5

Once a while, my friends will order Ramen Shop's fried rice as a small appetizer. It is a little bit spicy from their house-made shrimp-chili paste. 

Red Miso Mochi Ice Cream at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Red Miso Mochi Ice Cream $5

Happy Birthday to me! I tried my first RED MISO flavored mochi ice cream at Ramen Shop! First of all, it is house-made, I wish I can find any flavor of mochi ice cream at any convience store. ^ v ^

The ice cream is very flavorful, but the taste of red miso is subtle, almost taste like a ripe plum.

Meyer Lemon Ramen & Hokkaido Spicy Butter Corn Miso Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Meyer Lemon (Front) $16.5 and Hokkaido Spicy Butter Corn Miso (Back) $17.5

Meyer Lemon Ramen is a yuzu-inspired recipe for Northern Californians. Just by the name of the ramen, you already know the broth will be acidic rather than salty. The ramen has salt-cured egg and plenty of vegetables: maitake and king oyster mushrooms, tomato confit, broccolini, eggplants, and mizuna. (water greens)

Hokkaido Squash Blossom Butter Corn Miso Ramen & Porcini Shoyu Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Hokkaido Squash Blossom Butter Corn Miso Ramen $17.5

Porcini (an Italian mushroom) Shoyu Ramen $17.5

I feel extremely happy with the Hokkaido Squash Blossom Butter Corn Miso Ramen. The creamy broth really fits well with the soft squash in general. Along with butter, corn, and miso, the ramen includes ground pork belly, shoyu-marinated egg, padron pepper, broccoli, and shungiku green.

At the same time, Porcini shoyu ramen is another new ramen invention that my friend (who usually prefers lighter-tasting food) really loves. As the name suggests, this ramen recipe uses Porcini, an Italian mushroom that is very meaty and rich. The shoyu broth is not too salty and its flavor is very satisfying with good quality Japanese soy sauce. The bowl of ramen also has pork chashu slices, shoyu-marinated eff, spring garlic, scallions, bok choy, and mizuna.

Shio Tori Paitan Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Shio Tori Paitan Ramen $17.5

On Sunday, one of Ramen Shop's owners, Ray, told me about their Paitan ramen that will be on their menu today. That is why I planned to come visit again at 5pm sharp to try it out right when the restaurant opens. The ramen today is called Shio Tori Paitan Ramen. It is very creamy and rich yet moderately salty. The creamy texture is very overwhelming to me. Luckily, there're porcini mushroom and lots of veggies. It is a very satisfying meal with egg and chashu!

Fried Chicken Oyako-Don at Aburaya, Oakland USA

Fried Chicken Oyako Don $9

I am very exciting about this place, but I guess I was expecting too much. I ordered my chicken rice bowl with garlic sauce and egg. The saucy fried chicken tastes alright but I wish the egg will be more fluffy to counter the heavy fried chicken. I can barely finish my bowl, I guess I better get back to my noodle diet.

Kogashi Shellfish Miso Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Kogashi Shellfish Miso Ramen $17.5

This is very good! The seafood broth combine with miso is absolutely perfect for my taste! Shellfish, crab, shrimp, fish, and many other seafood dishes are always my favorite! Now, seafood plus ramen is like a living dream to me!

Spicy Shrimp Tantanmen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Spicy Shrimp Tantanmen $17.5

I am not a spicy food-eater, so I was very glad that the spicy shrimp tantanmen is something that I can truly enjoy. I can finally taste the chili oil and the spice that were simmered in the broth. This is one of the few times that I am very happy with a spicy dish.

Mixing with white parts of leeks and other veggies, this spicy tantanmen is something that I would love to come back and try it again and again.

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.
 

Pumpkin Tantanmen and Tsukemen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Pumpkin Tantanmen

Tsukemen with Heavy Tonkotsu Dipping Broth

Pumpkin Tantanmen is a pretty neat creation from Ramen Shop. Tantanmen is a Japanese version of the Chinese Sichuan's Dandanmian. Tantanmen is usually consisted of stir fried ground pork with sesame paste, chili oil, Tobanjan(Chinese hot bean paste), and chicken stock. Signature toppings are Bok Choy, green onions, ground pork, and sesame seeds. The pumpkin version of Tantanmen tonight at Ramen Shop has a nice taste with the addition of pumpkin. Since an original broth was alreadt very heavy, pumpkin blends in very well. (Just like Pumpkin Curry) Cilantro, white parts of green onions, and a little bit of Chinese Pickled Vegetables really complete the dish. 

Tsukemen appears to be new thing at Ramen Shop, so I decided to try out their version of Tsukemen as well. I personally am a little disappointed with the Tsukemen. The noodle is too thick and because it is al dente and already in room temperature, it is harder to absorb the broth, leaving part of the noodle tasteless.

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.