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 Ramen, Tori Paitan, & Karaage at Touhichi らぁ麺 とうひちKyoto, JAPAN

Shoyu Ramen

Karaage (Fried Chicken)

While browsing Google Map in Kyoto, I found a very high rated ramen shop far away from the city center. Before the shop opened for dinner, a line is already formed at shop front. Everything I ordered here are undoubtedly really good! Plus, I found one of the best karaage I've ever had!

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.

Shoyu Ramen at Japanese Soba Noodles 蔦 Tsuta (the first Michelin starred ramen shop in the world), Tokyo JAPAN

Shoyu Ramen (used 3 kinds of soy sauce!) topped with chashu, menma, egg, scallions, and black truffle oil

Finally, I get to try the first Michelin starred ramen in the world! They used 3 types of soy sauce + black truffle sauce here. And to be honest, it's a bit salty for me. However, overall it's a great bowl with delicious chashu (pork slice), egg, menma (bamboo shoots), house-made ramen noodles, and chicken + seafood soup!

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.

Seafood Udon and Nigiri at Kamado Sushi, Berkeley USA

Seafood Udon: clam, mussel, scallop, fish, shrimp

Hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), hon maguro (tuna)

Kamado Sushi is a causal Japanese restaurant located at Northern Berkeley area. I came here towards the end of lunch time, and there was no waiting line. I ordered a seafood udon as well as 5 sets of nigiri: Hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), hon maguro (tuna), hotate (Hokkaido scallop), and tamago. (egg cake)

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.

Shoyu Ramen at Santouka, San Jose USA

Shoyu Ramen with marinated eggs and ikura don in the back $11.94

Shoyu ramen tastes very similar to the miso, shio, or spicy I had before. (Check out this post about miso ramen) The broth is great, but the noodle can't be compared with Ramen Shop's freshly homemade ramen. I actually enjoy the mini ikura rice more now!  

Shoyu Ramen at Katana-Ya in San Francisco USA

Shoyu Ramen

I discover this place from Yelp. It was a 30-45 minute wait for a group of 5 people. Katana-Ya is a small Japanese-owned ramen house. I ordered a Shoyu Ramen; however, I feel a lot more appreciate with their side dish, sashimi rice bowl, rather than their popular ramen. Tonkotsu slices are not firm without the proper tenderness and the broth is average. Ramen noodles can be easily found at any Japanese grocery stores. I don't think I will come back again for their ramen.