Ken Ken Ramen

Just off mission street, Ken Ken Ramen is a cute little restaurant with great service and loads of character. I always love coming here. As you walk into the dimly lit restaurant, red and white lanterns adorn the ceiling, creating a super cozy atmosphere. On a cold night, it’s the perfect place to warm up with a bowl of yummy ramen.

I’ve noticed that the ramen here is somewhat hit or miss. I’ve never had bad bowl per se, but it can be inconsistent. Sometimes the broth is perfectly on point and other times it’s a bit lacking. I usually opt for the miso ramen. It’s made with a mix of red and white miso as well as pork and chicken stock. It’s served with Cha-Shu, slow cooked egg, bok choy, bean sprouts, wakame, baby corn, bamboo shoots and green onion. When it’s on, this is a really great bowl of ramen. When it’s not so on, it’s still pretty good (their slow cooked egg is always tasty) just not amazing.

I do love the feeling you get from just being in this restaurant. It’s romantic and warm and the servers are always really friendly and attentive. Be sure to take a peek at their bathroom too. I always recommend this place to visiting friends, not necessarily because it’s the best ramen in SF, but because it just feels so nice being there.

3378 18th St, San Francisco

(415) 967-2636

Orenchi Beyond: San Francisco

Located at the edge of the mission, Orenchi Beyond is a trendy restaurant serving up somewhat under-whelming bowls of ramen. The focus of this place seems to be more on the aesthetics than on the food. It’s not that the ramen is bad, far from it, but with so many amazing options in San Francisco, I think you can find better elsewhere. This is also one of the more expensive ramen locations, at $13 a bowl without any add ons. As my boyfriend noted, it also had smaller portions than some of the other ramen places we’ve eaten.

Orenchi Ramen

Beyond Ramen

The Orenchi Ramen is served with pork belly, a seasoned egg, green onion, bamboo shoot, mushroom and dried seaweed. I did enjoy that the ramen had a generous serving of bamboo shoot and mushrooms. The egg was perfectly cooked although not very seasoned. What was lacking with this dish was the depth of flavor in the broth. It just wasn’t mouth watering delicious. I enjoyed the Beyond Ramen more and it came with pork belly, green onion, bamboo shoot, dried seaweed, fried garlic and mizuna. The broth was much more flavorful in the Beyond Ramen. Although, still, it just didn’t have that, I can’t stop slurping it up flavor. Also, I am a strong believer that ramen should always have an egg with it so, for $1.50, I added it on, bringing the bowl to almost $15. They also wouldn’t allow me to substitute the pork shoulder for the pork belly. Something about the chef being offended. Not really a big deal to me but for people who like to customize their ramen somewhat, this isn’t really the place to do it.

I did like how you could see all the ramen being prepared. I’m a big fan of seeing into kitchens. We didn’t have to wait long for a bar seat but we seemed to sneak in right before the rush because there were about 5 parties waiting to be sat as we were leaving. They have a sort of make-shift, outdoor bar where you can order drinks and some appetizers while waiting for a table. I thought that was a pretty smart idea. I’m not much for long waits without at least a beer, so this would be a major plus for me. All in all, a visually appealing restaurant with decent ramen. Not the best but definitely not bad. I’d probably come back again if I wanted to take an out of town friend to a cool kid place.

174 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94103

 

 

The Spice Jar

The Spice Jar is one of those restaurants that I just keep coming back to. Tucked away on a quiet corner in the mission district of San Francisco, this little gem serves up a pretty decent bowl of ramen.

The go to dish here is the spicy sesame miso ramen, with ground chicken, chopped chives, garlic and a hearty broth. With just the right amount of spice (I do like a little bite to my ramen!) I always find myself slurping up every last drop. Although, this may not be the best nor most authentic ramen I’ve ever had, what it lacks, is more than made up for with service and atmosphere.

The Spice Jar is a super cozy restaurant with lots of natural lighting and big windows. The owners are two of the sweetest people and really make you feel like you’ve been invited into their home for a meal. There’s a two-seater bar space which, I think, is the best seat in the house, and you can stare out the window to people watch as you slurp up the yumminess. Add a cup of Ozeki Nigori sake or their refreshing mint ginger lemonade and I promise, you will be back again and again. Another plus, although the restaurant oozes class and decor, the prices are incredibly reasonable. At $11 a bowl and $5 for many of the appetizers, you can eat here for two and keep it under $30. You may experience a bit of a wait, since the restaurant is rather small but I’ve never waited more than 25 minutes for a table. And even if I had, I honestly wouldn’t mind.

2500 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110 

 415.829.3668

Bún Riêu Cua in Hanoi, Vietnam

The most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten, thus far, was during my travels in Vietnam. My sister and I were recommended a place with no name, just an address. We were told to get there early (she’s only open for a few hours starting at around 7 AM) and look for a woman who was cooking out of a large pot, with small, colorful stools set up on a sidewalk around her. A few wrong turns and about an hour later, we found her. And boy was it worth the trip half way across the world.

Now, I don’t speak Vietnamese and this women definitely didn’t speak English but all that was needed was a simple nod of the head and she brought us two piping hot bowls of heaven, Bún riêu cua. Bún riêu cua is a sand crab, rice vermicelli soup with a tomato based broth. The sand crabs are usually found in rice paddies around Vietnam and are delicious little creatures. It’s served with noodles and beef, a variety of fresh herbs and spices, and topped with fried and pickled garlic. The incredibly rich broth has a spicy punch to it that pairs seamlessly with the acid in the pickled garlic. I noticed some other patrons had what I could only describe as a black egg but I couldn’t seem to communicate that I wanted one. I am quite the fan of slow cooked, boiled, fried and any way cooked eggs, so I will definitely brush up on my Vietnamese before returning. And I will return.

Sitting in that cool, crisp morning with a hot bowl of beautifully made soup, nothing in the world mattered but that moment. If you ever find yourself in Hanoi, Vietnam, you best find this woman. I might even go so far as to say an entire trip to Vietnam is worth just this soup. All hail this wonderful, bún riêu cua genius.

40 P Hang Tre, Hanoi, Vietnam