It has been years since my first visit to this ramen shop. The first visit occured at their previous location on B street in San Mateo. They have since moved to this location near El Camino Real just off Hwy 92. Ive heard the old place has been taken over by another ramen joint, Ramen Dojo. I have not tried it that yet. Its still eary yet and the place has not opened yet.
Minutes before opening, there are people lined up at the entrance. One of the workers comes out to begin taking orders before the the doors to let in the hungry patrons. The interior is fairly standard but thats not what gets the people coming into the place. It may look empty now but it does not stay that way for long. As I was eating alone, I was done fairly quickly and the restaurant was overflowing with patrons inside and out.
It is, of course, the ramen that brings the masses in. On a previous visit, I dont remember what I had but I know what I ordered. On that fateful visit, we were not the early birds so we missed out on the stewed pork ramen. I settled on something else but my memory eludes me. Santa offers their ramen in 3 flavors, salt(shio), soy sauce(shoyu), and miso. My preference is usually miso unless Ive had bowls of it and it has made me sick. I have the stewed pork miso ramen, non-spicey. I didnt whimp out this time but wanted a taste of their stuff unadultered before I start throwing in the kitchen sink. I plow through my least favorite bits, the bean sprouts and greens before getting to the meat of the matter. The stewed pork, in the middle, is very sweet and tender. The fatty parts liquify in your mouth and the meat fibers pull away from each other as you begin to chew on it. There are also 2 very thin slices of chasiu. I wish these were thicker slices. I could almost look through them and thus does not provide that satisfying mouthful of meat that I enjoy. The hard boiled egg is standart and the corn is sweet and crunchy.
The soup and noodles are the heart of the dish. The noodles are fairly straight and yellow with some chew to them. The soup was good but not as bold as I would like in a miso broth. The miso itself is fairly evident in the little clouds that floated around the bowl. However, I got the feeling there was not enough soup. The portions of all the other ingredients seemed fine but I was hoping for more soup. Hours later with literally another bowl of ramen under my belt, I thought to myself that I would have to give it another try. the selection is small enough to be able to try everything. Aside from this and their standard ramen, they have a deluxe ramen with the same things as what I ordered. The only difference is stewed pork cheek instead of the belly piece
