I’ve been looking forward to trying Ryowa in Berkeley, and I recently just had the chance to go up there. I’ve read a lot of good reviews from various web sites and I have to say…I’m disappointed. I had the Ryowa ramen even though I was sorely tempted by the shoyu ramen. The sesame soup base sounded intriguing. Well, the soup was just ok. The sesame was nice…strong but not overpowering, but a bit on the bland side. The noodles were a very nice texture, but they were really bland. The vegetable gyoza, however, were excellent! The gyoza were cooked perfectly and had a really nice blend of flavors. I didn’t miss the meat at all! I’ll probably come back if I ever get the chance and try the shoyu ramen. The Ryowa ramen gets a 6. The gyoza gets a 9 though!
Ryowa Ramen
2068 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 883-0667
Just went to Ryowa in Berkeley and I must say it was probably the worst ramen I have ever had.
Let’s start with the service. It was cheerful and the waiter honestly seemed to be trying his best, but he just wasn’t very good. The ramen took an unusual amount of time to make. What should have been a relatively quick meal took two hours and some change. It wasn’t a crowded evening, yet the staff could not seem to keep up.
On to the ramen. I had the sesame base and my friend had the miso. The sesame soup base was almost blank, no flavor. What flavor came through was that of old oil strained through a musty cloth. There was no balance. The miso was much better but still worse then an msg pack in a Cup O’Noodles. The pork in both was gross. Imagine that you took perfectly good pork, fed it to a sheep, and then ate the mutton. It was a very washed out porky/gamey flavor. There was no kelp, but they did stick a bit of nori to the side of the bowl. Terrible presentation, violated every rule of enjoying ramen as recorded by the movie “Tampopo”.
I do recommend the veggie gyoza and the chef’s singing. I don’t recommend the food, service, or watching your food get prepared by a large man with his entire right arm covered in a bandage. I’ll give them a second chance when they get a better recipe and find a way to control the amount of sweating going on over the soup.
Hi,
I’m new (ish) to ramen recipes and disappointed that after a half hour’s surfing all the recipes I find are for flavoured ramen (dried). I like to make my own stock and would like to use fresh or vacuum packed thick Japanese ramen, which I can find at my local Thai store – but no recipes. Where do I find a site that has really good, non-packaged ramen recipes. I’m not vegetarian and love seafood too. Can you help? Thanks, Mike.
Mike, if you’re actually trying to make your own stock, I bow down to you. I did a quick google search for “ramen soup recipe” and found a few sites that might help. This, this, and this might point you in the right direction. Master ramen chefs spend years perfecting their recipes, and everyone has their own take on the perfect flavors. I did find this actual recipe that looks promising. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Did you ask for the special noodles ($1 extra)? They are delicious homemade chewy men. The regular noodles at Ryowa are only passable, but the special noodles make for a really satisfying bowl of soup.
Thanks for the tip, jd. The next time I’m in the area, I’ll try it out!