Cagami Ramen — Restaurant in Camarillo

Cagami ramen has been my go to local Ramen shop since i first became aware of them a few years ago. My first experience was as such: loved the small shop, the atmosphere, the food. I first began my love for this spot with their old school tonkatsu ramen. The broth was rich and had such a profoundly deep flavor. Felt like a broth that was cooked for hours out of pork bones and no short cuts taken. Pure flavor and and love poured into it. Also the broth used the straighter style of ramen noodle that i prefer over the crinkly curley noodle. The straighter noodle for whatever reason simply hold the broth way better and its the perfect cehicle for getting that delicious broth from bowl to my mouth. Im a person of habit and when I find a menu item i really like I dont tend to change it. But one day i decided to try something new and saw they had a Maze Soba on the menu, back when it was still made with ground chicken. LOVED IT. So flavorful, so tasty, became my new favorite and go to item.

This is The part where I explain why i gave them 3/5 stars. Not too long ago the downfall of Cagami began. About a year ago, more or less they went through a change for the worse. My go to went seemingly missing from the menu for a time. No matter I will go back to my old go to i guess. Then the Maze Soba came back but was no longer made with ground chicken but with Pork. I thought “well hey i do like pork more than chicken so it will probably be amazing”. It was good no doubt, but it was no longer the flavor bomb it once was. Big disappointment. Their Chashu also became VERY inconsistent. It used to be amazing, tender, melt in your mouth, and then it just took a 180. Sometimes great, sometimes chewy, dry (how?), fat wasnt rendered correctly. I used to frequent Cagami so much but after this change I began to go less and less opting to drive further into the LA area for Ramen. Anyway the final nail in the coffin happened upon my visit today. The Curry Ramen is no longer on the menu. The Old School Tonkatsu, I dont know if it was a bad day, bad batch, or if they changed the noodles, but the noodles were so bad. I cant even explain it. Lifeless, texture all wrong. Im writing this in hopes that Cagami will know that im not a troll, im not a hater, my 3/5 comes from feeling like Cagami has gutted themselves and are on a downslope that could end with their end and I dont want that. I really like Cagami as they used to be, but i dont know how i feel...

Used to be an amazing go to place for authentic affordable ramen. The atmosphere used to be so pleasant the music played was relaxing and pleasant. Now since new ownership everything has changed it went way past downhill and I don't see it ever being good again. The food is disgusting compared to how simple and perfect it was. The chasu is dry and overcooked and the broth no longer has the flavor it used to have.

Instead of making the broth and chasu good they choose to throw in a bunch of dumb ingredients like corn, seaweed, bean sprouts, etc.. instead of focusing on the core of the ramen. It's so crazy overpriced for what you get. It went from $9 a bowl to $20 why? Because they add corn and a few pieces of seaweed? That's ridiculous! To simply add bean sprouts to a bowl it's so pricey about $2 which is just embarrassing.

I used to come here plenty of times and bring friends who would agree with how amazing the food USED to be. Now everyone agrees it sucks some choose to give it multiple chances but it isn't the same cagami ramen we once knew.

I genuinely hope this place goes under in the hopes of a better ramen shop coming back in it's place. Want food ramen? Go elsewhere! LA is the best probably but even Ventura has a few decent spots that aren't crazy expensive or bland.

I do want to state that the workers here are the same workers before all the changes and just like the old cagami they are still amazing and good at what they do. If only the rest of the establishment could see that.

They turned a prized ramen shop into one of those stupid step 1 "pick your base" step 2 "pick your toppings" type of place like it's going to make up for crappy food. Lastly music here is complete garbage they play rap compared to the mellow string type music they used to play that actually allowed you to calm down and unwind over good food. Now I can barely think with the dumb obnoxious music. I love rap a lot but it's not good...

UPDATE:

Unfortunately the last 4-5 times I’ve been here the food has gone downhill quite a bit. The tsukumen has changed a lot and is lacking its original flavor. Service has been much quicker and it feels like they’re trying to work on speed over quality. It just feels so much lower quality than it used to be, and still very expensive too. I didn’t mind paying $50-$70 for two people but every time we leave it’s just disappointing and hard to return here again. Hopefully they change the food back to how it was and add more of the flavor they used to have but until then it’s hard for me to return :/

These guys make insanely good ramen. No food I have ever had before comes close to their Tsekumen, their Tonokstu and Kara miso are also amazing as well. We come here at least twice a week and pay roughly 40-60$ for two people. The atmosphere is great. The front of house staff are always super friendly and although it usually takes 30-45 minutes waiting for a table and waiting for our food, the wait Staff always makes us feel taken care of. When the food comes out it’s always worth the wait, there’s a reason these guys always have long lines out of the door and constant To-go orders. This has been my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. Thank you cagami for all the great memories we’ve had...