Kenta Ramen — Restaurant in Foster City

The staff was exceptionally friendly, and we were seated immediately. We started with Buta Kakuni (stewed pork belly) and takoyaki (fried octopus ball) and they were delicious. The takoyaki had a mayonnaise topping slightly more acidic than Kelpi, but I liked it. The Buta kakuni was easily the most impressive dish we were served in terms of flavor, however the pieces they served were far to large to be bite sized which may deter some. For our entree we chose the Spicy Kenta Ramen (tonkatsu base). The broth was rich and balanced well with the spice. The heat of the spice was clearly present without being overbearing and was very balanced in terms of broth flavors and heat. The noodles tasted like a high quality instant variety. The pork in the ramen was again, much larger than a comfortable bite size, but it was delicious. Overall the bill for 2 bowls of ramen, and 2 appetizers came to $65 with tip, if your local and want good ramen this place is a good stop, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come back...

This unassuming little restaurant is surprisingly good! The interior was basic and we didn’t expect much from our lunch, but we quickly noticed that this place was better than we anticipated. Firstly the staff clearly take pride in their job. They weren’t looking flustered despite the fact that 80% of the tables were full. The tables were very clean and all of the settings organized and straight. The waiters bought our baby a water with a straw and a baby bowl with cutlery WITHOUT us asking for it, which we thought was very thoughtful of them.

We ordered the Tonkatsu Miso, Tempura Vegetable Miso, Takoyaki, Spicy Tuna Roll and Avocado Roll. The vegetables in the dishes were displayed with artistry and not the usual ‘throw it all in attitude’. The ramen and vegetables were cooked to absolute perfection and we were surprised that the soup stock tasted like it was made from scratch and not overly salty or sweet.

We really enjoyed the meal and felt good after eating it. We will be...

I can't say that I was very impressed with the ramen here. I had the Spicy Kenta Ramen, which uses a spicy tonkotsu broth. Tonkotsu broth is normally rich and full bodied, but Kenta's broth was more thin and bland. I like that they had hot sesame oil at each table because I had to use a lot of it to give the ramen some flavor. The noodles were also a sore point. They were thin and felt more like instant ramen out of a package. The one good thing about the ramen was the piece of kakuni. Although there was only one piece, it was tender and had a pleasant sweet taste from mirin and sugar. I'm not sure if I'd come back here, but if I do, I'd probably just get an order of kakuni with a...