Shugetsu -Fremont — Restaurant in Fremont

Saw this new place and wanted to try it since several times I stopped by, the wait was long. This time, there was no wait and both my friends and I were greeted by a friendly staff member who seated us. The menu is simple. A few ramen bowls to chose from on one side, and other, appetizers and drinks.

We were told by the wait staff, there are two sizes of bowls to chose from. Regular and large. We both opted for the regular. My friend ordered the grilled pork ramen bowl and I ordered the Shugetsu ramen bowl. The wait staff also suggested the soft bone chicken tenders, we ordered that as well.

The appetizer came out fast. We tried the appetizer and we're immediately turned off by the soft bones which are cartilage. The crunchy skin and tender tasted average. No better than other children wing places in Fremont.

Once the ramen bowls arrived. We noticed that they almost look the same. The only difference is that the grilled pork bowl had three more grilled pork sliced than mine. We thought we are share each other's bowl of ramen until we saw they looked identical except for three additional grilled pork pieces in my friend's order. The grilled pork didn't have that much grilled flavor to it. The noodles and broth were just like other Japanese ramen bowls I have had in Fremont. So nothing special. The flavor and texture of the ingredients were average. Portion size is a bit smaller for the price you pay. At other Japanese ramen places that I have eaten in San Francisco, their ramen bowls had more food and were slightly less expensive. I was surprised that this place that advertised itself as one of the top 25 Japanese ramen places in San Francisco, I was not impressed. Being from San Francisco, there are many Japanese ramen places I have tried in San Francisco that were much better and less expensive.

I do like the family friendly interior with it's anime display. This place would be fine for small group meetings. Limited parking in front. Overall just an...

Since the restaurant was in its soft opening phase, the service felt a bit awkward at times, but it’s understandable as it hasn’t fully opened yet. All the dishes served were exactly the same as those at the main branch in Japan and the Hong Kong location, and they were excellent. We ordered Tsukemen (dipping noodles), Mazemen (soup-less noodles), hot ramen, and chashu (braised pork).

The noodles are handmade at the restaurant and have a strong, fragrant wheat aroma. They are firm and chewy with an excellent, smooth texture going down.

The dipping broth for the tsukemen has a unique flavor—featuring smoky notes of dried fish, intense umami from shellfish and dried seafood, and a rich, aromatic special soy sauce.

The hot ramen uses thinner noodles. Its soup is packed with powerful umami and aroma from dried fish and shellfish, standing apart from ordinary soy sauce ramen with its distinctive, one-of-a-kind taste.

The mazemen is a richly flavored dish made by mixing an abundance of toppings with a sweet soy-based special sauce. Midway through eating, you can change the flavor by adding a splash of vinegar, which adds a new layer of enjoyment.

The special pork belly chashu is slightly firm yet tender, seared before serving to give it a delicious smoky aroma. The fatty parts melt in your mouth and are absolutely...

Shugetsu, the third and last stop for Tsukemen ramen restaurants from Japan that opened locally in 2025.

The service was prompt and mechanical, which was perfectly fine with me. The restaurant was about half full when we arrived around 5:30pm on a Saturday. In the next 30 minutes, it filled up completely. There’s a neat wall of anime figures on shelves and the bathroom is nicely decorated with posters of the different kinds of ramen.

Their Tsukemen is visually similar to Tsujita with thin yellow noodles accompanied by a bowl of fatty pork broth. The Ajitama has a pale yellow yolk which doesn’t have the color or the flavor that Mensho marinated eggs have.

The Tsukemen broth had a curious flavor that I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around until I got to the end of the noodles. There was a heavy amount of soy sauce but a very sharp fish flavor. Then it struck me…it tasted like vinegared mackerel, which is one of my favorite types of nigiri sushi. It was a flavor that didn’t quite work for me due to the lack of pork flavor to balance...