Yugen Ramen — Restaurant in Mountain View

One of the more popular places to eat on Castro, and for good reason! The foods amazing and the service is top notch. Expect to wait around 20 minutes if you come during dinner time.

My brother and I both got the Tonkotsu Ramen with Tender & Juicy Pork Belly as well as the Juicy Japanese Fried Chicken and the potstickers as appetizers. Yeah we were pretty hungry. The potstickers were super juicy and tasted amazing with the sauce they had. The only bad part was they only gave like 6 of them. These were so good, I was craving for more. The Japanese fried chicken was cooked very well where the fried skin was proportionate to the chicken meat.

On to the ramen - this was a very nice big bowl. The serving size was perfect and filled me right up. I ordered mine spicy and it was just enough that I could eat the whole thing without sweating too hard. The noodles were perfect length and texture, the pork was cooked nicely and there was a good amount in there. Overall the broth was warm and delicious.

The service was 5/5. Food came out very fast, the workers were very nice and enthusiastic. The restaurant itself is actually quite big on the inside. The interior design compliments the food's culture nicely.

I had a very positive experience and will definitely come back next time...

Last night, my family and I went to Ramen Izakaya Yu-Gen in downtown Mountain View, and it was amazing! As soon as we walked in, I felt like we had stepped into a real Japanese ramen house. The atmosphere was warm and cozy, with wooden decor, lanterns, and Japanese art that made it feel super authentic.

For our appetizer, we had the Takoyaki, which are octopus dumpling balls. They were crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, and topped with a delicious sauce and bonito flakes that danced from the heat, so cool to watch!

For the main dish, I ordered the Tonkotsu DX Ramen, and it was hands-down one of the best bowls of ramen I’ve ever had! The broth was rich and creamy, full of deep flavors. The noodles were perfectly chewy, and all the toppings-chashu (braised pork), kakuni (slow-braised pork belly), bean sprouts, green onions, a soft-boiled egg, and dry seaweed made every bite incredible. I also got extra Kikurage mushrooms, which added a nice texture and earthy flavor.

The attention to detail in both the food and the decor really made the experience special. You can tell they put a lot of effort into making everything just right. I would definitely come back and recommend this place to anyone who loves real...

The tonkotsu ramen is good, some of the best chashu. Noodles are okay and the egg was overdone, tastes good though! Very loud inside near the back of the restaurant, and the floor was vibrating as if there were some heavy machinery running. The woman who took our order was in a mad rush, the server who came by later to check on us was super nice though.

My main issue is with the 16% service charge, and because of it I'll probably go to another of the 5+ ramen/udon restaurants on Castro Street. It seems to be taxed. My subtotal was $30, service charge was $4.80, and then the tax was $3.17. Unless the tax rate is now 10.5%!! Mandatory service charges are not protected property of the employee so there is room for shadiness, despite what we're told about where the money goes. Our server told us that 10% goes to the servers, and 6% goes to the kitchen staff, or something along those lines. This introduces more confusion about how much I should tip in addition to this mandatory charge. If you're trying to make sure your employees get what they deserve, a service charge like this is so unnecessary Pay them a proper wage. Increase the menu prices to account for it and make a note on the menu about it. People...