NōKA Ramen & Bar — Restaurant in Oakland

Beautiful restaurant with flavorful ramen and unique drinks. This place is also power rangers inspired that serves power rangers tiki cocktails (tequila based, not too strong, but tasty). I heard they dress up on a Friday but I came on a Saturday night. It opened 5pm on a Saturday and I had reservation at 515pm. We got a nice spot on the corner of the restaurant right in front of the "IG" worthy, jungle theme backdrop. The place filled up quickly on a rainy Saturday, but upon leaving closer to 7pm I didn't see much of a wait outside. The artificial plants/flowers, parrot, animals, etc were beautiful and scattered across the restaurant. The workers were super friendly and attentive, super quick service and constantly kept refilling our water.

We scanned the QR code for online menu, then a worker comes by to take our order. I got the spicy miso ramen which comes with ground pork and my friend had the vegetarian tofu miso ramen. We shared the truffle fries and each got the power ranger tiki drink. The fries were really good - thin and flavorful. The ramen came out really fast, in less than 10 minutes. The first sip of the ramen broth was amazing - not too salty yet flavorful enough. It also had a slight spicy kick - not too spicy but enough for me to feel a little heat. The soft boiled egg was cooked to perfection and there were tons of ground pork. I was really full by the end of the bowl, and was struggling to finish all the remaining ground pork and veggies, but did it! My friend thought her vegetarian ramen was super flavorful. We shared the matcha tiramisu cake and I was so glad we did. Not too sweet and can taste the matcha flavors of the cake. Overall, I enjoyed the meal and am looking forward to coming back here to try their black garlic tonkotsu ramen and other drinks. The ramen is certainly above average and probably one of the best in the East Bay. It's worth the hype!

We parked in the structure across from the restaurant, they don't validate but it was only $6 for ~2.5 hrs for us. Try to find street...

Owned by Farmhouse Thai. Every dish was delicious. Highly recommend the brussel sprouts and burger.

Update because I visited again: Made reservations for a large party dinner on a weekday. Had to call in the reservations because you can't book large parties online. Seems like they might have a bit of an issue. The woman took all my information over the phone but when I arrived they told me I had no reservation. Would have liked to receive a confirmation text or email. They did have a large table set up that they said we could only occupy for 90 minutes but they never told us we needed to leave. It was not a busy night on a Wednesday.

Service was great. Servers were very attentive. We were prompted to take pictures and videos for some of the dishes, which was cool that they took the time to wait until we were ready.

Food was flavorful. Great menu options. The portions are large. I shared a lobster ramen. I feel that most items you could split between 2 guests which is good when you want to try everything on the menu. The little edamame they brought to the table were so tasty. Wish I would have ordered a large serving of those. Shishito peppers with chili sauce were amazing. Gyoza was cooked perfectly. A friend ordered the spicy ramen and said it was very spicy but she enjoyed it. The chashu pork bao were phenomenal. Kids liked both the rice bowl and ramen bowl. Well priced menu.

Will definitely be visiting again to try more off the menu.

Gender specific bathrooms.

Photo...

If you follow my reviews, you know that my wife and I love Ramen! We have our two favorite spots in the Bay Area but we always explore and try other ramen restaurants. I am glad we tried Noka Ramen!

The food we ordered are delicious! I tried the Ikari Steak ramen which is good, my wife tried the Spicy Miso ramen which is also delicious. We also had the pork bun which is very tasty and delicious! I just had to try the steak ramen but I think you will not go wrong with the regular ramen selections they have. The broth is the key, and it is good!

We loved the ambiance of the place and it is very clean. Their service staff are all very friendly and their service was excellent! They checked on us and refilled our water regularly. It is in a nice location in Jack London Square. The indoor public parking is just across the street with a reasonable price. I believe you can have your parking validated at the restaurant.

Why four stars only? I reserve 5 stars for something extra ordinary but Noka came very close. When it comes to Ramen, I prefer simplicity, just meat, broth, and some toppings. Noka’s ramens although delicious is not simple but certainly not a bad thing, but not my preference. Oh! The egg in the ramen was cooked just right! I hate it when it is over cooked and the yolk is dry.

I do highly recommend checking this place out! I know we will...