HINODEYA Ramen Japantown — Restaurant in San Francisco

Located in the heart of San Francisco's Japan town, this little gem of a restaurant offers a delightful dining experience. As you enter, you are greeted with a traditional draped entry and the hostess welcomes you with a drumbeat. The decor is simple yet stylish, featuring modern Japanese Kanji art. The seating area provides dividers, offering a degree of separation without compromising the overall ambiance. While it may not provide the complete privacy of a traditional Japanese restaurant, it does create a comfortable dining bubble.

Ordering food is convenient, as you have the option to use your phone or a physical menu. We opted for the phone ordering system, which was straightforward and user-friendly. The restaurant maintains a high standard of cleanliness, ensuring a hygienic environment for diners.

Now let's talk about the highlight of the experience: the food. This restaurant serves some of the finest Japanese ramen outside of Japan. We indulged in a variety of dishes, including spicy edamame, karage chicken, shishito peppers, vegan gyozas, and the creamy vegan ramen. Each appetizer was irresistible, with the gyozas and edamame being particularly noteworthy. The karage chicken and peppers were also delightful, especially when seasoned with a hint of salt, taking the flavors to a whole new level.

The ramen itself was mouthwatering and delicious. From the perfect noodles to the creamy broth and meaty bamboo shoots, every bite was a delightful explosion of flavors and textures. We chose to add chicken and an egg to our ramen, and they were cooked to perfection. The chicken was tender and delicate, while the egg added a creamy goodness to the dish. To conclude our meal, we enjoyed a hot cup of green tea, which complemented the overall dining experience perfectly.

One aspect that stood out was the exceptionally friendly staff. They made us feel welcome and attended to our needs throughout the evening. This restaurant is definitely a must-visit for ramen lovers in town. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience here, and we highly recommend it to anyone seeking a satisfying and...

The food: I ordered the original Hinodeya Ramen with Level 0 no spice and I think it's fair for the price I paid. The quality was what I came to expect of good ramen. Was a tad upset and surprised that the chopped green onion in my meal was only partially chopped in one section of it. I'm not sure about the $3 cheese topping option. In fact, I only saw one guest request it where a staff brought a cheese shredder and kept going at it until they were told to stop, more gimmicky than anything.

Everything else: Wait time can be long for this place, my party waited about 20-30 minutes for a weekend dinner. Using the tablet for getting on the waitlist was fine until I realized I don't have the Yelp app to check for when my table is ready. The text message asked me to check my wait time through the Yelp app so I cut my nearby window browsing short to just wait in the restaurant. I think a positive way I can spin my take on this place is that it's great if you want to have as little interaction as possible. Ordering takes place by scanning QR code placards on each table and paying upfront before you've had your meal. That part was very bizarre (does it really make sense to pay and tip the service at the beginning BEFORE the meal with almost no interaction to the staff?); and if you don't have Google Wallet or Apple Pay to simply allow your mobile wallet to take care of it, you'll have to enter in the details manually. I think they may take your order in person if you request it, but that all feels very disconnected. There is certainly a human element of this ramen store that is missing and I feel disappointed that it leaves the impression the entire establishment could be better off automated. I won't grind more about this but it certainly didn't...

Hinodeya Ramen Bar is located in the hearts of SF Japantown. Came here around 11:30am on a Sunday and there was no wait. The place started to slowly fill with people a little past 12pm. You’ll be greeted by the staff as you walk in and you help yourself by scanning the QR code in the side of the table to order and pay for your meal. Food came out around 10 mins.

「 O R D E R E D + V E R D I C T 」

Creamy Ramen (Vegan) | $16 | 4.5/5: This was the main reason why I made the trip here. It’s been sitting in my bookmarks for 2 long years… anyways IM BLOWN AWAY. If you didn’t tell me this was vegan, I would’ve thought it was tonkatsu soup base. Super duper creamy and well-seasoned base made with soy milk and sesame. Loved the acorn squash/taste like pumpkin, shiitake mushroom, and crispy fried kale (kinda on the oily side though but it was my fav). The fried sweet tofu was a little toooooo sweet, but for some reason, I kept l wanting to eat more. They only make 15 bowls a day.. make sure to come early if you want to try!

Spicy Miso Butter Corn Ramen | $19 | 4.5/5: This was my favorite. Got level 1 spice. At first, I was kinda scared, but it was actually perfect.. spicy enough to not make me cry. +$2 for extra noodles. Personally, I’m not a very big fan of thick and firm ramen noodles. But very filling. Chashu pork was tender, egg was chefs kiss, green onions was a perfect addition. Butter complemented the soup well.

Chicken Karaage | $10 | 4/5: Low key tasted like chicken nuggets… good and real chicken nuggets though. Very crispy batter with some dark and white meat(?). Not the juiciest karaage I’ve had but it was pretty good. Comes with a side of matcha salt.

Overall...