Ramen Kameko — Restaurant in San Francisco

Came here to try out the new ramen joint offering each order a free noodle refill. You walk in and order on a screen, and default to paying after completing your order, but do have the option of eating first and paying the check after. There was self-serve lemon water and jasmine green tea which I liked. People sit and eat relatively quietly. Looks like there are hangers on the wall for your jacket too.

I got the garlic oil tonkatsu ramen, which did not come with an egg so I paid an extra $3 for it, a bit steep. The broth was very hot upon serving, which worked well to further cook my choice of Firm noodles. It came with 3pc of chashu which wasn't rough but also not the most tender (4/5). When I finished my ramen, they brought the refill upon request, though the portion looked smaller than expected. Actually, the whole first ramen noodle portion seemed a bit smaller too. Usually, my GF has trouble finishing her own bowl, but here she finished it with no problem and also requested the noodle refill.

Overall, the ramen was delicious and even after the noodle refill, I wanted more. I'm also a sucker for unlimited jasmine green tea. Will not compare to my top spot in SF (Marufuku) but I do like the quick service and not having a wait! Will give it 4.5 stars but...

Legit Ramen Spot. Especially the Miso

I’m super picky about ramen. I’ve lived in Japan, visited often, and most places in the U.S. just don’t hit the mark. But Ramen Kameko? This place is legit. Everyone raves about the Tonkotsu (my wife had it and liked it), but for me, the real star was the Miso Ramen. It’s rich, creamy, slightly sweet from the white miso, but has this deeper flavor from the red miso; just really well-balanced and satisfying.

What really stood out were the noodles. Fresh, springy, and that perfect chewy bite, not the usual pre-packaged stuff you get at a lot of other places. You can actually see them making the noodles in-house, which is always a good sign. Plus, they give you a free noodle refill; that’s how you win me over.

I love that the menu is small and focused; they know what they’re good at and stick to it. The vibe is chill, kinda that hole-in-the-wall feel with fun posters and little details that give it personality.

They even have a vegan ramen I’m curious to try next time. I’ve already been here a few times and it’s consistently solid. If you care about good ramen, especially beyond just Tonkotsu; this place is worth...

I’ve never been served ramen that was actually too hot to eat until several minutes after being out in the table. The broth was flavorless and shockingly lacking any detectable salt which was especially surprising for a tonkotsu. I don’t typically direct the chef on my texture of noodle but I did try the “firm noodle” option from the automated ordering station. Despite this, the noodles were quite soft

My girlfriend got the spicy miso, which was equally flavorless but at least had spice. The takoyaki and the fried shrimp we ordered were both undercooked, leading to a borderline inedible texture. I ordered the pork gyoza, was served vegan gyoza and then told by the server that it was in fact the standard gyoza when I asked about it. The filling was once again, devoid of flavor. The gyoza mostly tasted like of oil.

Confidently, the worst ramen I’ve ever had. Also one of the worst meals...