Ramen Yamadaya — Restaurant in San Francisco

Edit: I had visited this restaraunt previously and had an unsatisfying experience, however, the time before that, it was great so I decided to give it another shot. I was extremely impressed. I was seated promptly, the food was fresh and full of flavor, staff was friendly, and our food came out quickly. After my most recent visit, I would definitely dine again! I recommend this place to all of my friends!

I gave 4 stars because of the one experience I had at their restaraunt that was not expected due to their exceptional food and service I received during previous visits. With that, I would recommend calling ahead, before visiting on a busy evening, to make sure they have plenty of meat left.

Original Post: Very disappointed upon my last visit. I've been before and the flavors, quality, and service were great so I went back and brought a friend. It was later in the day but still 3 hours before closing. They were out of many things but did not make us aware before serving us. They were out of their regular noodles and served us thick noodles which wasn't an issue until we realized that other things were lacking quality or just missing entirely. There was only half an egg when there should've been 2 halves. I had ordered extra pork belly with my ramen and as I started eating, I realized there was hardly any meat in my bowl. The meat that was present consisted entirely of fat. I mentioned it to the waiter and he was aware of the condition of the meat because he said that all that is left is meat like that so he can't replace it or it will just be the same thing. They were even prepared to charge me for extra pork fat until I said that I wouldn't pay the extra charge. Even the appetizer was in sad shape. The calamari was burnt but left out to get cold. We were never even asked our drink orders. Also, the entire dinner, we were not asked if everything was okay, nor was our water refilled. We kept having to flag down a waiter. I paid a whopping $45 for 2 bowls of fat soup, a plate of burnt, cold octopus, and 2 glasses...

We were out checking out the Blossom Festival and ended up in line at this spot—mostly because everything else was packed and this seemed like the best of the options. Big mistake. What followed was one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had in a long time.

You know that feeling when a good meal brings people joy? Yeah, this place doesn’t deliver that. Every dish we tried was off. The gyoza tasted like it came straight out of a Costco freezer bag—bland, rubbery, and weirdly artificial. Ever had something so oddly “pipe-flavored” that you start questioning not just the plumbing, but your life choices? That was us.

I ordered udon and my partner got the spicy ramen. Both were terrible—easily the worst ramen I’ve ever had. And trust me, I’ve had instant ramen that puts this to shame. Honestly, second place in the “worst food” category goes to Dumpling Time in San Jose—just to give you a sense of how low the bar is here.

The shishito peppers were a whole other offense. They should be grilled—smoky, blistered, and tender. These? Crunchy like they were trying and failing to be bell peppers. And serving them with a side of mayo? That’s not just wrong—it’s a betrayal of everything good and holy about Japanese small plates.

Service? Painfully slow. We waited forever to be helped, and you could just feel the awkward energy around the room—people nodding like they were all in the same boat of disappointment. The water was lukewarm, no ice, and tasted like it had been sitting in jugs all day. Not a great first impression.

To top it off, the waiter basically tossed the receipt at us and clearly didn’t know how to handle our complaints. Thankfully, another staff member came by and comped our ramen and noodles, which we appreciated.

Moral of the story: if you’re in San Francisco and craving ramen, do your homework . Don’t be fooled by the reviews—this place is not it. I’ve had better ramen at...

My friends who do not have wheat allergies enjoyed their meals but one of them got a piece of meat that was cold in the middle 😵 For someone who eats gluten free, it was a really disappointing experience.

I assumed that since they had gluten free noodles they might have other gluten free condiments and their staff would know what's gluten free on the menu. I asked our waiter and she didn't know at all. I was able to flag down another waiter who went to find out if they had any gluten free sauce and whether the meat was marinated in soy sauce, and she came back telling me that the only thing I could have on the menu is the Kakuni ramen (pork belly, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, green onion, egg, nori) and all their meat is marinated but they could cook some up fresh, just specify that I need it gluten free when I ordered.

That sounded great so I ordered the bowl which took a really long time to come out (we saw other people order around the same time we did and they finished and paid for their ramen before ours even came out) and when it arrived it had gluten free noodles, soy sauce, and breaded/fried chicken.

I flagged down another waiter to explain that I ordered the pork belly and I needed the whole dish to be gluten free. He seemed to understand and went to correct the order. It took another 15 minutes before my soup came out. It appeared to be safe to eat but the broth and meat lacked flavor and the meat was really tough (I'm not sure that it was actually pork belly). After my ramen came out no one even came to check on us for the next hour until we finally flagged someone down to bring the check.

I feel really horrible today so I'm wondering if there was something else (the broth maybe?) that contained soy sauce or gluten. I would definitely not recommend this place to anyone who is looking for...