HiroNori Craft Ramen | San Mateo — Restaurant in San Mateo

HiroNori San Mateo is their 3rd restaurant in SF Bay Area, and the quality was beyond my expectations so I wanted to report briefly. Today was my first try. I entered the restaurant just after noon but it was Wednesday and people still don’t know the ramen shop is back. (The place used to be other ramen shop) Staffs were polite yet friendly, and explained their varietal items, then I was a bit surprised their policy of gratuity – it’s at 16% fixed. It is quite honest and fair enough, but I was wondered if I felt happier to leave more than 16%.

I asked Arnold Palmer (ice tea and lemonade mix) and the Combo, tossed-size Green Salad, Pork Rice Bowl and Tonkotsu Ramen with their original thick noodle. Serving time was unexpectedly fast and right sequences. The soup of Tonkotsu (pork born mallow broth) was surprisingly smooth and milky, I never had this much of smooth and tasty Tonkotsu soup over my 50+ years of ramen experiences for sure. Cha-shu, the roasted pork in the ramen was one-side baked and crispy, boiled spinach doesn’t have any tanginess, and the aji-tama (flavored egg) was appropriately boiled and gently flavored which is well harmonized in the bowl. Pork rice bowl was fabulous as well. They put quite an amount of dice cut Cha-shu pork but the flavor is slightly different from the ones in ramen. I found star anise (Hakkaku) or some sort of Chinese spices but those were yet discreet, not too strong and well appointed.

Next time I would like to try their thin noodles for Tonkotsu soup, or Original noodles with Shoyu soup, because Tonkotsu ramen is commonly served with thinner noodles and I felt thst thick noodles must be best with Shoyu ramen. Also there are more items I wish to try… Overall, I love their Ramen. As the first time impression, my feeling is very positive and I will definitely keep eating at HiroNori San Mateo.

To HiroNori: Thank you for opening your restaurant in San...

We used to frequent this location when it was another ramen place. That was before Covid hit and many places shut down. We loved that another ramen place has taken over. So we decided to try them out. The interior and furnishings are quite spartan. Backless noisy narrow metal seats with pale wood tables. It gave the just-slurp-and-get-the-hell-out vibe. The servers were very friendly, informative, attentive. They worked quickly and efficiently. First came the crispy chicken legs. Whoa. We did not expect so many pieces! There was more breading than we are normally accustomed to for Japanese fried chicken. Not that crispy either. The dipping sauce was good. But the lemon really helped with the oily feel. I ordered a tonkotsu ramen with added corn and broccolini. I’m glad there was a good amount of spinach, unlike other ramen bowls, where veggies seem to be an afterthought. The broth was just the right temperature, not scalding hot. The other ramen was also a tonkotsu with additional egg. Somehow, we found the broth less flavorful. Or maybe it’s because we ate the chicken first? We tried the pork belly bun. It was topped with pickled onion, which was a great accompaniment. But the boiled belly lacked much flavor and taste to be inserted into a pillowy soft bun. Perhaps, a dash of hoisin sauce? I think I’d give it another chance. After all, they said they have 20 years of experience. Maybe I’ll try the shoyu or miso broth next time. There were other interesting items on...

Drove to downtown San Mateo today for lunch and to walk around the park. The pork rice bowl pictures is what drew me to come here. Upon arrival, we were seated immediately and given watermelon mint infused water. We ordered the tonkatsu ramen ($16) and make it a combo ($6) which includes a side salad, and a small rice bowl. We also ordered the crispy chicken which was the most popular thing reviewed online and every single table there ordered it as well. I have to say the tonkatsu ramen and crispy chicken is one of the best we’ve ever had. People have referred to perfect crispy chicken before as “glass-like” but we never understood what that meant until today. One bite of it and it’s so crispy, the batter shatters with the crunch and inside is a perfect chicken. The ramen broth was good, ask for garlic and hot sauce which comes on the side. We also added extra chasu on the ramen, the cuts were thick and delicious. The pork bowl was really good as well, the combo doesn’t come with the poached egg, I didn’t add that because we had already ordered too much. Overall, I can’t wait to come here again....