Taishoken Ramen — Restaurant in San Mateo

We were fortunate to experience the legendary Japanese ramen that is Taishoken, at the soft opening of their first stateside restaurant in San Mateo. The restaurant is limiting their ramen to 300 bowls.

Tip: They do not have take-out containers, bring your own.

With 15 tables & bar seating, the restaurant feels zen, disconnected from the chaos outside. You could easily be transported to Japan.

We start with some excellent Kyoto beers:

1. Kyoto Bakushu Yamadanishiki - made with Yamadanishiki rice with notes that are rich, smooth, with sweetness from the rice. It's a light beer with under 6% alcohol.
2. Kyoto Bakushu Yuzu - Made with yuzu citrus with notes that are light, refreshing. This white ale fills your palette with flavors of yuzu.

We liked both the beers and shared it amongst 3 people. Perfect quantity, since the star of the show is yet to make a debut.

It's time to get greedy and order 3 appetizers:

1. Tataki Kyuri - A refreshing light dish of thin cucumber slices drizzled in an excellent, tangy, Jalapeño sauce
2. Edamame - There are Edamame's and then there is Edamame that is elevated to a whole new level. Taikshoken's edamame is marinated in high-quality soy sauce with a sprinkle of Sansho pepper (think Sichuan pepper)
3. Potato Salad - A classic potato salad gets elevated with salted mullet roe and topped with a juicy half Ajitima (soft boiled egg)

The appetizers are small and do not dominate your palette or hurt your appetite. We are ready for the start of the show and order 3 entrees:

1. Tokusei Spicy Ramen - The broth is rich with pork and chicken, made spicy with two kinds of chili oil, and topped with pork Chashu, green onion, Kikurage mushroom, and Nori seaweed. The Tokusei Spicy Ramen also includes a juicy soft boiled egg and a Berkshire Pork Chashu that's slowly sous vided. What makes this one of the best dishes of the evening is the complexity of flavors, every bite, depending on what you get is masterful and different from the previous bite. The noodles are the star without dominating the dance of the broth, that we could swear would have taken days to develop such sophisticated flavor. The chili oils from California have a sichuan pepper effect and subtlety numb your palette, while the sous vide chashu is expertly handled, avoiding being overcooked. This is a must have for the carnivores.

2. I opt for the Vegan Ramen - Yuzu Shio Ramen that includes a clear broth with keep and shiitake mushroom, topped with Yuba bean curd skin, Mitsuba herb, green onion and Kikurage mushroom. I feel adventurous and go with 2 additional toppings that blend well with the Yuzu Shio: Menma (Bamboo Shoots) and Chili Oil (this turned out to be a game changer). My expectations after tasting the excellent Tokusei spicy ramen was that the vegan ramen would pale in comparison. I was wrong. The broth was equally complex, and the addition of yuzu was a masterful stroke of genius. It elevates the dish to a new level. The carnivores were surprised by how umami the vegan broth was and conceded that the vegans weren't far off on enjoying Michelin quality ramen. What made it a flavor bomb was the addition of chili oil. This is not just oil, but chili that adds a depth, and makes it spicy, without overpowering the delicate dance of the vegan broth with the excellent noodles. This is the best vegan/vegetarian ramen I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. My new favorite.

3. We also get the Tokusei Tsukemen with soft boiled egg and sous-vide Berkshire chashu pork. The dipping soup is packed full of flavor with chicken, pork, dried anchovy, dried bonito, and topped with menma (bamboo shoots) and green onion, in addition to the chashu. The difference between the ramen noodles is that the dipping noodles are thicker and made of buckwheat. This is excellent for Tsukemen and would be a star in its own right, if not for the real star, the ramen.

We were beginning to understand why some commentators felt that Taishoken was better than what some say is the best ramen in California, in LA, the...

5 years later, multiple locations opened, healthy competition nearby and yet Taishoken still manages to have long wait times and lines out the door. Is it worth the hype? That depends.

Taishoken is best known for their tsukemen ramen. Think of it as deconstructed dipping ramen where you are served strong flavorful broth separately from the thick house made buckwheat noodles (soba) and the other toppings such as the egg, seaweed, meats, etc. You then dip the noodles into the broth and enjoy.

The buckwheat noodles are definitely the star of the show. The soba's texture is dreamy - firm yet tender with rich chewiness without being mushy. They are smooth and almost slippery with nutty and earthy flavors.

The dipping soup is rich and flavorful. Honestly, expected the flavor to be a bit more dense, almost in a punch-in-your-month concentration type of way. That's why it's tsukemen and you have to dip rather than have the noodles be submerged in the broth. This way is probably more approachable and more palpable to those new to dipping ramen though so it's understandable.

Their meat and other toppings are perhaps the areas that can be improved the most. Obviously I'm nitpicking but their pork chashu and chicken are just ok; they are well seasoned, cooked properly and are good, just not great. Same with the egg - good not amazing. This is especially consequential when you consider that this isn't your run-of-the-mill cheap and quick ramen. You're easily paying $20+ a bowl so you'd expect more than adequate, especially considering the otherwise high quality soba and broth.

So to return to the original question - is Taishoken worth the hype? Maybe. Even after this famous Japanese chain opened a second location in SF and it's been years since the original opening, there are still long wait times here. There are also other very high quality ramen options in San Mateo.

So if you are ok with waiting and really want tsukemen ramen, then maybe it is for you. But if you are not ok with the long wait times and you are just looking to get traditional style ramen, there might be better options.

Unless I'm strongly craving dipping ramen and get lucky with a short waitlist, I probably wouldn't put up with the hassle (and I'm the type to wait for hours for things).

Overall, Taishoken is solid 4-4.5 stars but I'm rounding up because of the unique offerings, friendly staff, and pleasant atmosphere. just try to...

Taishoken is best known for tsukemen, which is Japanese dipping ramen. The noodles are served separately from the broth, which is concentrated, and you dip the noodles into the broth to enjoy. After you're done with your noodles, you're can add water to the broth and enjoy it like a soup! In addition to their tsukemen, they also offer ramen for those looking for something warm and soupy. Taishoken truly takes pride in their work as their noodles are made fresh daily and their soups take at least two days to prepare from a combination of pork and chicken to capture a deep umami flavor.

Despite having been open for a couple of years already, Taishoken still boasts sizeable wait times and long lines. Fortunately, you're able to join their waitlist on Yelp and get notified when your table is ready (and while you're waiting browse some other local downtown establishments). We signed up for the waitlist around 12:30pm or so and our table was ready at 1:28pm - so about an one hour wait, which although long is reasonable enough.

After we got seated, we were able to order quickly and all decided to try their most popular dish - tokusei tsukemen. This dish features their homemade buckwheat noodles paired with a rich dipping soup made with pork, chicken, dried anchovies, and dried bonito. The noodles are also accompanied by pork chashu, menma bamboo shoots, nori seaweed, green onion, and a Jidori soft boiled egg. If you're extra hungry or just want more toppings you can also add them on for an additional fee.

Although I haven't had many tsukemen dishes in the past (so quite a novice when it comes to this dish), I'm happy to share that I enjoyed my meal to the fullest! The noodles were fresh and chewy, while the dipping soup was very flavorful and not too overpowering. The topping that came with the noodles were delicious and added extra dimension to the dish - my personal favorite (as it usually is) was the soft boiled egg. I will say tsukemen is a lot of work! Taking your time to carefully dip the noodles in the broth and then enjoy it after made it feel like enjoying my meal took twice as long as it usually would if I was just enjoying say a bowl of ramen or udon. Nonetheless, this was a very unique experience and I definitely enjoyed dining at Taishoken overall.

If you've been craving tsukemen and having found a go-to spot in the Bay Area, then I highly suggest you give...