Tadamasa Ramen — Restaurant in Union City

For my son's 20th birthday, he always gets to pick some place to go eat. Typically, he chooses a ramen restaurant. I like to take him to places that he's never been and on this occasion we decided to go for a local ramen shop. Classics being a bit farther out on a weekday after traffic hours, I thought this would be a good option because if you really liked it could be a go-to place that would be easy to access. The shop is located in Union City in the corner of a small strip mall shopping area. When we arrived we walked up to the door which was barricaded below the waist and on looking inside. That was some one sitting by the register in the back reading a paper. The lights were off and no neon signs were on so I called out to the fellow to see if they were open. At first he looked up and a. Surprised but he came over and removed the barriers and let us in and seated us. This space is very small. I'd find it hard to believe that they can see more than 20 or so patrons at a time at the most and it is not a refined environment. In terms of visual presentation. That's fine by me, but isn't something I typically see for ramen shops. I think the presentation of a ramen shop is part of what creates the experience for the ramen experience in general.

For myself I ordered the spiciest item I could find on the menu, as I typically do in any ramen shop. In this case it was a pork broth with the typical trimmings of egg, pork slices, ramen broth, etc. I also asked them to kick the spice up to their highest level because I like my lips to tingle and am a fire eater. If you are a fire eater as well, I don't think this level of heat that they're able to provide will be satisfying enough for you. My taste buds said to me that the broth was on the salty side. And as a result, I was unable to finish drinking all the soup. This is uncommon for me as I tend to not leave anything behind when I eat out. This only really happens when there is either too much volume or there is something that doesn't work for me in the flavor. In this case it was the latter. Now, I don't want this to infer that this place isn't good, but my particular experience wasn't one that is going to bring me quickly back. I don't think I'd avoid coming here but I would return with a cautious intent to try another menu item. My wife agreed with me on the salty nature of the soup, but my kids who ordered the same item as I did seemed to be satisfied with the flavor, but indicated that ordering extra noodles made it too much volume. Noting that a small line of patrons had formed outside waiting to get a table, this tends to be a good sign that a place is well liked or loved, but as mentioned previously in this review, this could also be the result of there not being many ramen options in the area, and/or a result of there just not being many tables available to seat more patrons all at once. Now, but I recommend the spot if you're craving ramen? I do think it will work out even though my experience was not as good as I hoped it would be, but I think this may be a result of my ramen palate and I wouldn't use it to pass any negative judgment on this establishment. At the same time I do think there are better ramen experiences out there and I will continue to experiment with other local ramen experiences to see if I can't find a go-to that works...

Every bite here is just packed with flavor. Fantastic ramen, really the best I've had anywhere. They have indoor now!

Today's visit, dining in:

Really glad I drove out there today, especially since I could sit inside for the first time. The whole place smells amazing, has a really calming atmosphere. The Thai sweet chili ramen I got was possibly the best bowl of soup I've ever had. The broth is creamy with a bit of a citrus tang, and the prawns and seared pork belly that come in it are beautiful. I can't describe enough about it, just try it. The miso coconut ramen my boyfriend got was also just as delicious! Also we got the panko fried oysters to start. If you love oysters and fried seafood like I do, these are killer. They have a great tangy dipping sauce.

Mid-pandemic visit for takeout:

I came here for the first time a year or 2 ago for my birthday, when things seemed bleak because of the virus and I couldn't really have the get-together I wanted to to celebrate, I decided to try this place out to make my very small celebration more special. I got ramen togo here and I swear it's the best takeout I've ever had. They give you the noodles and broth separately, and all of it stayed in perfect condition for my ~25 minute drive home, and when I put every together it tasted incredible. Very full of flavor with very fresh tasting...

I'd seen this place on Yelp and wanted to give it a try. I feel that there aren't too many GOOD ramen places nearby in the East Bay and this was one of the closer ones to me. Compared to the ramen I've had in socal, this was just ok. Taste-wise I thought it was good, but not spectacular. I enjoyed it, but felt it was just a bit lacking. I got the Tonkotsu Ramen and it didn't even come with an egg. My friend ordered the Miso Ramen and that came with the egg. While it may not seem a big deal to some people, an egg in ramen is just one of those typical things that are always in every order no matter what kind of ramen you get. The portion size of the ramen was good, as we both felt the bowl was pretty large and had a decent amount of noodles. I like my broth to be more savory, but this one wasn't as much. The amount of chashu was good though and didn't leave me wanting more. Overall, it satisfied my craving, was tasty, but I've had better as it lacked ingredients...