Ramen Ryoma (Clairemont Mesa)

**** This location of Ramen Ryoma has closed

For some reason, the folks at work got really excited when I told them about Ramen Ryoma opening on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in the old Bangkok West location. It has been so hot the last couple of weeks that the last thing I really wanted was ramen....especially a place that touts serving Sapporo (= rich/thick) style broth. Still, I got talked into having lunch here on a day when the temps in the area was closing in on triple digits. You know; I'm kinda wishing we were back in Sapporo right now.

We were among the first seated in the spacious and (thankfully) well air conditioned restaurant. The young lady and the really friendly guy who look like the floor leads are really nice, professional, amiable.....though the rest of the crew looked a bit lost at times.

The menu consists of several iterations of ramen, including the now de rigueur spicy ramen, and of course, since this is a Sapporo style shop; a corn and butter version as well.

I just went with the Chicken Karaage and the Deluxe Ryoma Ramen ($12.25), since folks were getting shio broth; I decided to try out the shoyu broth.

Since this is a new shop; bumps in the road were to be expected. Not all ramen places can have their act together like Menya Ultra from opening day. We watched as our ramen sat in the window for a good 15 minutes before it seems like all the floor staff noticed it there and rushed to the bowls. They then took a few minutes to double check the orders.

So when the bowls arrived at our table the broth, which I'm figuring wasn't very hot to start, was barely over lukewarm. A note about the broth; it is a fairly rich, tonkotsu-ish broth, with definite pork tones. At this temp; there was a kind of greasy tongue feel to it; not rich in say the way of the thick Iekei style or Seabura ramen we had in Japan; but just kind of oily and greasy. It was also quite salty.

The tamago was a plain boiled egg, a tad over-cooked.

The noodles had not held up well, had lost its "spring", and were a bit too mushy for my taste. Not good when using this type of thicker and wavy noodles. Also, as you can see the broth had started to really thicken and globs of it stuck to the noodles. The chashu was full of soy sauce - lightly sweet tones, but was dry and tough.

The Chicken Karaage ($6.50) looked a bit light in color, but was slightly crisp, if not perfectly fried.

It was also a bit on the bland side in terms of being karaage; as I think it needed more of that soy-mirin flavor with perhaps ginger or garlic tones; but you know how I am about my chicken karaage….and all the possibilities. I'm glad they used dark meat chicken and I think once they get everything dialed in; this will be pretty good.

I have bad habit of not following up with second visits soon enough; hence no Hachi Ramen or Trust Restaurant posts. I have to go back to square one (or square three in the case of Hachi) on those. So, in spite of the heat, I decided to return for a second visit this past weekend.

Same really nice crew working. I really like the young lady who I think is in charge of the front of house here. She is quite patient and very friendly.

I decided to go with the Shio Ramen; noodles extra firm, with a tamago…..and I got a nice laugh as one of the young ladies took my order without batting an eye; then walked over to the other woman and asked what's a "too-maa-go".

A couple of things I quickly noticed when the bowl arrived. Look at that huge piece of chashu! This time around it was nice and tender, but also very salty. Do you notice the tamago; doesn't it look like it's "seasoned" this time around?

The broth was quite rich and much like Santouka, it seems that the shio (salt) version is actually less salty than the shoyu ramen. It is a hearty broth, with some smokey tones, not bad overall.

The noodles were nice and firm; good slightly chewy-doughy texture, and you can see having the broth at the right temperature allows it to attach itself nicely to the noodles.

The egg was perfectly cooked; though it still tasted like a regular boiled egg. It was nice and lukewarm.

I enjoyed the service at Ryoma; though the ramen might be a bit too oily (and that says a lot) for my tastes. It's definitely not bad. It's really too hot for visit number three right now, so I'll wait awhile for cooler weather and give the place time to get their systems in order before I return.

On my first visit as we drove back to the office; Calvin said; "I'm glad Ryoma is here....maybe there'll be no wait at Menya Ultra anymore." We soon drove past Menya Ultra....there were at least a dozen people waiting outside with temps in the high 90's.

I don't know.....that might be wishful thinking.

Ramen Ryoma
9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours:
Open Daily 1130am - 10pm

Please check out Kirbie's post on Ramen Ryoma here.

Comments

[Kirbie]

I've been waiting for this post! haha. We went here a few days ago, but I haven't had a chance to post yet, though I think our experience was similar to your second visit

[Junichi]

My friend tried their miso over the weekend. He said it was just okay. After reading this I'll definitely wait a while before visiting.

[Kirk]

Hi Junichi - If the folks hadn't insisted on going here; I'd have waited a bit too.....especially since it was so hot!

[kat]

hokkaido has been unusually warm this summer too!

[Kirk]

Wow; that's crazy Kat!

[Soo]

Not bad. That's good there are more ramen choices in town.

[Kirk]

So this and Karami makes two more Ramen options in the area Soo....wondering when we'll hit critical mass with that one.

[Kirk]

Hey Kirbie - It seems they have are going thru the typical grand opening adjustments. So we'll see how things are in a few months.