Have you hit the max hyperbole regarding ramen in San Diego? There seems to be a new place opening every week. In fact, after my last couple of visits to a recently opened ramen shop in San Diego I was kinda done. But then HiroNori opened in San Diego and "FOY" SomTommy sent me an email saying he'd actually waited in line for over an hour in Irvine for the ramen which he enjoyed. And soon after "Reza" sent me an email telling me he had the ramen in Santa Clara and thought it was equal to what he had in Japan.
Ok, so they got me......
So, HiroNori is located in what I consider the revolving door of restaurants in Hillcrest....which used to be, if I recall, an L&L , Naked Pizza, and if I recall, some iteration of a Brazilian BBQ over the last couple of years.
I gotta say the name of the place ("Craft Ramen") had me thinking of hipster ramen. When I arrived, the folks here were really eager to please, very friendly, so nice......
My Server on this visit, "Jennifer" was so sweet. Except she kept calling it "tonkatsu ramen". The first three times was fine, if a bit painful, the fourth time, had me cringing, to the point I had to humbly correct her....I felt so bad, but like I told her, everytime she said it, it just was so painful to my Japanese soul. Luckily, she was so very nice and told me, "I'm still learning, so thank you very much!" Whew.....
I started with the "Crispy Chicken", which is basically the karaage….I wish they had the Japanese name for things on the menu.
I was surprised at the portion size which was quite generous. This was pretty good, it was lightly crisp, and there was a nice umami; soy-upfront ginger flavor going on, and was quite moist. Not bad at all.
Of course I naturally went with the Tonkotsu Ramen.
This was a decent Tonkotsu, though not as rich as I enjoy. Slightly porky, I think it could have been richer. Som Tommy had told me that his opinion of the broth was that it was lighter than what he had in Irvine.
The egg was nicely done; and "gasp", not cold! Soft, with a good soy sauce flavor; it was quite good. The Chashu, while being a bit milder than I preferred was tender, and actually had some nice soy based porkiness. The blanched spinach added a nice slight bitterness to things.
Most of all; I enjoyed the "thick noodles" which did a good job of trapping the broth.
This was actually better than what I expected.
So, because I try to check things out more than once before doing a post I returned a week later. This time, I ordered the Shoyu Ramen. Let me just say, in my mind, this is the way to go here.
I won't go into the thick noodles (cooked perfectly), chashu, nor the ajitama, which was the same as before. The menma (bamboo shoots) were fine as well. What I will say is that the shoyu broth was excellent, just edging on the cusp of being too salty, but there was a lot going on; a nice nuttiness, really complex flavors. It was thick and rich; perhaps even more than the tonktosu broth. I was told that the shoyu used to make the broth was aged for over two years, which accounted for the complexity.
So, here's me seal of approval. This doesn't happen very often.
I will be back.
What I find interesting is that HiroNori decided to enter the ramen market in one of the most ramen dense area in San Diego; and one that is not very discriminating. It will be an interesting study to see how they do with all of a competition. The place never filled up on any of my visits while folks from the OC told me there are often waits of over an hour long at the shops there.
I hope they do well; like I said in a previous post "there's always room for good ramen". And I think HiroNori fills the bill. Service was excellent, we'll see how they do over time.
HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Open Daily 1130am - 9pm
wow... glad this one actually passed especially with the egg.
Posted by: kat | Monday, 11 March 2019 at 10:32 PM
No kidding...UGH...another cold egg. WTH ;-)
Posted by: nhbilly | Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 04:32 AM
I tried their tonkotsu on opening day thinking it was their signature bowl. I thought it was ok. Looks like the shoyu is the way to go. Now I need to plan another visit. Parking is horrible in that area. Could explain why there are no lines.
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 09:40 AM
Wow - that's a lot of positives from the imfaous Mr. Mmmyoso! Too bad it's in Hillcrest - I hate the parking and especially hate the parking on that specific street (Great Wow Dumplings is a couple buildings away right?). Still... I may have to brave the parking for a bowl of the shoyu!
Posted by: Derek R | Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 09:46 AM
I like the looks of the karage.
Posted by: Soo | Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 10:48 AM
Glad you liked it.
Posted by: Som Tommy | Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 10:50 AM
Thanks for the recommendation on the shoyu! Perhaps while tonkotsu versions might be hitting peak saturation in SD, there's still a lot of room for good shoyu versions.
Posted by: Jason | Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 03:00 PM
I went to the one in Irvine a few times. When they first opened, the tonkotsu was some of the best I've had, though my more recent visits the last 2 years it wasn't quite as rich (though still fairly good). I'm excited to try the sd location.
Posted by: Kirbie | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 01:16 AM
It sure did Kat!
Lol Billy!
Check out the Shoyu Junichi and let me know what you think.
Lol Derek! Is that my reputation? It is located on the same block as Dumlpings n' More (aka Great Wow). Parking is a pain.
The karaage is decent Soo.....the ramen is the star.
I did ST!
Hi Jason - I think there's always room for good tonkotsu; it just that I enjoyed the shoyu significantly more.
Hi Kirbie - I enjoyed the Shoyu ramen here more than the tonkotsu. Check them out when you have a chance and can find parking! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 07:16 AM
"What I find interesting is that HiroNori decided to enter the ramen market in one of the most ramen dense area in San Diego"
I think it is a smart strategy. Put yourself right where potential customers will find you. Seems to work on Convoy. Let's hope that they can bump up the quality around there.
Posted by: alnc | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 10:20 AM
You left out this part of the sentence alnc - "one that is not very discriminating."
And then the following:
"It will be an interesting study to see how they do with all of a competition."
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 11:14 AM
Kirk, you seemed to like the ramen, and thought the others weren't so good. From that I was saying that if you put something better in the middle of some mediocre restaurants, that they would feel the competition and improve their game, which would be good for all.
Posted by: alnc | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 02:09 PM
Hi alnc - So we'll see what happens....I'm hoping they do well. Because even in places around Kearny Mesa this doesn't always work out.... Hope you get to check them out and let me know what you think.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 02:16 PM
LOL Kirk! One of my favorite things about how you blog is that you don't sugarcoat your comments and hold restaurants to a fair/reasonable standard (which is extremely helpful as a reader). Keep it up bruddah.
Posted by: Derek R | Wednesday, 13 March 2019 at 03:18 PM
Well thank you Derek!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 14 March 2019 at 06:54 AM
Wow! I'm actually intrigued :D I honestly haven't tried any of the new ramen places that are littering the streets of San diego these days :( I just can't bring myself to try any of them(I just know they can't come close to tasting like ramen in Japan). I always end up go to Santouka, if at all. But I might actually have to give this place a try! :) thanks for posting about it!
Posted by: Lynnea | Sunday, 17 March 2019 at 07:40 PM
That shoyu ramen was quite good Lynnea. Check them out.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 18 March 2019 at 06:49 AM