Ramen Underground
| Address: | 356 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA 94108, USA |
| Phone: | +1 415-999-2503 |
| Site: | ramenunderground.com |
| Rating: | 4 |
| Working: | 10:30AM–9:30PM 10:30AM–9:30PM 10:30AM–9:30PM 10:30AM–9:30PM 10:30AM–11PM 12–10PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
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Michelle Leung
Ehh.. too hyped up!! My coworkers and I wanted to give this place a try since Ive been hearing about this place a lot recently. Made our way over there at around 12:30 (bad time), and had to wait about 20ish minutes in the cold for a table. It wouldve been a shorter wait, if the group of ladies before us didnt take there sweet sweet time to eat and pay the bill. They obviously saw us standing in the cold, and still had no desire or sympathy to finish quicker. Anyways, the menu is pretty easy. Pick your soup base and pick your toppings at $1 each. $8 for a bowl of ramen with only ONE slice of pork and some green onions is pretty steep. If you want a better broth, its about $1-2 extra, and to add extra toppings is $1 per item. Really? $1 for a hard boiled egg, or $1 for some corn?? So not worth it. Lets start with the broth. MSG MUCH?? I got the spicy miso (not spicy at all), and by the end of my meal, I was so thirsty. This lasted throughout the day. Ugh, disgusting! Definitely not home-made soup bases, and rather just powdered packets from the supermarket or something. Ramen itself was decent, though the portion was kind of small for $8. Pork was not good. It didnt have much flavor, and rather bland. And only one thin slice of pork? REALLLY????? Not sure if I would go again.. its also cash only so super inconvenient. At the end when my coworkers and I paid separately ($20 each since we just pulled out cash from the ATM knowing that it was a cash only place).. the waitress was like "Well, this makes it hard for us to give change". Well maybe if you didnt have a stupid cash only policy, this wouldnt happen! I mean, most people are gonna be coming in with $20s, so either get more $1 and $5 bills, or start accepting credit cards. Not even a competition for Ramen Dojo in San Mateo. Still the best ramen Ive had in the Bay Area.
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Jane Nguyen
If I could give half stars, Ramen Underground would get 3.5 but Ill round up since Im feeling nice. Ive heard about this place for awhile now but always assumed it was just opened for lunch and could never go. But then a friend told me theyre opened for dinner too and since then, its been my go-to due to conveniency. I like that they dont close in between lunch and dinner and with my weird eating schedule, I manage to fit in a bowl of ramen when its not super packed since its TINY. My first time I went around 6:30PM and had to wait about 30 mins to get a table for two. I look up on their chalkboard wall, see that their special is Habanero Ramen and decided to try it out with an extra egg and kimchi. When it came out, I was very surprised that the broth was far from red and disappointed that it was barely spicy. Not habanero at all. Kimchi was very good though and egg was perfectly soft-boiled melt in your mouth delicious. The next few times Ive gone during off-peak hours so service and seating was no issue since its practically empty. Ive tried the Tonkatsu (they only serve 50 per night!) and Spicy Miso broths, both with extra pork belly, egg, and kimchi on the side. I think I prefer the Tonkatsu just because the Spicy Miso was not spicy at all (I think they have to work on their spice thermometer). Pork belly is SOOO good...I love pork belly fat. I wish the noodles were better though and all their broths can get a little too salty after awhile and I just get sick of it. Definitely a worthy SF ramen place compared to others in the city though.
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Jennifer Hong
Phew, we came at the right time! We came here for an early dinner (5:30 ish) and there were 3 people ahead of us. In order for them to call out your name, dont forget to write your name on the chalkboard outside their door. What caught my attention to try this place was their soy milk ramen! Yes, its an additional $1 for that broth BUT why care when its your first time trying and who knows when it will be your next time right? I got the soy ramen while the boyfriend got the spicy miso. Both liked the soy ramen but was not a fan of the spicy miso. The broth just did not hit the spot at all. However, the soy milk did. If you like your broth extra milky and tasty, mhmm this will be it! Richy flavor, chewy noodles and a dash red pepper flakes, you are ready to attack! Seats? Its a very small, tight restaurant. You can see it for yourself on the photos. All seats are shared with others, so you are practically eating with strangers. so if you dont like that, then you will probably wont like it here. CASH ONLY, so dont forget to bring that!
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Jay Mehta
I was recommended this place by a colleague. They are famous to have the best ramen noodles in the town. For me, I didnt find it that great. Food: We tried Soy Sauce Ramen and Miso Ramen. Soy Sauce was supposedly spicy but wasnt much. May be one needs to tell them. Miso ramen was pretty okay. May be the non-vegetarian varieties are good but nothing much for vegetarians. Ambiance: It is a relatively small place for a restaurant but they have good seating capacity due to the layout. A bit noisy as lot of things going on in a small space. Largely the office crowd during lunch and dinner hours. They have a board outside where visitors who wish to dine-in can write their names and the number of people to get into the wait list when the restaurant is full. Service: Service is good and fast. The people are nice and helpful. We had takeaways both the times but had good interactions. Overall, nothing much for you if youre a vegetarian.
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Albert L.
While other ramen places are closed by 9pm, this joint is open late into the night. After a week of mostly warm weather, a blanket of fog cover sf. Passing by there wasnt much people inside as employees were milling around. By now, Im craving for ramen and drinking at nearby bar was next, I went for it. Not my first time, but a first for slurping solo. Normally youve to write your name down and wait. Tonight I plucked myself down and immediately place order. Within two minutes food arrive and Im set to slurp. Average tonkotsu ramen with just enough toppings to fit price range. However, if you want to add or customize, its extra. Broth was tasty and all, but sediment on bottom had fine traces of sand like particles. Its not like it had anything to do with seafood. Seasoned stew braised pork belly was good and tasty just wanted a little more warm to hot.
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Daivat Dholakia
This place is tiny but it is always packed and the food is delicious. If you are craving ramen noodles, look no further and head straight to Ramen Underground. We went there yesterday around 1.20 PM and after waiting for 10 minutes we got the table. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon. The give you a menu where you can mark on it what you want. I got the vegetarian ramen with extra tofu and it was awesome. It comes with spinach, mushrooms and green onions so this is like a wholesome meal. Pricing is around $9 per person plus a dollar for any extras you want to add. Choice of drinks is very limited and they do NOT server beer. You can make the soup as spicy as you want but for me, it was already spicy what came from the kitchen so didnt need to add anything more. Tip: This is a cash only please!
