Yokohama Iekei Ramen
| Address: | 32136 Alvarado Blvd, Union City, CA 94587, USA |
| Phone: | +1 510-489-9990 |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | Closed 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 9
IV
Ivan Yudhi
I was bored Friday night (so sad, I know), and was planning to go to my usual ramen place. Before that, I searched around at that other reviewing place to see if theres anything new. Thats how I found out about this place. This place must be new since apparently I will be the first reviewer. Allow me to share my experience. I heard the word Tsukumen for the first time from my Japanese colleague. Its basically a dipping style ramen, so its quite different from the usual soupy based ramen you find elsewhere. I found out that Yokohama Iekei Ramen actually serves this, and its near where I live. Fun! They have different levels of spiciness for the ramen. I asked the waitress how hot the second level is, and she said its quite hot. I decided to order it anyway. Its basically a red, oily broth with pork, egg, and some other ingredients. I actually quite enjoyed it. It has a sharp flavor, and the spiciness level is perfect for me (I have quite strong tolerance to spicy food). One thing is that the broth is really oily. I almost had to wipe my mouth with napkins after a few bites. Overall its a good meal, but I wasnt that impressed. This is my first time eating Tsukemen so I dont really have other preferences. Im going to Tokyo next month so will definitely find some place that serves good Tsukemen for comparison.
CH
chris wang
I was baited here by all these reviews stating how good the food was, but my experiences here say otherwise. First things said, this place was excellent in cleanliness and staff. They were very friendly and caused no issue with any customers when we were visiting besides their lack of acknowledgement of our table. Yet, I still have one strife; the food. The food took a bit long when we were waiting for the order. The customers next to us got their order first which was strange but alright. But once we got the food, it was just average. For the price your paying for (about 9 dollars) youd expect more, but it was just... Average. The ramen I ordered (the classic iekei ramen (the basic one)) was extremely bland and had no flavour. Just sodium filled water. The (supposedly) soft boiled egg was overcooked had had no flavour to it (which was disappointing). The Chicken Karage in which we ordered was bland and had no seasoning, as the rice was incredibly plain and the chicken had no flavour and was very rubbery. A huge disappointment. Unfortunately the food was ultimately the downfall of this restaurant. Everything was subpar and for this price, you could get much better.
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Ken Feng
Ordered the black garlic ramen, strong broth, stiff noodles. On a Friday, before noon, with the place half full, this order took 20 minutes. The roasted garlic chips are sitting at the bottom of the bowl, so if you dont stir, youre left wondering, wheres the garlic?!? The chashu was okay, the broth was thick and flavorful, and the egg a bit runny, but thats still better than a well done egg. The only weakness were the noodles - they were a bit slippery, a bit thin, and spaghetti-like, but not too bad. For less than $11 after tax, a good value. Overall, 4.5 stars for this bowl. The shop interior is excellent, indistinguishable from what youd find in Japan. Ill be back to try their other bowls. Be forewarned, on weekdays, lines will form after noon.
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Walter Jew
Their raman has scratch made noodles and are always amazingly delicious! (I always get the black garlic) We usually try to go a little before or right after the big rush times, but have seen how busy it can get. Ive read a lot of reviews on Yelp disparaging this place due to long wait times, and all I can say is that every time were there, the staff is *hustling* and moving as fast as they can and theyre really nice people to boot. I would say to people leaving low star reviews because they had to wait - please feel free to go somewhere else to make it less crowded for people who are happy to wait for good food from a hard working local business.
B.
B. Li
This place is known for two dishes, the black garlic ramen and the jigoku spicy ramen. My personal preference is the jigoku spicy ramen; its ideal for anyone who appreciates a little heat in their soups, but its closer to a numbing spiciness rather than a savory spicy. Its also ideal for people who like their ramen a specific way as they allow you to request for heavy or lighter soups along with stiffer or softer noodles. The base ramen size is already a good meal, but at $3 for 50% more noodles and broth, its hard not to want more. This is also a great place for large groups as you can share the rice bowls amongst yourselves (ideally 3 - 5).
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James Fong
Best ramen so far in union city. There was a little wait but not much. Had the Jigoku spicy ramen. The spicy scale was from a to d. A being the least spiciest. It was very hot for the lowest, and i needed a lot of water which was not available since the staff is constantly running around. The noodles were good, broth was full of flavor and creamy, but i can still taste it through the heat. The meat had a nice amount of fat to it. The toppings were lacking but otherwise it was a fulfilling bowl of ramen. Try the takoyaki. Not sure hiw they make it but it has a nice crust on the outside like they deep fried it.
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Michael Prior
Pretty great ramen for the bay area, though its no Santa. Note that spicy levels are NOT American...I can normally get pretty spicy foods anywhere, including Asian restaurants, but here, Kara (spicy) was waaaay spicy for me, so my last visit was Choi Kara (beginner spicy) and it was just spicy enough to get the sniffles going and enjoy the food. Lots of other Japanese foods are offered (not on menu, on wall) if you can read/speak Japanese. Mom and her friends (all grew up in Japan) frequent the place as one of the best ramen shops in the East bay (excluding north of Hayward).
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Daniel Chen
Definitely recommend getting the Spicy ramen if youre into spice. The beginner level is already quite spicy to me. The yelp check in offer for free quail egg add ons is what makes this place stand out to me. The quail eggs are way better than the regular soft-boiled eggs in my opinion, Id much rather have extra quail eggs than the soft-boiled egg but I digress. Serving size is just right to fill you up but at ~11 dollars a bowl, this puts me off from coming here too much. Very popular spot for lunch during the weekdays however so be careful if you need to get back to work!
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Anne Sanchez
Visiting this city and was craving some ramen, was recommended to try this place out . I was afraid to actually try it since service and wait time might take a while which fellow reviewers had mentioned . Came to this location on a Monday around almost 7 and we just walked in and was greeted and seated . Was able to try their spicy ramen, the black garlic ramen, Karrage chicken, and butter corn with black miso. Service , and quality of food was up to par for my tasting . Cant wait to come back again and try this place out . Oh and they have plenty of free parking .
