12 - Santa Ramen - San Mateo

Santa Ramen - 1944 S El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94403 (650) 344-5918

Last Visit: August 2008.


Finally I review Santa Ramen. Yes, it's Japanese, and yes it was good; but will I make a trip out to San Mateo for it? Not again. The story is that this place eluded my visits three times! I can't believe how unlucky I am with this place. The first time, they closed early because they ran out of noodles. The second time, they were closed because they were moving. And the third time, well, I have pictures to show. They moved and left me a note. I went to the new location, and damn it, it was not open for another week.

It took another two weeks before I made that journey to Santa Ramen. It was a weekend, and we had come back from a day trip to Fry's electronics. We weren't that hungry, but we were definitely in for a surprise. The line was out the door! Yes, it was open finally, and this time we had to see what the commotion was about.

A Japanese girl was tending to the people waiting in line, finding out the number of people in our parties and also giving us menus to browse through beforehand. I find more Japanese people in San Mateo Japanese restaurants than north bay area Japanese restaurants. We waited through and ordered our ramen.

Ramen from Santa Ramen was really good. The texture is strong and smooth, which is why they boast that they make their own noodles there. The ramen was highly customizable, where you had many ways to add to your bowl. Start with the soup, and add whatever you liked. I added kimchi and an egg to my shouyu ramen. It was good, and by the time we started eating, we were getting hungry. The 30 minute wait wore us down. There are some sides, but were didn't find them appetizing enough to try out. We finished and when we were about to go, the line to get in was wrapping around the corner. Word of mouth must have spread fast.

All in all, Santa Ramen is a great place to try, but don't go when you're hungry. You will collapse from the wait. With toppings, a bowl of ramen can get up to $10 easily. Now you're wondering, "is it worth $10 for a bowl of ramen?" That's something you'd have to conclude for yourself. But if you already tried ramen from Japan, you know how bad the yearning for the real thing can be. Santa Ramen might be the closest thing to it.

Yelp's two cents










The map they drew for us. Yes, a cute red arrow!













Disappointing. Closed for renovation, my third attempt.