26 - Himawari - San Mateo

202 2nd Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401, (650) 375-1005

Last visit - July, 2009

There is a small ramen shop on 2nd ave. in the downtown district of San Mateo that everyone knows: Himawari. I've been there twice before, and today would be the third time in the last year or so. Himawari isn't too big, but there is a constant flow of patrons moving in and out. Usually they are happy. I like it's Ikea lighting and find the food pretty tasty. They serve ramen by the soup stock, and one of their specials are the "Tonkotsu" ramen that's famous in Fukuoka, Japan. I usually go for the Miso flavored soup with Chashu.

I went there meeting some old friends from Cal. It was literally a reunion of sorts, 10 years since met in our language courses in Dwinelle Hall (spell?). We've grown up, got embraced by the world, and found life's plus and minuses outside of school. After finding parking, the parking lot is free after 6pm by the way, we got in and ordered our food.

For appetizers we ordered the fried calamari, the buta kakunai, and the agedashi tofu: all simple dishes you'd see at an izakaya in Japan. They all came out pretty well, and the buta kakunai especially tasty. For a table of four, it was perfect because every one could try a piece without splitting. For ramen, I had what I usually have, and my buddies tried the tonkotsu ramen. We all had a good time. The price is a bit steep for ramen, but it seems like every store is heading into the $10 region for a good bowl of ramen. Just can't wait to pay half of that again in Japan - and the possibility of ramen refills.

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.

11 - Izakaya Mai - San Mateo

Izakaya Mai - 212 2nd Ave., San Mateo, CA 94401, (650) 347-2511

Last Visit: July 25th, 2008

Izakaya Mai's Website

We were going to Santa Ramen. Yes, it would be the third attempt in finding the mysterious Santa Ramen. We missed it the first time because they ran out of noodles; so we went to Himawari. Next, we went there, and found out that they were closed, I guess they were renovating. Now this time we had our hopes up. We got to the address, after a bit of stumbling around... only to find that it was closed, again! This time there was a clue, they left a map of where they relocated, astounding! I took a picture of the hand-drawn map (complete with a big fat red arrow), and we got back on the road. We pulled up to the address, found parking, and our jaws dropped. Yes, they were closed for renovation until August 1st. How can this be? My luck with this restaurant is close to nil. We saddled up and drove for the restaurants near Himawari.

This time we decided to try Izakaya Mai's. I liked the sound of the place (Izakayas are drinking bars in Japan, where it literally means a place to sit and drink). After the twenty minute wait, the waitress seated us at the edge of the bar. The owner seemed to like toys as there were toys laying around the areas as well as a train circulating above the bar. Most of the decor was in wood, giving it an authentic Izakaya feel. There was a TV broadcasting NHK. Needless to say, I liked the vibe.

The owner took our sushi order, I guess his name was Yoichi Ito. The workers called him Ito-san. Nice to see authentic Japanese people working in Japanese restaurants! Our food came accordingly. I ordered a lot of Izakaya foods out of my memories from Japan. We had the butta-kimchi (pork and kimchi), kara-age (fried chicken), fried shu-mai, a rainbow sushi roll, and two onigiri rice balls. We had a beer and a small bottle of hot sake' rice wine. It was a really good meal for two, and we actually cleaned up everything.

I actually really missed onigiri, what I called "poor-man's food". It was pretty much what I survived on when I was living at the student quarters. I lived close to a convenience store, and when I was hungry I would just walk over to get ramen, onigiri, or fried chicken. Ahh, "Everyone", or as we called it "E-bo-ri-wan"... or "E-bo-ri" for short. It was my mother in Japan. It provided food, entertainment, a place to socialize, and even parcel delivery. It even opened during typhoon warnings. I wish I can go back there someday, just to that convenience store.

But before I do that, I have to try Santa Ramen.

Note: Mai means dance.

Yelp's two cents