Gen's Noodle House - CLOSED
(between Camphor Ave & Hammond Ave)
Fremont, CA 94539 (510) 353-1133
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
55 reviews
Sunnyvale, CA
"I'm SURPRISED that this spot is at a 3 star. I'm sorry, but I've been going to Rokkos for 3+ years now. I'd say 4 even. The service isn't…" read more »
14 Reviews for Gen's Noodle House
Japanese reviewing Japanese Ramen store!
Store hours:
Friday, Sat and Sunday...till 9pm. Mondays closed. Tue-Thu:till 8:30pm. (Not open all day).
Went to Gen for the for the first time after reading mixed review on JINA (Japanese In America Organization) and reading the review on Jatbar AND needless to say on Yelp! JINA has reviews written in mostly Japanese by Japanese. People were saying "Try the Gen ramen" there, so I did.. http://www.jinaonline....
Went there on a Sunday at 7pm and there were only 4 people eating. My friend and I thought "Hope this place is ok...7pm and only 4 ppl?"... But not before long, people started to come in and the restaurant was 70% full so guess they're(might be?) doing ok and we probably just happened to walk into the store when they had less people.
The restaurant was in a quiet strip mall. Nothing close by but if you drive a minute or two, there's a big Asian strip mall on the corner of Warm Springs Blvd and Mission if I remember the street correctly. (You can get boba/tapioca drinks after eating ramen at Gen's)
I ordered the Gen Ramen Set which comes with half portion of fried rice.
Atmosphere: 4 (nothing fancy but that's what a typical ramen place is)
Price: 4( Not too expensive compared to other ones in S. Bay)
Food: 4.5 stars!
Gen Ramen 4.7 star!!! Highest Ramen rating I ever given so far in the south bay. Why not 5? The soup was not hot enough.
Fried Rice: 4 star. Tasted like the Japanese fried rice.
Overall: I'm going to give this place a 5 star as it's the best Ramen place I had since I moved here from Japan.
There is such a thing called Gen Ramen on the menu which is the "Tonkotsu" ramen as well as other Shoyu based ramens and Shio(salt) ramens.
If you know the real Tonkotsu ramen, it's usually white(soup). This one is brown and if you know a ramen place in Japan, it's more like Yokohama-ya's or Kagetsu's. It's totally different from Hakata/Kyushuu's(the origin's) Tonkotsu ramen. (For those who don't know, Tonkotsu ramen is popular in Kyushuu Japan). And the real Tonkotsu ramen's noodle is not the curvy noodle (especially the yellow one using egg yolk as a connection.) The typical tonkotsu ramen uses white straight noodle since the tonkotsu soup is very rich that they do not want the noodle to have too much soup on it. With curvy noodle, you get too much soup on the noodle resulting in too strong of a test for each bite. Anyways, my point is, they seem to call it Tonkotsu as they probably use pigs bone(Ton= pig, kotsu=bone) to get the broth but it's not those typical white tonkotsu soup ramen with straight white noodle.
You can add all kinds of additional toppings. I ordered extra chashuu(Japanese BBQ pork) and additional BBQ ribs. The BBQ spare ribs were AWESOME. 5 stars! Soft, tender and was seasoned/marinated in a tasty flavor. So, my ramen had, Kigurage(fungi/mushroom...kikurage means tree jellyfish...don't know the origin but probably due to the texture of kikurage similar to the texture of jellyfish), chashuu, spare ribs, spinach(yeah..hope it didn't have e.coli!), menma etc. Decent toppings even if you don't order the additional toppings.
The price wasn't bad. For the ramen and the half-sized fried rice(set) it was around $9. They had a mini unagi(eel) rice bowl for about $4 and I really liked the fact that they had the half sized Chahan(fried rice), mini bowls and the option for you to be able to add more toppings.
They served cold barley tea(Mugi-cha) instead of water which was a big plus too! Many Japanese drink Mugi(Barley/wheat) cha(tea) in the summer.
The typical Japanese ramen place has Gyoza(japanese potstickers) and this place was no exception. I didn't try it yesterday since I wasn't too hungry having had lunch 3 hours prior(at Tainan in cupertino village) to dinner but from Jina's review, the gyoza seems to be good so I'll try it next time.
So far I've never had a good/decent gyoza here in the S. bay.
Let me know if you think you found a place where they serve good gyoza!
I highly recommend this Ramen place although I haven't tried the shoyu and the shio yet.
By the way, I have tried, Ryowa, Maruichi, Halu, Santa, etc but the Gen Ramen is the best so far and I'm pretty sure you'll like it to if you like the thick broth ramen soup.
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I tried many ramen houses in the south bay and this one is very good (Maruichi, Misuwa food court, Ringer Hut, Santa, Rama Ramen, and the one across the street from the City Garden Casino, etc...),. The pork soup base in GEN is thick and tasty and the pork belly meat and chashu is well marinated. Santa have a better pork soup base tho. I don't suggest ordering other foods on the menu at GEN except the noodle soup because all other things are overpriced and taste like you can get it from any supermarket. If you live next to hwy 880 or 680 and don't want to drive too far to Santa then GEN is a good place to go.
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I like the layout of this ramen store. Its all counter seats so that the servers can easily serve you ramen. The noodle is perfect. The broth is too tooo tooooo thick for me. I don't understand why every ramen place in northern california has this obsession with having to make thick broth. They are probably afraid to make something simple from fear of blandness. Anyways, the highlight of this restaurant is the automatic white pepper grater. I love that thing so much I over pepper always.
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I can't really tell the difference between great ramen and not too great. I guess I'm not too picky. A little salty? So what. Drink more beer. A little fatty? More for my wife to hold on to.
I had the #17 light soy broth with pork and my wife had the #15 same broth with stir fried bean sprouts and some mushroom/fungus type stuff. Mine was good, but a little small. I wanted to order another. My wife's was worth the trip. The sesame oil stir fried flavor really came through.
Don't order the Gyoza(pot sticker). Although the flavor of the dipping sauce and the meat inside tastes great, the Gyoza wrapping had a weird chewy, dry texture to it. To make matters worse, we had to remind the gal about our Gyoza 15 min after we finished our soup. But she did apologize for the screw up.
Despite the Gyoza and mediocre service, I'd come back. Especially after a 3 hour hike on Mission Peak.
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We heard about this place from my japanese friend's mom. She said it's the most authentic location for ramen in the bay area. So of course we had to check it out! The shop itself looks purty kewl! It's zig zagged counters which remind me of shops in Japan.
The meat was pretty tasty but I think the ramen noodles and broth are not as flavorful as Santa Ramen or Maurichi. I would still eat here though!
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Been here several times when I need a quick ramen fix. About 10 minutes away from my house and this place never fails to serve a satisfying bowl of ramen - although on 2 events the chashu toppings on my ramen were cold.
The shop itself is nice. Like Ryowa's, you can choose to seat at the bar or at the table. There is a flat screen TV on one wall and shelves of manga on another. Even the drinks speak Japanese here - Japanese beer, yogloo etc.
The Tonkotsu Ramen is the best on their menu followed closely by Shoyu Ramen...and the Shio Ramen (salt flavor?), I still have to try. And oh..you can order extra toppings.
I don't hear good things about their non-ramen dishes so I'll probably never try them.... plus they are a bit pricey.
Service is always good, free cold tea instead of water...and a piece of candy with the tab.
Disappointing.
This was my first visit to Gen, and I had high hopes for some quality ramen. I ordered some pork ramen with a side of gyoza and a tall Kirin Ichiban. No Kirin. (sigh) OK, I guess Asahi will do.
My ramen arrived first. The pork had more fat than meat on it. No fish cake. The noodles were good, just the right firmness. The broth was OK, a little bland for my taste.
My gyoza came out a few minutes later, or what they were calling gyoza. This looked nothing like any pot sticker I've ever had. And what's with the nasty mayonnaise sauce slathered all over the bottom of the plate?
I won't be back.
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From the glowing reviews, I went to check out Gen's Noodle House in Fremont tonight (2007-01-11). The restaurant had, unfortunately, been shut down.
There was a sign on the door saying the restaurant would be back with a new name in February, so I'll try it again in a month or so.
Fairly good ramen.. guys this is not your typical run of the mill Ramen shop! Its a specialty ramen shop with speciality ramen.. The Gen Ramen is really good.. this place is as close to Japan as you get ...
even the help speaks japanese.. I personally dont like going to Japanese food place where the wait speaks cantonese or korean..
in any case the food is definitely good for east bay... and its definitely Japanese Ramen.. versus Won Ton Mein!
There are other top Ramen places true.. like Ryowa or Himawari in San Mateo.. but if you live in the area and dont want to pay a 3 dollar toll ... Gen is definitely good enough!!
Agree with the pork belly meat and chashu being well marinated. They both had really good flavoring and were tender. The pork belly did not have too much fat on it either. I just wasn't all that into their broth and their noodles... which are the main factors in good ramen, right? I will prob try other ramen houses next time we want ramen...
I like this place. I'm usually at Ryowa, but since this is closer to work, I eat here when I'm in the need for some salty Shoyu Ramen. The shoyu is a bit saltier than normal, but still good nonetheless.
Today I tried the light broth ramen. I enjoyed it but the broth seemed a little more fatty than usual. Oh well, still good in my book. =)
authentic jap ramen. 3 broths to choose from, the light is too light for me. i'd usually go w/ the thick pork broth. ramen didnt taste like anything out of a bag but when i pay for a $10 meal, i'd rather get something more than a bowl of noodle soup. mouth is pretty dry after from the msg laden soup. anything else besides the ramen is a waste of time. the fried rice is loaded w/ msg. dont even bother w/ the rolls, its crap. over its very average. service has gone downhill as well. my cup was never refilled, she did just enough to earn a $1 tip.
Ok ramen place. they have pork flavored soup, but not as great as Santa in San Mateo.
I always order Gen Ramen, and for me it's the best ramen in Bay Area! And waitresses are cute :)
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