Ramen Rama - CLOSED
39 Reviews for Ramen Rama
Ramen house run by Chinese people. Nothing terribly special, but it's not bad either. They have combos which include a bowl of ramen, a small bowl of fried rice and an additional small dish. With the other ramen houses in the Bay Area, I haven't been able to justify coming back.
This place is awesome, the food is great and affordable. My only complaint is that they have been closed for renovation so I haven't been able to get my daily fix of good Ramen. But don't you worry your pretty little heads because I just recently discovered that come January they will re-open for business.
A pretty decent place for ramen. One good thing about here is the value, you get a lot of food for your money. I also like how you can choose the broth for your ramen. If you get a combination meal, it comes with a bowl of fried rice and gyozas.
However, nothing in their ramen really stands to me. It tastes decent, but nothing really special. The bowl of fried rice is nothing really special, but I do like their gyozas. I did have a good meal here, though, so I will probably return to try the other ramen broths.
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Do you think Chinese cook can cook good Japanese ramen? Go figure!!!
Plus don't even mention the rude service. Well, some of you like to spend money at 'rude' place like this.
If you want true authentic Ramen, "Halu Ramen" is the place. I know about the 'oily' feeling, but you can request for non-oily version.
Ok so a while back, I had their seafood ramen which tasted OK. But then later that same night (I didn't eat anything else after that), I went home with a tummy ache and I couldn't sleep. Next thing you know, I was crouched over the toilet vomitting. Damn you Ramen Rama.
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We just went here last night for some below average ramen. Skimpy portions, with weak broth.
The real kicker is the rude owner. Our bill came to just about $19, just a dollar from their $20 credit card minimum (which is illegal under Visa/Mastercard terms, anyways). And he insisted on asking us if we had enough cash and even had my husband open his wallet to show he had not enough cash to cover since it wasn't over $20.
Even after we told him the transaction would be over $20 after tips and all that, he was still extremely rude and told us not to lecture him about credit cards despite full knowledge of contracts he's signed to use them.
I understand the plight of mom and pop stores, but we didn't just go in and charge a $1.00 for a coke... we were less than a dollar off.
Besides the fact I had MAJOR stomach issues with the aftermath of eating here. Stay away from this place.
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While we have pseudo sushi according to Nobu K, we also have pseudo ramen. Yes it truly exists and Ramen Rama is one.
I have nothing against my Chinese and Taiwanese brethern and sistas who try to emulate the latest dining trends in Japanese cuisine, but when it is not done right, it is pretty bad. I give this place 2 stars because they try and for emulating the mid tier they come close, but it is still a bad effort. Sorry...why don't they do what they might do best, such as Taiwanese beef noodle soup using freshly made shan dong noodles, the original ramen? Why do a Taiwanese take on a Japanese version of the original Chinese hand pulled noodles in soup? It makes no bloody sense, going in circles I say.
You can likely find decent to really good ramen and sushi/sashimi in Taiwan (with their own twist and take to accomodate the local tastes), and certain sectors of the older generation there speak fluent Japanese (in addition to the Taiwanese dialect) to some extent as far back as the occupation period during WWII (the result also bringing Japanese food, cuisine, and culture into the country, and assimilated). One can even argue that today you can find superb yakiniku in Taiwan matching that of Japan (no thanks I do not want pseudo yakiniku... but if someone steals that idea you know where they read it from).
Ramen Rama is right next to the restaurant Red Miso which supposedly offers the same food, at least the cooked stuff/appetizers/skewers. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a Taiwanese version of an izakaya that also serves ramen, or the other way around.
If you must have ramen, get outside of Cupertino. Go to Do Henkotsu, or Ramen Halu, where it is a little bit more authentic. Or North to Mountain View at Maruichi, or further north in San Mateo to Santa (where you will find tons of Chinese and Taiwanese hogging up the lines to get into Santa and maybe you can ask them what they think of Ramen Rama).
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Decent, average ramen. It's no Ryowa, but there's also never a wait.
I like their variety and the wide variety of side dishes, even though I've never tried them. It's nice to know they're there if one day I should ever want to branch out.
I like the chicken or pork katsu ramen - they put the katsu on the side, so you can eat it separately. The katsu is always nicely fried, and meat is flavorful and never been dry.
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It was okay. Nothing to write home about, but noodles were chewy...the soup tasty... and combos are cost effective, but since I must drive out here to pick a cake from the neighboring awesomo bakery we might have to eat here again.
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the ramen here isn't that good!! i came here for lunch one day and was excited because it was one of those days.. i got the original soup with pork loin. it was hot and greasy but my bowl was overcrowded with noodles!! i love broth but the broth here isn't great. i like halu ramen much better not to mention the prices are cheaper there too! i feel like the portion you get here just does not compare to halu ramen.. the service is really bad too. the guy cooking in the back kept staring me down and made me feel really uncomfortable!! that's just rude!! don't waste your time and money here.. go to halu ramen for your fix instead!!
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The ramen was good. The chasu were a little too fatty. I don't know if they can trim out the fat before cooking. Or just pick a leaner cut of pork.
Not as good as Ryowa in Mountain View.
Ramen Rama is joined with Red Miso next door. They shared the same kitchen too. I guess the owner wanted to serve two kinds of food in the same place yet to maintain two separate identities. Recently, they give out menus from both restaurants when you sit down. Looks like the Ramen side of business is doing better.
I've only ever been here for lunch. Ok, so I've been here twice.
As far as ramen houses go, this isn't one of the best. But it's not bad. For $9.50, you get a bowl of cha siu ramen, bowl of fried rice, and 4 gyoza. Not a bad deal. It's slightly on the expensive side for lunch, but rarely am I able to finish all of my food.
For me lunch has to qualify 2 of 3 statements.
1. Must be good.
2. Must be cheap
3. Must be fast/close
I can get a pretty good LARGE lunch in and be back at my desk in about 45 minutes. So for ME it's 4 stars. For you, maybe 3.
So I'm not a huge ramen eater so I don't really know what "real authentic ramen" tastes like, although I did go to a couple ramen places on my trip to Japan last summer. I like this place because they give you a lot of food and it's cheap! Yes, I am a cheapo, but hey I gotta feed my other habit too (shopping). Everything has always been good when I've been there. I usually get the combo with ramen and katsu. Ramen...tastes like ramen. The volcanic spiciness is just right for me. Katsu is very good as well. I always leave there happy and full and it's great when your bill for two people is under $20. The only negative is that you can't pay with your credit card unless it's over $20, but usually I ask them if I can add the tip in and make it over $20 and they are fine with that.
At best, decent ramen. Stick with the original soup base. Pretty sure this is Chinese/Taiwanese run. My expectations were lowered as soon as I walked in and saw the coarse black table pepper instead of the real shit. Two stars only because it's called Ramen Rama. It would get three stars if it were only Red Miso and didn't fool people into expecting good ramen. If you're craving noodles, this will suffice. If you're craving Ramen, this will disappoint.
Just so-so Ramen here. Might as well head down to Halu if you are already over in Cupertino. Otherwise it is a decent spot to eat if you want to eat more than just Ramen as they have a good variety of other plates available.
Flavor was good, but the food came out cold. Perhaps this was because my lunch buddy and I arrived for a late lunch -- but the grilled shiitake mushrooms had been off the grill for a long time and the toppings in my ramen seemed to have come right out of the fridge. The fried rice was hardly fried, and looked more like "clumpy" rice.
Ramen Rama's saving grace is that the texture of the noodles was quite good...better than some of the other more authentic noodle houses around. For this reason, I will try it again.
I've only been here once, but I've been meaning to go back. I had the shoyu ramen, which I thought was pretty good. Nice noodles, but not hand-made, perhaps a little on the overcooked side....
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I've been here a few times as it's very close to my work. I can feel a cold/cough coming on, so there's nothing better than getting some hot soup. This place doesn't even compare to Santa Ramen in San Mateo.. that place is awesome, but since I'm not close to Santa Ramen, I had to settle for this. Not bad. I always order the Roasted Pork, original soup Ramen. Its ok, but adding chili pepper makes it better. The taste is a bit bland and the noodles are so-so. Reasonably priced...
THis is place is not so bad for a quick and fairly priced bowl of ramen. Albeit, this is by no means a true flavor of the culturally distinctive Japanese ramen. This is Cupertino in Silicon Valley, you get what is available! And what is avialable is decent ramen house with a very unique menu selection. My fav is the hawaiian ramen with the extra char-shu slices to fulfill my appetite. The Shoyu is also a good choice for those looking for something slightly more conventional. ALthough, their Shoyu tsuyu tends to be slightly bland for my tastebuds. Nonetheless, it is still good on a Sunday afternoon! Go check it out!
Had the tonkatsu pork ramen here for a reasonable price of $7.99. Their soup is flavorful and delicious, not too salty or watery. The ramen itself is ok, it reminded me of instant ramen noodles. The tonkatsu was good, light on the breading and oil, but still crispy. A bit dry but thats okay. Took a star off for lousy service--there were three waitstaff, but only one was working. The other two were just standing around, talking and when we motioned for more water or something, they'd call the third guy to do it. I'd actually give it three and a half stars because its loud in there...they had the TV on, blaring C-pop, and that made it hard to talk. Otherwise, the food is not bad for the price and the soup just hit the spot for a cold winter's night.
I like this ramen shop quite a lot. Although I agree that their broth doesn't have the special "something" that I've had at places like Ryowa, it is still good and I like the fact t that there is a spicy soup option. Their pork gyozas are also excellent and reasonably priced. They also offer free refills on sodas.
I don't really want to take out noodle frustrations on poor Ramen Rama (the food aside from noodles is not horrible and there are vegetarian options); but, c'mon now, if the noodles are not fresh/homemade, and the broth doesn't stand out, why should anyone bother?
This place is pretty good. I am not Asian but I generally consider myself open to foods of different cultures. There were some items on the menu that made me raise my eyebrow, but once the Ramen soup came, it was all good. Very delicious and filling. A bit on the pricey side though for ramen soup. But I liked it. Thanks!
Ramen houses are popping up everywhere and this one is no different to the others. On top of the selection of ramen available, there is udon, rice plates as well as little appetizer-like items to choose from. Ramen is not made on the premises. Portions are average, but ingredients such as chicken, bean sprouts, etc is skimpy. Took one star off for lousy service.
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i happen to love this place.
great value, delicious ramen. the kind that warms you up inside. i've had the bbq pork and the katsu. definitely go for the katsu ramen. i've only tried the regular broth, but it was wonderful. we also got these juicy, delicious gyozas =]
the combinations are so-so. fried rice is merely okay, and there are also grilled items to choose from.
now, what you MUST get here is the age-tofu. cheap, and they give you A LOT, which is unusual. 8 slabs of it i think. and it's delicious-- delicately fried on the outside, soft on the inside, in yummy sauce. i'm hungry now.
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i don't like to mess around during lunch time. i'm usually in a hurry, and i'm starving - so i have a few tried and true place that i usually hit once or twice a week - and this is one of them.
the portions are huge (did i mention i'm a pig?), and you get your choice of broth (regular, shoyu, miso or hot n spicy). since i'm hungry and hate surprises, i will usually order the grilled or teriyaki chicken ramen, with regular broth - but every know and then i'll try something different, like the pork katsu or the hawaiian saimen. everything's pretty tasty and they serve all the meats on the side. the only complaint i've ever had was with the bbq pork in the hawaiian saimen...lots of gristle - not good! anyway, the portions are huge and i usually can high tail it back to work in just enough time for the next monotonous meeting for under $10. i did run into the no credit card for orders under $20 rule and was a little pissed off - but that doesn't seem to hurt business, they're almost always busy.
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I went there for lunch today with my friend, we both ordered Cupertino set (Tonkotsu-Ramen + Small fried rice + 3pc Gyoza). The price is very reasonable, the soup, chashu and egg were very good, but it seemed that the noodle must have been cooked for a bit too long. The place looked clean and cozy and service was very prompt.
I visited yesterday with my friend Suzu, and like her (she mentions this in her own review) had one of the 3 lunch specials, #28, the "Cupertino special". I agree with Suzu's assessment of the noodles, which were a bit limp. Having lived in Japan, I will add that advertising this dish as "tonkatsu" - breaded pork - is a bit misleading, since the pork (which was very good, I should note) was not what I recognized as tonkatsu style.
The meal comes with cola included, which was a bit annoying since I don't normally drink carbonated sugar water: iced tea, which I prefer, is only at extra charge. I took the next best included alternative, a lemonade drink.
The best feature of the meal: the remarkably fresh-tasting gyoza, enhanced with chopped water chestnuts.
[UPDATE: mea maxima culpa! In all my Japanese language study, I'd not come across the word "tonKOtsu", so I mistakenly thought the restaurant was advertising "tonKAtsu". According to my friend:
"...regarding 'Tonkotsu', it's not Tonkatsu... Ton-kotsu soup
base is made from pork bones, they make the soup by boiling the porkbones with a bunch of other stuff for la ong time..."
So, I stand corrected. And anyway, as I noted earlier, it was nevertheless rather good.]
This place has so-so ramen. They offer tonkatsu ramen, but the broth is decidedly weak with little body. The noodles are okay, but does not retain its texture well. You won't have to wait long for seats, and their bowls are cheaper than Halu, Santa or other Japanese places.
This place is one of the worst ramen place I've been. The chasu smells, the noodle just like package ramen, the broth is weak, price is a bit high. I tried the spicy ramen, turns out they use chili oil and mess up whatever flavor that's left in there. Might as well just guzzle down the chili oil.
3.5 STARS
Been here several times, on occasions I've ordered
-Hawaiian ramen=consisted of red pork meat, chewy and bland tasting meat
-Chicken wing ramen=had chicken wings, didn't really blend well together
-Chashu ramen=tenderloin pork meat, its alright, pork not as tender and flavorful as Do-Henkotsu.
-Plain ramen=consisted of only 1 strip of nori. It wasn't even the fresh strip of nori but a pre-packaged kind you can get at the market. It did not even come w/ any bean sprouts or bamboo shoots or any veggies at all. I felt gypped because on the menu it said Shoyu base soup-comes w/ blah blah blah blah. I did not get any blah blahs!
All were in shoyu based soup. I've had original before and it is NOT good. The broth is flavorful but not delicately flavored its more salty chicken broth flavored. It tastes really good at the beginning but after 1/2 of slurping it up, you start to get sick of it and nauseous. The soup base makes you feel like you've had too much of something and you just can't take anymore of it.
The interesting thing about this place is its noodles. The noodles look like packaged noodles from cup n noodle but thicker, a lot thicker. It has the same curly/wiggly square shape as a prepackaged noodle does. The noodles here kind of have a snap into them when you bite it. It has a nice chewy resistance to it. Out of all the ramen shops I've been to, this place has the most chewiest and thickest noodles. I commend them for their unique noodles that look like pre packaged stuff.
Oh and they also have the tastiest and delicious gyoza I've ever had. I love gyoza and no one makes it as good as Ramen Rama. The dough is nice and thick and wraps around the meat perfectly. The meat inside is mixed w/ lettuce, cabbage and spices. The bottom of the gyoza if fried to perfection leaving a nice crisp to it. When you bite into the gyoza a lil bit of juice spurts out. Mmmms its the best gyoza I've ever had. Just for the gyoza it deserves 1 star or .5 star
The prices seem unjustifiable for the ramen because even Do-Henkotsu does not jack up their prices like this. For the price that I am paying for the ramen, it better be SUPER good and too bad it is not.
Apparently this place is picking up business because NOW it closes on Mondays, which seems to be the trend of every other popular Japanese places w/ their erratic hours and all.
Two stars is for the overall experience. But let's break it down:
4 stars for the Ramen. They have 3 types of broth. I especially liked the spicy broth which comes in hot, volcanic, and suicidal. I tried the volcanic which was spicy, but next time I'll try the Volcanic. My noodles were slightly undercooked but my wife's were fine.
-1 star for the Tonkatsu entree. It was overcooked.
-1 star for the wait staff. The waitresses stood around for the most part and couldn't seem to care less about whether the customers needed anything. When we pointed out some gunk floating at the bottom of the water glass she just served the waitress seemed bothered that we'd even look at what we were drinking. Also,call me old fashioned but I don't like to see the wait staff sitting on the bar counter where people are going to be eating 10 minutes from now. I'm sure it happens all the time, I just don't want to see it.
If anyone from the restaurant reads this: Good ramen, I like the the fact that you have something different than other local ramen shops. Set some standards for your wait staff.
i'd been meaning to try this place for a while, and i finally did. all in all i found the place to be really likeable. i don't "get" why they have two restaurants with the same menu though haha
i had a katsu curry plate and it was good. it came with a salad and a bowl of miso soup. the curry was good, not as spicy as i like it but good, the rice was soft and i thought the katsu was especially fresh and crispy and came in a good sized portion.
my friend had a bowl of ramen, i tried it and i thought it was good.
they have plenty of different items on the menu, different rice plates and soups, etc so you'll find something you like if you like japanese food. they also have a bunch of different appetizers
the interior is nice and the service was decent. my only complaint is that my friend and i + 1 other person were the only people in there at the time yet they still managed to mix up our orders! but they were nice about it.
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I liked their signature broth Ramen. Portion was pretty good for the price. I also ordered a kids ramen for my daughter, we had way too much food, we could have easily shared. But the kids "meals" came with ice cream too, can't beat that.
I took some salmon with shrimp home for my husband and while the salmon was good, the shrimp sure wasn't. The shrimp was dry and was dirty, not cleaned at all if you know what I mean, I guess if you like the taste of grainy shrimp.
The thing I just didn't care for was their staff. They don't seem to know what they are doing quite yet? they were prompt with the order, but not friendly, not real helpful, perhaps because none of them spoke good english?
i like this place but i've only tried the pork tonkatsu ramen. the noodles taste like instant noodles but they're still good and the tonkatsu is extra crispy! it's a reasonable price ($7.99) and is just the right portion. the place is clean and i've never had to wait but i've only gone for dinner.
well, how badly can ramen go right? it's pretty simple. however, it can also be done correctly. this place is good! the broth is awesome. it really comes down to that. the noodles themselves and the ingredients should be fresh. and they are. but if the broth lets you down the whole thing sucks. ramen rama delivers a good broth. try it. their duck pot stickers suck, but the pork is great. i'm giving them a generous 4 star, but really it should be 3.5.
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i ate here cuz i have the stomach flu and couldn't keep a lot of solids down. my older brother suggested to eat here. so we did. i had the cuppertino. which is mentioned above.
food
-the fried rice was GOOD. like i said i couldn't keep much solids down, but the rice... man. i didnt finish the small bowl, maybe a third of it, but it was so good. i suggest adding the chili flakes [nanami togarashi] to it.
-charsiu ramen. it was good... i haven't been to japan, eaten that much ramen that didnt' come out of a plastic bag, but this was good. yeah the broth was weak, but w/ my equally weak stomach, it was perfect.
-gyoza, i didn't eat any of my gyoza. i have one in a box with my rice, but the rest i gave to my older brother... but iono. i haven't really tried the "ultimate" gyoza anywhere here... lols.
service
-lackluster. seated quickly, prompt and all, but the servers hardly spoke. they didn't acknowledge anything. my water was empty for a while and i couldn't catch anyone's attention.
place
-clean (; no complains here.
price
-pretty pricey compared to pho hoa where i planned on eating in the first place, but my brother paid. the ramen only w/o the set meals is slightly cheaper, about 2.50 than the set meal... and w/ the set you get the fried rice and four pieces of gyoza. which by it self will cost close to six dollars... about maybe 3 bucks each. so its okay priced in my opinion.
over all four stars.
This is what we got:
Prompt seating.
Server took our order, brought our ramen, refilled our water glasses, asked us if we enjoyed the meal. So good service.
As for the ramen: tasty broth, noodles had good consistency and generous amounts of pork and, um, "mystery meat." But MM was good, so I'm not going to ask questions.
Also had chicken wing appetizers b/c my friend will always order anything on the menu that mentions "chicken wing." That was tasty too.
Will be back.
i ate here with a friend for dinner only because the wait next door at elephant bar was too long. food was okay considering the prices were not that high. i ordered the salmon which was good, and my friend ordered the pork katsu ramen. the ramen looked like instant noodles, but tasted alright. the waiter and server were very friendly and polite, so 4 stars overall for okay food and great service.
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