On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Mon-Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Sat-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Loading...
Mmmm! Came here on a Veteran's Day post duck hunting in GGP and pre-comedy college. We were lucky there was no wait. Got seated at the last table right by the window so everyone can watch us slurp our delicious ramen!
The Spicy Tofu Ramen was delicious with just the right amount of seasoning. My date got the BBQ pork (spicy) which he said was the best BBQ pork ramen he'd ever had! 7x7's list recommends this dish.
Quaint little place near Union Square. Decent service. Often a wait outside past 6:30pm.
Katana-YES PLEASE! They serve some solid ramen here for reasonable prices, and they have a great lunch deal if you can make it out. Hot soup and perfectly chewy noodles are excellent on a cold day.
I'd say this place is up there with Santa Ramen in San Mateo and Ryowa Ramen in Mountain View. Yes, I'm a Rameniac, and it's my life goal to find the best ramen in the western hemisphere....Looks like I'm well on my way!
Minus a star for being on the tinier side of things.
This place is good for ramen. I always get regular ramen with soy sauce broth. Last visited it was yesterday, we had lunch and ordered the lunch combo which i got regular ramen with soy sauce broth and a small bowl of kimchi fried rice. It was good as usual.
This place is quite small, so it might not be good if coming as a big group. Service is ok.
I love ramen and gyoza. There was a really great Sapporo style ramen place near my house where I grew up. My mom took me there occasionally. I can still remember the browned walls of the restaurant and the smoke from their heavenly gyoza frying in the wok. And the row of Japanese salary-men sitting at the counter alone, slurping away their ramen as if it was their last meal on earth. That was my ramen initiation at the tender age of 3 or so.
Ramen & gyoza have a special place in my heart.
Anyhoo....so the ramen at Katana-Ya is not horrible. But it's just OK. And the gyoza is just OK. I did not get to experience the euphoria that many people seem to experience at Katana-Ya.
I'd rather go to Tanpopo in J-Town.
This review would have been much better except for the fact that all the noodles here have MSG in them. I hadn't read any reviews about them that say that they use MSG, so I wanted to let everyone know.
The noodles were good... I had the regular ramen, but substituted Udon noodles with miso broth and requested it medium spicy. I liked it, a little on the salty side... but all in all they were good on a cold night. I don't think this place is really worth all the hype on Yelp though and there have to be other noodle places in the city that are better, and without MSG!!
Yum! I like this place, but just not as much as Santa Ramen.
I had the Soy Sauce ramen with regular noodles, and there was barely any bamboo shoots but lots of seaweed and green onions. Anyhow, the broth was delicious and super salty - the way I like it. I ordered the lunch combo, so I also got a bowl of kimchi fried rice which tasted like hash browns and breakfast sausage (how does that happen?). Despite the unexpected taste, the rice wasn't bad.
Their curry was bland and kind of boring, but the service was good and there wasn't much of a wait! Although, the restaurant is pretty small - I can't imagine it could ever be good for groups.
WOW!
*say "Yes!" to the Fried Spicy Tuna Roll!
*Spicy Tofu Ramen in Miso broth was outstanding!
*Katanya roll was good, Hawaiian was better.
*Butterfish nigiri was delectable!
*cold, sweet un-filtered saki complimented this hot, spicy fare perfectly.
**note: seating is limited - but at 11 pm on a Fri, we only waited aprox. 10 min for a table!
Finally came here for the ramen and definitely enjoyed it! This place is always crowded so put your name down and get ready to wait a bit.
Skip the sushi, it's expensive for what you get so help your wallet and your tummy by sticking with the ramen and don buri bowls.
Solid Japanese restaurant across from Curran Theatre on Geary St. We needed to eat nearby and found… Read more »
sooo goooddddd
Best ramen ever!! I got Chasu Ramen (Soy Sauce base, medium spicy)
We had to wait a bit outside because it's a small cozy place, but it was definitely worth it. They also have pitchers of beer for a good price, so we all split one ramen each and then a pitcher of beer...yummmm
I've only had the ramen and it was REALLY good! I can't wait to go back!
I've eaten here a few times before these last two weeks when my friend insisted on eating here 5 times in the last 14 days or so. I love the fried chicken and the butter corn ramen. shoyu, of course. because its 'meatier', saltier, and just tastes like au jus' cousin or something. the service is super quick and they are vigilant.
ugh. so good. and because i can never finish all that yumminess in one sitting, i take it to go, for the morning. the broth is so yummy in the morning. beats coffee any day. hand down.
um and open till 2. i'd like to see someone beat that!
Not all broths are created equal.
I wasn't really impressed with the miso broth the first time I came here. Sometimes, a second visit is a must to explore other options in the menu.
I've come back twice in the last week and I've gotten the same exact soup: the green onion ramen in a salty broth.
I've forgone my usual late night run to McD's in favor of Katana Ya's ramen. Fat, long, chewy noodles are a more fun way to gorge myself with carbs than french fries past midnight. There are tons of sliced green onions floating in my tasty salty broth but like before, there are only 4 slices of chasu in there. Nevertheless, the portion size was big enough for me.
The expressionless face of our waitress didn't even bother me. With ramen this good and the fact they're open til 2 am, I'll keep coming back here for my late night eats.
I like this hole in the wall spot. I was pleased to find out that Katana-Ya made the Big Eats SF… Read more »
The night was cold, but the ramen (and sake) warmed me, straight through my stomach and into my heart.
I had the regular miso ramen. Now, I used to be a true ramen connoisseur, but as of the past few years, I've been off my game. Katanaya rekindled that old flame and reminded me just why I had such a deep and profound love for these noodles.
I went here for the second time last night. Got the titular Katanaya bowl. The broth was pretty tasty, and the fried chicken was good, but overall the experience seems not-worth-it. We waited a long time outside with crackheads pestering us for a quarter. Then paid 13 dollars for a bowl of noodles with a few small pieces of meat and hardly any veggies. I also got some sushi last time I was there, and that was definitely not-worth-it.
Maybe I'm just not a ramen guy (this is actually the only place I have ever had ramen) but for the price it seems there are much better options. For $13 you can get three Bonus Jack Combos just a few doors down!
Like many things (diners, karaoke, jägermeister, unexpected evening guests), this place is way better when not sober! Having come directly from an A.C.T. performance across the street, I was able to experience the food here for the first time with a clear mind and palate. I've had a lot of good ramen in my day (mainly in Manhattan's East Village) so from that perspective I can't get really excited about this joint's oversized noodles and bland broth. However, for the Union Square neighborhood and as a late night option, I can definitely see why it is so popular. With all that in consideration, it is an A-OK (3-star) experience for me.
Gyoza: Standard - one side crispy and one side steamed. The ground pork inside was tender. Done well for this basic comfort food.
Katana-Ya Ramen (rich salt broth): Basically the "Kitchen-Sink-Ya" Ramen. There was half a hard boiled egg which I expected more from. If it's going to be half an egg, it should be semi-soft boiled for a gooey center. If it's going to be a hard boiled egg, it should be sliced thin because the hard boiled yolk center is a tad overwhelming in a complete half egg bite. The dark meat pork was tad too thin and tough. The deep fried gyoza was like something from a Chinese take out joint in a bad neighborhood, they totally should have used their appetizer gyozas. The salt broth, was well, salty. I had hoped it would enhance the natural meat broth flavor but it did not as the meaty tone was still mild. I'll get into the bits of fried chicken when discussing the next ramen...
Fried Chicken Ramen (rich soy broth): The good chicken karaage I've had in the past contained small, juicy morsels of dark meat chicken in a thin and crispy fried batter. This karaage was oversized, overbreaded and tough instead of juicy tender. As a by-product, the excess batter falls off into soup... which I'm neutral about though could see folks on either side of the fence on that point. I appreciate that the soy broth didn't taste like eating pure soy sauce, but like the salt broth, it didn't help bring out the meatiness of the base.
The Ramen with the miso broth and Kimchee fried rice are not bad here, but service is harsh and so is finding a table. This place is seriously small; even the tables seem smaller than normal and the help is not very helpful.
Other stuff like rolls were only average but the sashimi and rice bowls were decent.
A friend of mine, Chris T. (http://Starvingsurfer....) said it best in his review, "I assumed she wanted us to clear out quickly, the funny thing was that after we finished up of meal it took us a while to flag her down so we could pay the bill and even once she took it it seemed she forgotten about us."
I would go back for the food if it wasn't during normal lunch hours.
I had ramen and sushi here on my visit and I must argue that the ramen here is just okay. Everyone hyped up this place so hard that I was expecting the above and beyond, but really, when I tasted the miso broth, it just tasted like normal ramen. I didn't think it was anything special. People have said that they think it's too greasy, but I think that it's the egg that gives it that rich and greasy feel. If the review was solely based on the ramen, they would deserves 3 stars.
Taking both ramen and sushi into consideration, I am still giving them 3 stars because I've been to places where I've had better ramen (maruichi's in Mt. View) and sushi, and prices were better, but considering location and the late hours they are open it's understandable.
I shared with my bf and had the salmon avocado roll, california roll, philly, lava flow, toro nigiri and the Katanaya ramen (the one with everything)
LIKED: Salmon and avocado roll was really good. Really fresh ingredients and the whole thing just melted in your mouth. California roll was good too, but it was typical, nothing special.
NOT A FAN: Lava flow was just literally shrimp tempura, and spicy tuna on top - for $13.50 I just can't get over how expensive that was. It was pretty good taste wise, but for that price I should have just ordered the alaskan. Toro nigiri was just okay. I didn't think it was the freshest. Philly roll - not a fan of cucumber would rather have avocado, it's my own personal preference so other's might like it.
The overall experience was 3 stars because I feel like everything I ordered is I've had better. They do have a HUGE menu and an assortment of selections, so I may have to come back to try other things before passing on final judgment. But for this visit, 3 solid stars and nothing more.
The truth is that I was unable to pass up the chance to mix some of my favorite foods together, that being friend chicken and ramen. I'm not sure that I can say what I ordered was "authentic" but thats nobody's fault but mine in the end. And what a mix!
Holy crap! They served me a wading pool of a bowl! I mean it was huge. What I'm saying here is that I could have bathed in this thing. They also had a lot of other pretty entertaining options (should the notion of fried chicken and noodles not appeal to you, crazy), including a sizeable sushi menu which I look forward to eating from in the future.
I went with my two buddies, the total was like $38 so it was cheap too. I'll be going back.
Best Ramen in the city.
Tanpopo is not even close
So i strolled in at 11.30a on a Tuesday and there were 6 people in the restaurant and plenty of seats. When i left around Noon, the restaurant was still more than half empty. I guess the key is going there early-ish if possible.
I got the perfect combo:
-Fried Chicken Ramen
- in Rich Miso Broth
- Medium Spicy
The broth was flavorful, the noodles were just the right consistency of chewiness and the fried chicken was piping hot, with a good, hard crunch, so it wasn't soggy (which i was seriously worried about) even after swimming in the broth for 10 mins
The size of the ramen was substantial; because this was an early lunch and I had a light b'fast earlier that morning, I could not finish my bowl of ramen.
I came prepared and brought my own spill-proof container for take-out (which made the lady laugh when she saw it; but i wanted to make sure it wouldn't spill in my bag since I wasn't going straight home!)
The service was Great. Not sure if they changed the staff from others' reviews...but they were quick, efficient and very nice. The lady who packed my take-out even wrapped it in a plastic bag and provided addtl napkins.
I'll definitely be back
I have to change my rating after the last three visits. It's simply not as good as it used to be.
The first time, I thought it was a fluke. The second time, I thought they were having a bad day. After the third time, I finally admitted it: They've lost their touch.
The soy sauce ramen just isn't that good anymore. It was just salty, there was no other underlying flavors, there was no aroma. The noodles....something about the consistency of the noodles was off. It seemed like they were undercooked; not al dente, but undercooked. The noodles weren't the slightest bit chewy, they just snapped apart when I bit into them. The chicken karaage was, well, they give you three small pieces, and half of them were chewy and not in a good way either.
It's still the best place in the city (so far) for ramen, but I certainly won't be going out of my way to come here anymore. How disappointing.
Bf and I brave the downtown traffic and parking about twice a month to go here and get our weekend… Read more »
It was sunny. It was raining. It was pouring. It was storming. Now it is just quiet...
Weather in San Francisco was one roller coaster ride today. All that rain makes me crave for something soupy. 6:30PM on a Monday and there was no wait for a table for two. We ordered the usual: kimchi ramen for him and butter corn ramen for me. One piece of chashu (pork), a handful of fresh seaweed, a few pieces of bamboo shoots, a mountain of ramen, and flavorful broth come standard on both our orders. I prefer miso over the soy broth. The ramen has somewhat of a bite. The broth is rich and flavorful. Maybe one more piece of chashu would be nice. The chicken karaage was chunky, dry, and underseasoned.
Decent ramen, not exactly exceptional.
Until I get myself to Japan, I'm just another clueless North American eating Japanese food.
Having spent some time sampling ramen in NYC though, Momofuku and Ippudo I believe do it well. Katana-Ya was conveniently located, so I stopped in.
Great lunch combo; a regular ramen (your choice miso,soy, other) and a choice of something like an unagi don or sushi roll for 11-13 bucks.
The ramen are chewy and substantial, not bad, the soup base is thick and flavorful, surprisingly good. Cramped, small restaurant base but the ramen is definitely something to write home about.
Good to see SF gets the chance to experience some quality ramen. Once the weather gets more chilly, even better to stand over a steaming bowl of quality ramen.
The ramen isn't as good as everyone raves, I've had better according to my taste buds. I had the takeout ramen once, it wasn't bad but I got one piece of pork, what kind of bullshit is that, its not like a huge piece, it was a small ass one.
Service is cool, and its open till 1 am on weekdays so that's pretty cool.
Theres nothing that special according to me.
Try Maijaku Ramen in Daly City or that one place in San Mateo I can't remember the name right now.
I have to add another star to my review. Maybe because I haven't had good ramen for a while, and compared to everywhere else in SF, there are very few other choices for good ramen. Still doesn't unseat Suzu for my personal favorite, but for "typical" ramen, I think of this place.
Drawback - it gets a lot of hype, which means crowds. And it's a pretty touristy area which, again, means lots of crowds.
If you've had a lot of ramen and you know what good ramen is supposed to taste like, this stuff will… Read more »
I love Ramen here but the oil floating in the broth doesn't taste like the one from pork.
Maybe I am the only one who thinks so but it tastes like canola oil or salad oil.
This place gets 5 stars from me. What great food!
Katana-Ya is more of a fusion restaurant in many ways. They do a pretty darn good job at it, too.
My friend had the spicy fried chicken miso soup (forgot the real name), and I got the udon noodle soup with the salmon/avocado sushi rolls (combo plate).
The udon noodles were much more flavorful than I expected, and the fish broth with the seaweed and the green onions was very very good. The really impressive part, however, was the salmon/avocado sushi rolls. I could count on one hand how many places can pull off a roll like that with any degree of success, and this place makes them to perfection.
For $12, it really wasn't an expensive lunch. I got in just before the lunch rush showed up, which was actually kind of late (12:30 or 12:35). I managed to get a table right before my friend showed up and we were able to get served quickly.
Great place, can't wait to try other things on their menu.
I am only going to comment on the RAMEN because I didn't come here for the service, decor or ambiance (none of which, were exceptional).
The ramen was kind of disappointing because so many reviews claim that their ramen is the best in SF. The noodles were very good and firm and not overcooked at all. However, the broth was average at best. The broth was very oily (I presume from the pork fat) but somehow not very rich and somewhat bland. I don't know how they managed to make that combination.
Another weird thing is that they say that ALL their broths are pork broth but they flavor it with either salt, soy or miso. I have never seen this broth selection before. Normally it is tonkatsu (pork), shio (salt), shoyo (soy), or miso broth by itself. The non-tonkatsu broths are not just "flavors" added to pork broth so I was surprised by their broth selection. They also don't have a tonkatsu broth flavor by itself (blasphemy!) and they say you need to pick a flavor or else the pork broth by itself will be too flavorless. WTF?
I've been looking for a ramen place in SF that is at least as good as the places in NYC and Katana-Ya failed that test.
One of the few gems around Union Sq. for food. Come here on a cold day for a delicious bowl of ramen & and a cold Sapporo. You can pass on their sushi.
YOU COME HERE FOR THE RAMEN.
My fav is the spicy tofu ramen w/ light miso broth.
I was a ramen virgin, but the continuously fabulous review of this place (plus the opportunity to cross another location off 7x7's The Big Eat SF list) had me curious.
Katana-Ya did not disappoint. I came having read up on all my options and went with the green onion ramen with the miso broth (light). Good choice for a beginner! I loved it and yet couldn't come close to finishing the enormous portions.
There was a bit of a line on the street but even after we were told it could take up to an hour, it took only 20 minutes. And was well worth it. Thanks for the recommendation fellow yelpers!
Katana, Yah Dude!! Ok that was lame. But the ramen here definitely ain't. First off, I love the location. It is right by Union Square and very accessible. Then of course, there is the ramen. Wow!! Delicious. I've tried the Shoyu and Spicy Green Onion. Both are excellent. And I love the fact that you can order a light broth here. Helps prevent that I-gotta-loosen-my-belt post-ramen bloated feeling.
You might have to wait a bit to get seated, but trust me it's worth the wait. This is currently my favorite ramen joint in the Bay Area.
I've eaten here twice and after the first time I had no memory of how the food was. That should've indicated that this place wasn't that great. I'm super stubborn and had to go back and eat it again so I can yelp about it.
Had the kimchee ramen and they gave me the soy sauce ramen. They took it back after I told them about it. The kimchee was flavorful but the noodles wasn't anything special. Broth didn't have much flavor and was oily.
Probably won't come back here again.
Yes. Love this place.
Best Ramen I have found in SF.
Sweet butter corn Ramen with miso broth. So delicious! This restaurant understands the art of ramen. Watch Tampopo and you too will understand.
Amazing RAMEN!!! Nice and spicy. Staff was great too.
The ramen here is fantastic! Perfectly cooked. =] I've been here twice so far, and I love their soy sauce ramen. There's a choice of rich or light, but if you don't mention it, I believe they'll serve you light. Both times, I've ordered the ramen with california rolls. Their california rolls are really good and taste really fresh.
The only reason I didn't give them five stars is because the first time I went, they gave a lot of noodles. But the second time, they gave very little. I'm not too fond of inconsistencies.
FRIED CHICKEN RAMEN.
That's right, put two of my favorite foods in one and then try telling me not to order it. Plus we bypassed an insane line of people waiting for some random reason, so they make me feel special.
Did I mention it's owned by Japanese? And that they put FRIED CHICKEN in their ramen??!?!!?!
The food is very good. One less star because the place is very small and our table was extremely crowded. Got there around 8ish on Saturday and got seated around 8:40PM.
I got the butter corn ramen, salt favor with mild spicy, which was very delicious and flavorful. We also got the grilled whole squid as appetizer, very tasty. The sushi was so-so. Nothing great about it. Overall good experiences and will come back for sure.
This place is pretty good. Definitely be prepared for a 30-45 minute wait. Although I have to say...it may be because this place seats a maximum capacity of 20 is part of the reason why there is a wait.
If you have a group larger than 3-4 it makes it more difficult as well. I'd recommend only 2...as that is the common party # that come here.
I've only had the Ramen and it's tasty. The soup base is flavorful, but sometimes when I'm hungry I wish they gave more portions.
The old women that serves there (could be more than one) is awesome. She's super friendly and happy and she'll even flirt with you - if that's your thang. At first, I thought she was hiiiiiigh. :)
What do you do when you find yourself shivering in your drafty San Francisco apartment and realize you're a) too lazy to go to the grocery store to buy food and b) too lazy to cook that food after schlepping it all the way home? Warm up with a hot bowl of ramen from katana-ya - No grocery shopping, schlepping or cooking required!
After waiting a few minutes for a table to open up my bf and I were seated at a small table by the door. It was a little chilly since they kept opening the door to call names off the waitlist but once my soup arrived all was well in the world. I got the spicy cabbage ramen in miso broth which was good but lacking in terms of quantity of cabbage and pork. My boyfriend got some variation of ramen in miso broth and his was good as well but once again...not too much meat to be found. Next time I come I'll definitely ask for extra meat. I think katana-ya has four star potential so I'll be back with an update soon!
Don't be scared off by the line outside - it tends to move pretty fast!
This is a legitamte hole-in-the-wall japense noodle place, and it's a good experience... if you're not with a large group of people.
The servings are very generous--good luck finishing! The food is very tasty, and infused with many spices and flavors. One grievance is that the miso soup seemed too oily.
One of my friends for months has been telling me that I need to try their favorite ramen place in the entire bay area. I was intrigued, and went to give it a try, so we braved the line that went out the door and waited for a booth to open up. I'm going to get my biggest gripe out of the way right now, the service, it was not very good, the waitress we had seemed to be in a pretty bad mood. I'm not sure if she was just having a bad day, but after seeing some of the reviews it seems that may just be based more on her personality. Even after she took our order, I finished my tea and asked for more, she looked at me, gave me a sigh, when she returned, she was darting through the tables holding the tea cup, she without stopping she poured the tea and kept walking, it would have been an amazing accomplishment, but she left a significant sized trail of tea that went from my cup to the edge of the table towards me. I ended up cleaning up the mess but when I asked for more napkins she seemed even more annoyed.
Moving on from the meal I had the the house specialty, the Katanaya ramen, which actually was really, really good, you could almost say, that if this was based purely on the food in itself, it was fantastic. The broth had a rich depth of flavor, someone in the back did a great job at laying the flavor profiles of vegetables and meats, the noodles themselves was perfectly cooked, slight bite to them which is what I love. The other thing that I loved was that the hard boiled egg was actually a bright golden yellow, no hint of green in it which drives me nuts. The only gripe I could come up with was that the little fried chicken pieces in here were served on the side, by the time we got ours, it was getting a little more soggy. I've tried a few of their rolls which was pretty good as well, one that we had some some type of Hawaiian roll, had some eel, hamachi and tuna.
While we were enjoying our ramen the waitress came back and dropped off our bill. I assumed she wanted us to clear out quickly, the funny thing was that after we finished up of meal it took us a while to flag her down so we could pay the bill and even once she took it it seemed she forgotten about us. We eventually, got our change, and got up, to exit and maneuver through the crowd outside eagerly waiting for a table. When I left I felt really torn about how I should approach this review, as it's really unfortunate when good food is spoiled by horrible customer service. I'm sure some will critic that "the food is worth it" or "its the best I've ever had." I hope this was a rare occurrence, as you can only be a good restaurant and have customers lined up out the door, and at the same time treat customers so poorly, for only so long. As for me, I think for the time being I have a couple ramen joints that I prefer, and I think the food tastes better when you aren't having to sit on pins and needles worried you are going to offend your server.
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Sushi Bars
El Cerrito, CA
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Japanese
A list of stops along the way from San Diego to…
Ready for a steaming bowl of delicious Japanese…
These are some of my favorite places to eat in the…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
http://tinyurl.com/ceapc6 So if I complete the…
sashimi, nigiri, teriyaki, ramen, mochi........my…
Some of my favorite dining destinations from San…
100% Japanese Chef is cooking. Good stuff. Here's…
