Ramen Parlor Restaurant Review, San Mateo

Why did we dine here? – Ramen Parlor is the third location in San Mateo from the legendary Santa Ramen folks. It is located one block from the original Santa Ramen, which now houses the very popular spicy ramen oriented Ramen Dojo. All three are owned by the same person.
This restaurant uses the same noodles as Santa Ramen but adds some lobster oil as well other toppings. In the evening, they have additional items on the Ramen Parlor menu including skewers. We have been here for both lunch and dinner with our last visit was in the spring of 2013.

Insider Tip – This is the least busy of their 3 restaurants.

Cuisine – Japanese Ramen
Location – San Mateo
Opened – 2011

Service – Ramen Parlor had adequate service, but nothing exceptional.
Verdict – Ramen Parlor serves up solid ramen with interesting toppings in a nice environment. Ramen fans should definitely give it a try. They also have a much more wide ranging menu with skewers and more.

Signature Dishes – Ramen

Ramen Parlor’s Menu features classic ramen, parlor ramen with lobster flavor, as well as several house specialty ramen dishes. You can choose the spice level not spicy to extra spicy. Extra toppings are also available. A good variety of side dishes is available at dinner time.

Ramen Parlor Picks:
All Ramen Topped with soft boiled egg, Aburi Chashu (Pork) (2pc), Bean Sprout, Mizuna, roasted seaweed. This is different than their original configuration.

Classic Ramen Soy Sauce Flavor ($8.95) The noodles were cooked somewhat al dente and were pretty close to Santa Ramen’s version. The pork had a ton of fat on it, making it hard to eat unless you don’t care about fat. This version also includes nice crunchy bamboo shoots.

We prefer the classic ramen pork flavor with Kikurage mushrooms.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab ($4.50) – Looked terrible and was fairly small, but ended up tasting pretty darn good.

Parlor Ramen Miso Flavor with Garlic Lobster Oil ($9.50) includes Chili Powder to give it a slight kick – This broth is a bit thicker and more robust than the other ones. This also includes corn. Frankly we prefer the pork flavor.

Parlor Ramen Pork Flavor with Garlic Lobster Pork Flavor ($9.50) includes Black Sesame Powder – This broth was our favorite, a little more meaty than the others. Also includes Kikurage mushrooms.

We added Stewed Spare Rib ($4.50) which was full of fat and tendons, but pretty tasty.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
Lunch Combo ($9.95) with half Ramen, Daikon Salad, Beef Curry. The usual ramen is fine but the curry was pretty bland. Daikon salad had far too much daikon resulting in an unbalance.

Kirage ($6.95 for 6 pieces) was nice and crispy. Eggless batter but a robust soy sauce drowned it out.

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
Kalbi Skewer ($3.95) was small and not very good.

Ramen Parlor Overall Rating: (Good 2)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Good)
Service Rating:	(Good)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Good)
Value Rating:	(Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Beer, Wine
Attire:	Casual
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes