Address: 4646 Convoy St #102-A, San Diego, CA 92111
Date Visited: 6/3/2017
# of Marathoners: 9 (Alli, Jayzee, Jenn, Jenne, Laura, Michael, Miko, Sarah P, Trinh)

SCORES
Scale:
1: I hated it  ♦ 2: I did not like it ♦ 3: I am neutral ♦ 4: I liked it ♦ 5: I loved it

• Overall: 2.95
• Noodle: 3.06
• Broth: 3.06
• Meat: 2.67
• Egg: 4.1
• Other Toppings: 2.94

Alli

• Order: Setagawa 27 Curry Ramen + Underbelly, shared with Sarah P
• Overall Score: 4.75
• Noodle: Good flavor but feels like spaghetti noodles. 2
• Broth: Really good, curry tastes like something authentically Indian. 5
• Meat: Good thickness, nice char and fat. 4
• Egg: Decent flavor, good texture. 4
• Other Toppings: Well suited to meal. 4
• Service: Confusion with long line; really busy so not great service.
• Ambience: Nice feeling, large family-style table. Feels busy but not in a bad way.
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? Yes.

Jayzee

• Order: Original Signature Ramen, shared with Trinh
• Overall Score: 1
• Noodle: Chewy and easily broken. 1
• Broth: Salty and fatty. 2
• Meat: Tough, strong marinade. 1
• Egg: Delicious. 5
• Other Toppings: 3
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? No.

Jenn

• Order: Rikimaru Miso + Aburi Chasiu + Egg, shared with Michael
• Overall Score: 3.5
• Noodle: A little too firm. 3
• Broth: Creamy, a little chicken flavor, good salt level. 4
• Meat: Oxtail tender + flavorful. 4
• Egg: Good texture + flavor, but a little bitter aftertaste. 4
• Other Toppings: 3
• Service: Poor, didn’t impress with any part of the service.
• Ambience: Super hipster.
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? Maybe, if other people wanted to go.

Jenne

• Order: Rikimaru Miso + Aburi Chasiu + Egg, shared with Miko
• Overall Score: 4
• Noodle: 5!
• Broth: Tasty but too greasy. 3
• Meat: Tough and too salty. 1
• Egg: Great texture, but a bit bland. 4
• Other Toppings: Liked the garlic chips! Menma gross. No naruto 😦 3
• Service: Sort of harried but fine. Took forever to get food! Had to get more chopsticks ourselves.
• Ambience: Kind of frantically hip. Like, is this Portland or what is it.
• Other Food: N/A (but crepes!!)
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? Yes, for the curry ramen.

Laura

• Order: Original Tsukemen
• Overall Score: 1
• Noodle: Triple thick egg noodles were very good. However, I think I would prefer thinner noodles. 4.5
• Broth: You know that orange dressing you get on a Japanese side salad? Ramen should not be made with that flavor profile! Side note: curry ramen was good. 1
• Meat: I thought it was not good because the fatty pork was overcooked. Ruined. 2
• Egg: Delicious, perfectly cooked + seasoned/marinated. 4.5
• Other Toppings: Bamboo shoots, sprouts, green onion and bullshit. (I think I’m very angry from the broth!) 1
• Service: Poor.
• Ambience: I like the big comfy table + window bench.
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? Hell no.

Michael

• Order: Rikimaru Oxtail Ramen + Egg, shared with Jenn
• Overall Score: 2
• Noodle: Straight noodles, way too firm. 2
• Broth: Meh. 3
• Meat: Oxtail was good. 4
• Egg: Cooked well, but too bitter. 2
• Other Toppings: 2
• Service: Hostess fucked up. No menus when we sat down. Took a long time before our orders were taken. Slow ramen. Insufficient place settings.
• Ambience: Hipster. Mason jars.
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? No.

Miko

• Order: Rikimaru Miso + Aburi Chasiu + Egg, shared with Jenne
• Overall Score: 3.5
• Noodle: Finally, a noodle that they cooked firm!! And they taste good. 5
• Broth: It didn’t feel as gross as Nishiki’s. Greasy but at least it has flavor. (Curry ramen broth was the best though.) 2.5
• Meat: Too salty & tough. And not fatty. I didn’t even want to finish it. The underbelly was much better, although still not amazing. 1
• Egg: A little too strongly marinated in sake, maybe — it has a slightly bitter aftertaste. Soft and good otherwise. I could eat lots of these. 4
• Other Toppings: I liked the sprouts! It cut the grease a bit. I don’t like the garlic chips though. 3
• Price: Seems kind of pricey, although not as bad as Santouka.
• Service: They called our name super-quietly and crossed us off when we were waiting for a table, even though we were standing right there. Boo. They don’t have enough servers, and the ramen took a while.
• Ambience: Hipster AF. The classy naked lightbulbs and mason jars especially. Fancy people come here. I do like the big table.
• Other Food: CREPES! (Angels & Hearts Harajuku Creperie is in the same space.) Oh, they have frozen beer. (I didn’t get any though.)
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? I probably wouldn’t fight it if friends wanted to come. I would request the curry ramen with the yellow curly noodles and underbelly.

Sarah P

• Order: Setagawa 27 Curry Ramen + Underbelly, shared with Alli
• Overall Score: 4.8
• Noodle: Not offensive, but seems like someone threw spaghetti noodles in. Thin-ish. 2
• Broth: Broth is fabulous — just enough curry, just enough heat, delicious. 5
• Meat: Charred underbelly! Crispy and fatty and melts in your mouth. 5
• Egg: Creamy, nicely spiced. 4.5
• Other Toppings: 4.5
• Service: Wait staff not great at finding people tables and our server seemed afraid of us.
• Ambience: Sure, it has a hipster vibe, but there are huge solid wood tables, and I have to respect that.
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? Yes.

Trinh

• Order: Original Signature Ramen, shared with Jayzee
• Overall Score: 2
• Noodle: Really thin noodle. 3
• Broth: Too salty 😦 2
• Meat: Not fatty, or overcooked? 2
• Egg: Still a little runny on the inside. 5
• Other Toppings: 3
• Service: Skipped us the first time around so they had to re-add us to their list. 😦 Gave our part of 9 only 3 menus. Ramen took a while to come out.
• Ambience: Modern-looking, hipster wood + light bulbs + mason jars. Feels like they cater to white people. Hard to hear people.
• Impression/Would You Come Here Again? No.