Santas ramen is the perfect meal for a chili night in San Mateo. Ive heard of Santas and even tried to visit this place 3-4 times but gave up on the long lines. There is always a damm line there and some people even wait 30-45 minutes just to get a table. I think you are insane to wait longer than 20 minutes for any restaurant. Just plan ahead or find out when the slow periods are. We went 7:45 and lucked out with 2 open spots at the counter.
We ordered some appetizers and ramen.
Chicken Karaage - simply awesome...large portions of deep fried chicken with a minute covering of breading. Goes well with steamed rice.
Deep fried pork with garlic - served with curry and tiny slivers of garlic inside the pork cutlet. OOOhhh..sooo good. No recommendations for this. I would definitely order this again
Pork broth with stewed pork - ramen noodles were firm and had excellent texture to them. Broth was murky and had tons of flavor, wasnt salty and no need to add soy sauce to it. In the broth were chopped scallions and pickled ginger. The stewed pork were huge cubes of meat. Some people might find them fatty and ugly slabs of pork may look unappealing but they sure tasted good. The combination of all the ingrediants in 1 bowl was an exceptional experience. Did I mention the portions are huge? I ate about 3 hours ago and I am completely full...I will need to sleep on my side tonight.
I gotta give props to Eddie for suggesting Santas Japanese Restaurant for ramen. Its the best ramen Ive had in the bay area and southern california. If you have never visited a japanese ramen house, heres your chance.
RETURN VISIT for Jason!5/15/2006 - 9.5 Rating: Every month I do a drive by of Santa Ramen just hoping I'll catch it on the day where the line isn't out the door. Today is the day and it's been awhile since I've eaten here. I had high expectations with my last visit being outstanding. I went pork overload with the stewed pork and pork flavor at $8.95.
- pork was sweeter than I remember - 2 of the pork slabs were tender with 1 of them on the tough side. - pork were fatty pieces, oh gawd I'm going to sleep good tonight - broth was full flavored, so much fat, oh the love - noodles held firm during the entire meal, probably because I ate fast
Dangerously good. Still holds strong even though 1 of the pork pieces was on the tougher side. If you're on a diet, keep driving by. Still holds strong as my favorite ramen house, particularly Tonkotsu style.
Reviewer: Eddie
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 11/4/2004
Rating: 10
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It's about time you guys review this place. Nothing beats a bowl of Santa Ramen on a chilly night. My favorite items of this place is the stewed pork in pork flavor ramen and the chicken karaage. Santa masters the art of making the 2 most important components about ramen: noodle and soup. The noodle is made fresh daily in the back of the kitchen and cooked to perfection - tender yet chewy. I have yet to come across any other noodle in this kind of quality in the whole Bay area. I always ask for the extra noodle for another $1 when I ordered even though I regret it every time after I finish the meal. The noodle is THAT good. As for the soup, Santa serves 3 different flavors of soup - pork, miso (soy bean paste), and soy sauce favors. I have tried them all and they are all excellent. My personal favorite is the pork flavor (even though I should really watch out the cholesterol for this). The pork flavor soup has a hint of garlic with strong pork flavor. You can actually see the thickness of the oil layer on the top of the soup - not for the healthy type of diners. :)
The food is awesome and portion is generous, services are good and priced right. I guess that explains the huge wait line out of the door. One suggestion, go there at 5:25, right before they open, you are pretty much guaranteed no waiting.
Reviewer: Lainie
Total Reviews: 41
Reviewed: 4/17/2006
Rating: 9
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The lines are crazy! But just by chance I decided to go at about 7pm on a Thursday night and I only waited about 10 minutes! (I know this is rare.) Anyways, I had the Corn Ramen and it was pretty good. Loved the texture of the noodles and all the yummy stuff in it. But my dining partner had the Pork in Soy Sauce Broth Ramen and it was fantastic! (I wished I'd ordered what he did.) I'd go back just to have that and my dining partner wanted to go back the very next night! Portions are huge, good food, friendly staff. But the place is tiny and the wait is crazy.
Reviewer: jsatre
Total Reviews: 69
Reviewed: 2/16/2007
Rating: 9
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WOW! So this is what great Ramen is suppose to taste like! I joined my husband and his work chums on a nice Friday afternoon. We drove up and were excited to only see a short line. We arrive at 11:20 and were seated at approximately 12:00 noon. I played with the sweet black girl kitty next door at the antiques place. She's talkative and loves her cheeks to be scratched. Playing with her sure helped the time pass by. we places our names on a list taped outside the front door.
As we were next to be seated our orders were taken. I ordered the Soy Sauce broth with Roasted Pork and Hot Tea. We waited an additional 10-12 minutes until our large steaming hot bowl arrived. Maybe it was the anticipation but, wholly-smokes this was the right broth flavor, the roasted pork tenderloin; it was all so delicious, and not too salty. Plenty of bamboo shoots, fresh green onions and tender noodles. Only minor quip: the pork could have been more tender. It was a little tough to chew. But I received 5 nice thick slices.
Service was okay. I liked that they take your order before you're seated but we practically had to flag down the staff to get water refills.
Overall, a delicious experience... I'll certainly return. The wait however is a little sucky, but with a dining capacity of only 29 people, expected. I highly recommend arriving at 12:15. That's when we noticed everyone in line had been seated and the wait was short.
I have to say that their ramen is very very good compared to the other places I've tried. It tasted just like how I had it when I was in Japan (so look no further lol) I had the pork flavored base with roasted pork. Noodles were firm throughout the lunch and the broth was milky and savory. I also liked the pork because it was meaty and not fatty at all. They also take credit cards.
However, there were a couple of minor problems. The wait is crazy. We came at around noon and there were already 14+ ppl on the waiting list(it can go by quickly if there are ppl on the list who would bail, but don't bother to cross their names off). At the time, the stewed pork was sold out. 15 minutes later, the chicken karaage was sold out. I was very very disappointed. How can you sell out of food after only ONE HOUR of opening?
It's a definite recommend just for the great ramen, but I think once for me is enough. The drive to San Mateo + the wait isn't worth it for me. So for those of you who are fortunate enough to live close, it seems like a good place for your ramen fill (remember they will be moving soon, but I don't think it's too far from the original location)
Came here for lunch last week, and have been here once before. I can not figure out what's so great about this place.
I believe the fact that you have to wait so long if you show up a minute late and the lack of service makes their food taste that much better. I can't believe I got talked into waiting 45 minutes for a bowl of noodles when Hotaru was down the street. Anyways...I gave them the benefit of the doubt and went in with an open mind.
I ordered the katsu ramen and kim chee (they actually charge for the kim chee), it wasn't horrible, it wasn't exactly memorable either. If there was no wait and service was more prompt I'd rate this place higher, and if the subpar kim chee was complimentary, even higher. However that is not the case, and I could not find any redeeming value in Santa.
I'm not going back, and clawing and screaming if someone insists. I prefer Ramen-Halu and even Ryowa over Santa.
Shoyu Soup with Roasted Pork & Chicken Karage Bowl
“I've been here 3 times now, and every time I wait 30+ minutes. In my opinion, Ramen Halu wins with their thin noodles and the wait is shorter, but Santa sure does make a mean pork soup base. Their chicken karage is recommended, very tasty!”
1/28/2007 11:08:21 PM
Godlike4U ate...
Napa Cabbage with Soybean Flavor
“I've waited and waited then I've been luck enough to get right in. If you understand what a Japanese noodle house is all about, you'd understand why this place is so amazing. This is the one of the in the bay area, barnone.”
