#5 Ippudo - Double soup with dashi and tonkotsu broth. Noodles were perfectly al-dente and chewy. Chashu was thinly sliced and cooked very well. Only downside is the ramen egg was an additional charge.#4 - Taishoken - Classic tsukemen. I was actually expecting a more flavourful broth and was pretty underwhelmed by the quality. Pork slices and ramen egg were great. #3 - Hinodeya - I'm a sucker for dashi broth. Their portions are very generous which always wins extra points in my book. Pork is actually thicker which I actually prefer. Menma and ramen egg were on point. My go-to ramen spot in SF that doesn't completely destroy your wallet.
#2 Mensho - The gods of paitan broth. This place is an SF favourite with lines consistently wrapping around the block. Their duck paitan (白湯 - white broth) was so rich and creamy without being too overly salty The noodles were cooked well and ramen egg was luxurious. A tad pricy, but worth the wait.
#1 Ramen Nagi - Undisputed king of Bay Area ramen. Their Palo Alto location is usually the most consistent from my experience. You can't go wrong with any of their ramens, but I love their Red King. Every component is top tier and the portions are huge. Their veggie ramen is an actual revelation. The broth has so much umami, and adding a hashbrown adds so much depth and texture to the dish. I've since stolen this technique for my homemade late night ramens.
