Ramen Dojo

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I arrived at Ramen Dojo on a Monday, 30 minutes before opening for dinner (5:30) and there was still a line!  I can only speak for the weekdays, but I'd suggest arriving here before 5p to secure yourself a seat for the first seating.   

There are few appetizers to choose from to snack on while you wait for your ramen to cook.  It mostly contained the usual suspects: gyoza, karaage, etc.  The shrimp in fried tofu sounded the most interesting and was one of the house special items.

I was expecting something different based on the name of dish.  Minced shrimp, mushroom, and bamboo shoots wrapped in tofu wrapped and deep fried.  I really liked the crunchiness from the bamboo shoots - really surprisingly delicious dish. 

I'm not sure if my expectations were too high coming into this place (same owners as famously loved Santa Ramen and people swearing this ramen is better than Santouka's).  First of all this ramen is really different than Santouka's.  Ramen Dojo is known for their spicy ramen versus Santouka is known for their rich pork broth.  When I think about spicy ramen, I think about something like Tan Tan Men (check out Tan Tan Men @ Himawari HERE) which is spiced up with chili flakes and chili oil.  Ramen Dojo's ramen is more of a peppery spicy flavor.  I got to taste both their extra spicy and their regular spicy flavored garlic pork broth.  Extra spicy wasn't that spicy, just more pepper.  After slurping down a bowl, I still think that Santouka's ramen is the best in the bay area (check out my review on Santouka HERE) .  The pepper really overshadows the pork broth here.  I do like the noodles here - very dense and chewy.    I might just be a purist when it comes to ramen. 

    

Address:                          Ramen Dojo
                                         805 S B St.
                                         San Mateo, CA

Type:                               Japanese/ramen/soup/casual

Popular chomps:              spicy garlic pork broth ramen
                                         fried tofu with shrimp
                                         spicy fried chicken

Chomp worthy:                fried tofu with shrimp

Random facts:                 same owners as Santa Ramen