One of my favorite San Francisco ramen
restaurants, Sapporo-Ya Ramen, is the perfect place to warm up on a drizzly day. Located in Japantown, which is more
known for its touristy restaurants that its authentic ones (although there are a few stand-outs), Sapporo-Ya cranks out
tasty bowls of noodle soup which feature chewy, housemade noodles.
When my daughters and I walked in today,
the noodle maker was at work in the front of the restaurant, stretching and flouring ramen noodles. It was hard to
decide between all the different types of ramen: was I in the mood for plain ramen like shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce),
or char siu (roasted pork)? Or did I want a little more embellishment in the form of miso or butter ramen (which
contains a hint of butter)? In the end I chose a spicy kim chee ramen which is essentially plain ramen (spinach, hard
boiled egg, bamboo shoots, a slice of char siu, and a sprinkling of green onions) topped with a mound of fiery, Korean
pickled cabbage and thinly sliced turnip. The broth was perfectly salty and gingery. The noodles luscious. The kim chee
added just the right amount of bite.
My girls split an order of pork yakisoba—ramen noodles which have
been stirfried with a sweet sauce and served topped with nori furikake (seasoned seaweed flakes) and a side of vibrant
red pickled ginger. They inhaled theirs and split some green tea ice cream for dessert. Today it's rainy and gray in
San Francisco, but we had fun exploring Japantown and having lunch together. Happiness for me truly is a bowl of
noodles.
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