A taste of Japan in San Mateo

Maybe I'm just getting excited about the Cherry Blossom Festival - the second half of which is taking place this weekend in San Francisco - but yesterday I found myself craving ramen. And when I crave ramen, there's only one place to go. Santa Ramen in San Mateo.

I remember when we first moved out of the city into the netherlands of the Peninsula, I was excited about the nature, but forlorn about the choice of restaurants. It seemed there was nothing but crappy chains. Then I started discovering the little mom and pop gems, and Santa Ramen is one of them.

You'll often find a line at SR. It opens for lunch at 11:30 a.m., with dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. There are three flavors: Soy, Pork, and Miso. My favorite, the miso, is limited in availability and almost always runs out by closing time, so I try to get there early. The soup is about $8, and you can add on a variety of toppings like kimchi or napa cabbage with shitakes. At dinner, the menu expands to include fried chicken and edamame.

The bowls of noodles are huge, and no sharing is allowed for adults, although they let our kids share a bowl. Be sure to slurp your noodles, as that's the best compliment you can give the chef! 

Santa Ramen is located in a little shopping center right off of Highway 92 on El Camino Road (exit El Camino SOUTH, and take your first right into the shopping center).  If you don't have time to stop and eat at SR, or if the line is out the door, you can always pop into the Nijiya Market in the same shopping center. They have some of the freshest fish in the area at the best prices, and they have pretty killer sushi to go. 

Tonight, I head to Japantown in SF to tour New People, drink sake and experience some sort of traditional Japanese friendship drum circle. Sounds fun, doesn't it? More about that later.