San Francisco 07.11 (6) - Sapporoya Ramen

John and I were walking inside JapanTown, and were wondering what we should have for lunch. There were plenty of shops to choose from, but I didn't see anything in particular that caught my eye... until I saw a sign that read "Sapporo-ya (Sapporo House)" and the word "ramen."

It was on the second floor of the farther side (from Kabuki) of JapanTown Mall, a small shop that got my attention. The exterior of the shop did not look particularly promising, but I thought of the fact that some of the best shops I had been to look nothing special, either. I would give it a try.

From what I knew,  Sapporo-style ramen focuses on its miso-flavor-base soup, which I had not tried much, so when we were deciding which ramens to try, we chose regular charshu and miso charshu ramen. We also got an order of homemade gyoza. 

The pickled cabbages that came first were fine, and the "salad" that came with the gyoza  were an interesting touch. The gyoza themselves were fresh and tasty.

And then the ramen came. Oh my goodness weren't they yummy. Sapporo-ya prides itself for it house-made noodles, and I totally agree with them, but boy oh boy, the char-shu pork was also cooked to perfection (and they give you plenty of it,) and the soups (both the regular soy and the miso ones) had great flavors and texture.

These were probably some of the best ramens I'd had since Japan.

Oh, and the noodle room at Sapporo-ya reminded me of this tiny soba place in Kyoto that John and I visited.