Yamadaya Ramen - San Jose

Came across this ramen place  when I was looking up another ramen place. We got there late around 2 on a Saturday afternoon. There was a parking area in the back which was pretty full. But just before we went in there was a sign saying there were out of charsiu which was the pork used for ramen topping. What a bummer. So sadly we turned around.

The following day we made sure to go earlier at 12. We were almost the first one there except there was another person doing take out. The dining area was pretty spartan like a cafeteria except the tables were black stained wooden tables. The wall was painted black too with the only two windows covered with Japanese style paper screen window with wooden frames. I think night time would be pretty dimmed inside the restaurant.


The reason I wanted to try Yamadaya because they serve tsukemen (dipping ramen). I saw a video of tsukemen and was intrigued. So that was my order. Hubby ordered the spicy tonkatsu with level 2 spiciness. Yup you could get it spicier with additional $0.75 per order. Though I was skeptical with the takoyaki I gave in when hubby brought it up again.

The wait time was reasonable. My ramen was thicker than hubby's tonkatsu style. The noodle came unseasoned on a separate bowl with half hard boiled egg, a slice of thick cut pork belly, bamboo shoot, a sheet of nori with some powder bonito. The broth was rich of pork flavor but not hot enough to stay hot through the whole meal. The noodle was a bit cold so  it needed hotter broth to bring it to at least normal room temperature. I think I ate with normal speed but towards the end the broth couldn't warm up the noodle anymore.

Hubby's spicy tonkatsu was pretty spicy at the level 2 spiciness. I think it's worth $0.50 more. But I also think it would have been better served with thicker noodle instead of the thin one they're using. One thing I like about the spiciness level here was they actually used chili pepper instead of some other ramen places which uses spicy miso paste which turned the broth extra salty.

The takoyaki was okay only. They may have let them too long in the oven and the outer layer turned dry and crunchy.

With so many other ramen places in this area I don't know when we'll be back there. Nothing came out as extraordinary.

Our rating :

Yamadaya Ramen
1516 N 4th St, San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 441-0510