Taishoken Ramen

Known for their tsukemen or dipping ramen, but they also have a good range of other delicious options and a very delicious vegetarian Dan Dan noodles. Surprised by the tasty calamari where they bring out the whole squid and is covered in seasoning. They serve a complementary buckwheat tea and the service is amazing attentive! Recommend putting your name down on the Yelp wait-list ahead of time as it can get crowded on weekends!

Taishoken opened with a lot of hype (I remember having to stand in line before opening time). The swarms of influencers have gone elsewhere, but Taishoken remains a mainstay of ramen and one of my favorite spots for tseukemen. The noodles are so fresh, hefty thick like udon, and cooked al dente. Interestingly, there is a unique buckwheat taste blended into the flour (I tell myself it's healthy). It pairs perfectly with the flavorful broth, which is not too salty like some other tsuekemen places. I got their bestseller, which comes with a decently sized cut of pork and a soft boiled egg. We also shared the chicken karaage, which was also good but rather standard. Other notes: -Just one ramen entree is a lot of food, so I suggest coming here with an appetite. - Fun drink options, including a matcha IPA that I like. - It's downtown SM, parking is not entirely impossible but brace yourself if you're coming at peak times.

One of my favorite ramen places. The Tokusei Tsukemen was excellent. The broth was deeply flavorful and well balanced—rich without being heavy—and paired beautifully with the house-made fresh thick noodles, and the chashu was very tender. We also loved the Tori Chintan Ramen—the chicken broth was full of umami and deeply satisfying, and the touch of yuzu was a lovely, thoughtful accent. Will come back!

Make sure to add yourself to the waitlist on Yelp before arriving. May save you 10-20 min. Once inside, dining is nice but a little crowded and noisy. Not terrible. Service was okay. Nothing special. Nothing bad. Quick though, which was nice to see. I had the Tokusei Ramen and really enjoyed that for $20. Nice garlicky broth and other flavors with thinner noodles. My friends all ordered the Tsukemen. Most enjoyed it, although one criticized the noodle texture as well as the lack of smokiness to the soup. He said he preferred the now closed Shugetsu much more for this style. We also enjoyed the popcorn chicken appetizer for $12. Happy hour is from 3-6pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for discounts on drinks and apps.

On a calm Monday afternoon, my partner and I were looking for a place to get some quick lunch while we hear about some tea. So, we ended up at Taishoken for some delicious food. I ordered the Tokusei Tsukumen which was pretty delicious while my partner got the mazesoba. I really enjoyed her dish and would probably consider it better than Kajiken which is right down the road. In comparison to Kajiken, this dish already had a lot of balance and flavor, whereas with Kajiken I often feel the need to add a lot of additional sauce to increase the complexity. If you’re craving ramen in San Mateo this place is definitely a good option where everything we tried was good.

After trying quite a number of ramen places in the peninsula, I feel like Taishoken should be having higher stars. We ordered both the tsukemen and ramen and both were great. Eggs cooked perfectly and the broth is simple yet flavorful.

The legendary creator of tsukemen has licensed its name to a branch of Bay Area-ramen shops. Supposedly they are run by descendents of the original shop, though I am fairly positive those individuals are not in the store day to day. Maybe expected for American diners, the menu includes many wide ranging ramen styles and unusual ramen shop appetizers like takoyaki. Taishoken is most famous for tsukemen. I was a bit disappointed that the noodles, toppings, and soup broth was closer to the heavier gyokai-tonkotsu style of shops like Ganja/Rokurinsha and not what I'd consider classic Taishoken flavor. Google 大勝軒つけ麺 for some pictures of what the Japan-based Taishoken branches serve and the difference will be obvious. I will say that both types of chashu toppings were excellent. To be honest, there are better ramen shops in the Bay Area and even now-closed Iza did a better version of this style. But by American standards, the ramen is still probably four stars.