In search of the perfect bowl of ramen in the bay area

There's ramen mania going on in the Bay Area. Queues of hungry diners waiting for a nice comforting bowl of ramen.  Truth be told, I've already tried a few ramen places - Santa Ramen, and Orenchi Ramen which has a following. I must say I was disappointed with both. The first ramen joint was alright but for all its hype, I was expecting something more. It was an ok bowl of ramen. And to top it off, they served me cold tea. I was also excited about Orenchi Ramen because of the queues of people waiting outside and because I like their sister restaurant Sumikagrill. However, their ramen broth was overly salty. 

I think my ramen fascination is somewhat like a fussy twenty something year old princess trying to find the perfect man. There are good guys out there...but they're not perfect, and you keep searching. The same with ramen. Some are better for their broth, some for their chewy noodles, some for their fatty pork and some have the perfect soft boiled egg. Occasionally you find a joint that does everything right.  

So today, I tried Ramen Dojo, which is actually the smaller sister restaurant of Santa Ramen. It was clear from the concise menu that the focus of the dining place was ramen - spicy ramen, to be precise. Ramen dojo opens at 11:30am everyday. I arrived at 11:25am and I was surprised to see a queue of at least 25 people already waiting. So I didn't get to be seated in the first seating when the restaurant opened. But tables move pretty quickly here. I ordered the garlic pork ramen (tonkatsu soup broth). I was surprised when my bowl of ramen was served. It had a thick black sauce on top of it. I was told it was roasted black garlic sauce. I tucked in and for the first time, I enjoyed my ramen. The noodles were nice and chewy, the soup was porky, garlicky and not overly salty, the black garlic sauce was a nice distinctive touch. At $8.95 for a basic bowl, it was worth the wait. I didn't order the spicy version (although I was tempted) as I was sharing my bowl with my three year old. This is my fave joint for now and I will be back to try the spicy version with a soft boiled egg!

Ramen Dojo, 805 South B Street, San Mateo, Open daily except for Tuesday
11:30am - 2pm, 5:30am - 9pm