Tampopo is the best food film I've ever seen in my life- this is the reason why I am only half thrilled when a new ramen shop opens in the Bay Area. The act of (loudly) slurping is strictly forbidden in Western culture.

Onwards to the Ramen Shop...

I have a rule for restaurants that have a long wait time. The food MUST be spectacular. After what seemed like eternity or 1.5 hours to be exact, it is really difficult for me to enjoy my experience at The Ramen Shop. To my dismay, I realized that my dining buddies and I had no other ramen option than the vegetarian ramen because everything else had pre-mixed pork broth in it according to the wait staff. Non-pork eaters beware! We ordered additional appetizers, such as pickled vegetables with sardines, and cod with escarole, beets and miso dressing, that I was not too thrilled about just to fill us up.

It also seemed peculiar, i.e. unfair, that a group of 4 who came in after our 3-person party got a table 30 minutes earlier before we did. Tsk tsk tsk. The restaurant only offers 4-, 2- seater tables, a big group table, and any number seating in front of the kitchen, which is where we ended up.

All the food from appetizers to the vegetarian miso ramen were salty to the bone. I cringed and downed multiple glasses of water to wash off the saltiness from their small kid-like glass. The hand-made ramen noodles were perfectly tender and soft. Otherwise, I didn't find anything special or authentic about their ramen. The vegetarian noodles came with king oyster mushrooms, bok choy rabe, a half salt-cured egg and mizuna, a Japanese mustard.

Dessert came, and the creases on my forehead deepen. The $6 home-made cookies and cream ice cream was still half stone cold frozen to the point that my 3-year old nephew couldn't even scoop the ice cream himself so he relegated to the softer, small cup of banana pudding, $6. Both desserts were overpriced for this type of casual restaurant. The banana pudding on the menu seems out of place in a ramen shop as well.

My special trek to Oakland for a weekday dinner from the city to try the Ramen Shop was not worth it. The wait was long, the food was too salty and there were not a lot of options for non-pork eaters, suprisingly. Their menu changes daily so it doesn't help that their website is dysfunctional and you can't easily find the menu of the day unless you take the time to call in advance.