Cho C.
Yelp
On our way back from Santa Cruz, going through the town of Los Robles, we decided to try this location since it had one of the better Yelp reviews and it's ramen. Located in this industrial, trendy, social media picture spot, the exact location would be in the back center part of the building. This building had an amazing bakery, some good coffee, sandwich places, fruit stand, etc... it had it all. But we came here for the ramen.
I've eaten hundreds of different ramen locations, from ones in Japan, to SoCal area ones, to East coast restaurants that claim to be authentic. This place, made with lots of fine details, but not be Japanese staff was pleasant surprise. The flavor of the soup was really good, just the right saltiness, the oils not over powering, and can taste the freshness of the ingredients. Noodles were the thin style (Hakata style), which worked well with this level of ramen.
We also had some appetizers, the rock shrimp and gyoza. The rock shrimp was like eating a softer version of walnut shrimp, but with pineapple sprinkled on top to give it the sweetness, and the shrimp delicately fried just right. Tiny pieces of walnuts scattered, I stead of the big halves made each bite perfect. The gyoza was surprising as well. Wasn't expecting the thing style of wrappers, almost like an egg roll, but the taste of gyoza. Out of the two, I would go with the rock shrimp.
Service was friendly and helpful. Lady that took our order, also brought it up to us on the top level dining area. Plenty of round tables, so no worries of just sitting at the counter. There are steps leading up or can take elevator.
Lastly, the price is a bit ... higher end than I normally would pay at other ramen places. It's roughly $25 for each person eating here. But I can see the value on the work to put together these dishes. This is some thought, love out into each dish. The chefs must have had specialize training to make these dishes be the way they are... this isn't a Cooke cutter type of ramen, this is the type of food you expect from people that studied ramen making from Japan. Different, modern, and tasty. Wish the containers would be more appealing, but hey, we're here for the food.