Ramen has always been one of my comfort foods, and I wanted to find the very best in San Diego! I’ve had a lot of good ramen here, but to refresh my memory, I’m going to start fresh and review them one bowl at a time 🙂

1) Nishiki Ramen

8055 Armour St, Ste 201A, San Diego, CA 92111

I have yet to try ramen in Japan, but I’m traveling to Tokyo this month and really looking forward to it! In the meantime, Nishiki has my favorite bowl of ramen in San Diego. One reason I love this place is the layer of fat from their broth and chashu (fatty pork slices) at the top of your soup. It’s not overwhelmingly fatty or anything, just super savory, flavorful, and delicious! Then they hand make their noodles in shop, on display. It’s such a cool process, and their noodles are great.

Smoke Bomb Black – if you love garlic, or just ramen that looks super cool, this bowl is amazing!

Nishiki – this is their classic tonkotsu ramen. I love comparing tonkotsu ramen across different places as a baseline, and this one is delicious. Creamy, savory, and perfect when you’re looking for that comfort food type of soup. 

Akuma – I finished every drop of soup! It’s that good. If you like a little spice, this is a must order. You’ll love it!

2) Tajima

4411 Mercury St, San Diego, CA 92111

This was a close first for me, but they have a spicy sesame ramen that is amazing. I first had this ramen here in San Diego after I returned from a Japan trip. The flavor was so rich and bold, and reminded me of some of the flavors I tasted when I was abroad. In Japan, I was having some kind of peanut flavored ramen with minced pork… then after having the spicy sesame here, the flavor I thought was peanut was sesame!