Been meaning to go to Shiba Ramen since it’s opening in late 2015. Better late than never I suppose. I seem to end up at other ramen joints on the way to the city or coming back home. Even my folks have frequented this place more than once over the years. I made it point not to be sidetracked this time, even though Ippudo Berkeley was dancing in my head, and easily convinced my girlfriends for a ramen stop.
Conveniently located right off a freeway exit a huge plus and within a public food market an added bonus. We were distracted the moment we walked in with the array of food choices but I steered them toward the bold red Shiba Ramen signage and the Shiba Inu logo. Most likely the owners have a Shiba Inu dog otherwise associating a dog image with ramen could be risky. Doubtful it has stopped anyone from eating ramen here but I was once in Japan and ate horse curry by mistake. Just saying.
I ordered the signature White Bird ramen thinking it would be a good comparison to the tori paitan ramen I ate the night before in San Francisco. The creamy chicken broth had a nice fatty piece of tender pork chashu, scallions, bamboo shoots and a soft-boiled egg. The noodles were springy and al dente the way I like it. The broth was not overly rich and filling. I enjoyed my bowl of noodles after all I was in good company. Having a ramen restaurant in an open public food court is genius for my impatient family members. Ramen boy and his dad would have appreciated the fast food concept without the wait. Their biggest pet peeve eating ramen in the U.S. is the lack of ramen etiquette when there is a long line of people waiting to get in to the restaurant. Slurp your noodles and then get out is their motto.
Shiba Ramen must be making tastebuds happy as another restaurant opened in Oakland. My friend from Singapore ate here when she was visiting and gave it a ‘meh’ review but I consider her biased since she lives in the land of noodles and if you have eaten in Singapore you’d understand why. My mom though thinks it is slurp worthy. I will be back with the boys.
Shiba Ramen
Public Market Emeryville
5959 Shellmound Street, Kiosk #10
Emeryville, CA
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