Shumi Ramen

Awful. As Raman, the soup base is too thin, the Noodle is too soft and didn’t drain water well, and the Chasiu is totally nothing but like something remain from the soup. And pretty tasteless. Also, the claim as no msg… Well… Who knows. Lol

Want to see this place so well, as I love the public market. It was my first ramen experience and still unsure how I feel about ramen. It was good, but not great. Yet again, I’m unsure how ramen should taste. Definitely a visit!

No complaints. Good broth, miso and shoyu. We went there to try the ramen and we were happy with the results. Can’t wait to try the rest.

Started out with the goyza and it was just ok. I like a firm crispy pan fried texture with a nice golden brown shell. This was a bit soft and the texture of the filling was smooth and almost creamy which wasn’t something I am crazy about but it tasted fine. It could of been hotter temperature wise as well.
Ok enough of the so so and on to what this place is about. RAMEN. I ordered the Miso Ramen. I also ordered extra tofu and corn but it comes with a great half soft boiled egg cooked in the broth, seaweed slice, wood-​ear mushrooms, fresh cut scallions, tons of noodles and broth.
The presentation was great, everything laid in place nicely for a full bowl of color and texture. The Miso broth was very flavorful and not overly salty (very nice!). The noodles were great and all the ingredients were fresh.
When you order the ramen be aware it does come with seaweed, pork, wood-​ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots and scallions so you really don’t need to order extra items.
For $.50 cents the portions of corn and tofu were great.
Finally a great ramen place in Castro Valley at the Lake Chabot Public Market.
I would definitely recommend this to my fellow Unilocalers and friends.
4 stars solid.
4 stars.

Nice little spot in the market, they offer great deals and sushi of ramen isn’t your thing. Ordered a bowl of ramen, sushi for the teen and and order of their chicken nuggets. Not too bad and the meal was delicious. I’m not big on ramen but the flavoring hit the spot. The servers were very nice and accommodated my crazy kids. Best part for me is that the portions weren’t too bad, but if you’re hungry I suggest you order more sides. Definitely will be back for that ramen craving.

Sad face emoji. I asked for the seafood okanomiyaki. It’s only for Saturdays, she said. Then I asked for the special garlic oil ramen. It’s only for Saturdays, she said. OH MY. What do you have then? Everything else on the menu, she said with a cute «I’m sorry» smile. That’s 2 strikes but not out yet. I ended ordering the spicy miso ramen with corn and potato croquette.
Seems to me that when I eat ramen, my tongue craves a richer fatty broth. Not a rich fatty broth that’s been watered down. I was also looking for al dente perfect noodles, which is was… with it’s first several bites. But after chatting and letting the noodles sit, it became a bit soggy. The highlight of this bowl of noodles was the perfectly cooked soft boiled egg. They only give you half an egg but it’s the best thing in the bowl itself.
You can’t go wrong with potato croquette. It’s a deep fried mash potato with corn. That was good at least but the star of the show was not.
Sad face emoji…

Went to check out the newly opened Castro Valley Public Market where Shumi Ramen is located. The place was empty and we ordered the following items:
Spicy Shumi Ramen toppings had bamboo shouts half a soft boiled egg paper thin slices of chashu which broke apart in the broth. The broth was not spicy and had a chicken flavor. The Ramen noodles however were were good.
Chicken Karrage came in huge pieces but since the each piece was meaty the batter was soggy and greasy.
The flavor of the curry chicken and rice as good. Lots of potatoes little chicken.
Interesting location, Shumi will need to improve their Ramen. No body order the drinks because T4 is right next door.
Plenty of parking. Food comes out fairly quickly. Takes credit cards.

Let me start off by saying that I came here when they first soft opened in Feb and was very disappointed with the quality. After giving them a second try I can say that they have vastly improved there ramen. The noodles have a great texture and the broth was good too. I was very impressed with the their broth because it doesn’t come with salt or MSG
Give them a second chance and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Try the Miso ramen with spice and corn — can’t go wrong there.
Lastly, there management is amazing. Steve and Ming reached out to me personally after I left them advice on what to improve and they have listened, first place that has really done that with me.

After a few attempts, with their odd hours for a «market place». We finally got to try this place and I got to say, it was a real disappointment. I got the spicy shumi and Mr. got the fried chicken shumi. Decent portions but both bowls lacked flavor. Soup was bland, tasted watered down. Noodles itself had a weird starchy taste and texture. Cha shu (4 slices in my bowl) was thin and DRY. They could have just done 2 or even just 1 nice thick slice instead, for a more juicier tender piece. I’m the kinda girl that would fish every single corn kernel out of her bowl before throwing in the towel, but you won’t find me doing that with these bowls! Sadly, I only enjoyed the semi runny egg and the green onions on top… Hubby enjoyed nothing.
Since they just opened, we’ll definitely come back and give it another try, but not anytime soon.
In the meantime, NEXT!

Ordered #8 Miso ramen and #7 spicy light Miso ramen. The broth for both was perfectly flavored; not too salty nor bland, just perfect with no MSG. The noodle was evenly cooked with an «al-​dente» bounce when u eat it. Loved every bite!
Oh we also ordered the half waffle okonamiyaki — super delish!!!

I thought this spot was fine enough. More like 3.5 stars but I’ll round up for now.
Granted, even though I love ramen, I’m not a grand connoisseur of ramen like some other Unilocalers. I ordered the spicy miso ramen and added corn for $ 0.50 more.
The broth was fine and the pork was very tender with a good ratio of fat too. The rest of the ingredients were fine and I left a overall happy camper.
I lucked out because there wasn’t a line but even then I had to wait a bit but that was ok considering that it was ramen.
I’m looking forward to trying out the other ramen on the menu.

TBH, I would rate Shumi Ramen between 2.5 and 3 stars due to the early stages of their business opening.
Being fair, this place still might have a lot a kinks to work out but the dish I ordered, the miso ramen was sub-​par in comparison to most other ramen broths. the broth was not flavorful and quite runny, could have used a tad bit more seasoning. However, I will credit SHUMI RAMEN with adding a plentiful amount of toppings of which included bamboo chites, chashu, and soft boiled egg. I also ordered gyoza that turned out yummy.
Overall, I’m rooting for Shumi Ramen to get their act together and probably get better pricing options as for ramen dishes, and will give it another try in later future. So, rest assure, a part 2 of my review is yet to come! stay tuned!

Shumi Ramen is located within the Lake Chabot Public Market. The location is still fairly new, but to my surprise it wasn’t as packed as I thought it would be with a Cookie Bar and T4 right between it; parking is limited however. The employees are friendly and are not afraid to converse.
The ramen prices are reasonable, all of the different types costing about 9 – 11 dollars and my spicy miso ramen was good. It wasn’t the best ramen I had ever had, but it tasted good and hit the spot.
What really made my mouth water was the okonomiyaki waffle. I had had takoyaki numerous times, but seeing a waffle in a Japanese restaurant caught my eye. If you’ve ever had takoyaki, just imagine it in waffle form with bits shrimp and cuttlefish. Bombdiggity. I have to note that this appetizer is only available during weekends, so if you want it then plan your visit accordingly.

I was excited that a ramen joint was going to open in castro valley, but ended up being disappointed after trying it.
I have to say I’m pretty picky about ramen (yea being spoiled having good ramen in japan, hong kong and new york), ramen at shumi definitely did not meet my standard.
I ordered the chicken miso ramen. It came with 3 pieces of medium size fried chicken, a bowl of ramen with a half soft boil egg. The chicken was ok but not crispy to my liking, the ramen was pretty starchy, and the soup did not have a strong flavor of miso. The only thing I like was probably the egg because the yolk was still runny.
The soup is probably the soul of a good bowl of ramen but shumi failed. I would probably not going back.

Shumi Ramen serves just 4 appetitzers. during «Happy Hour» (2 – 5?). no special pricing,
only miso and shoyu ramen and variants available outside happy hour.
eats: takoyaki (6 pieces, $ 5)
–fried batter with chewy octopus inside
–sprinkling green parsley on outside
–no sign of kewpie mayo
–not traditional takoyaki
2.5 stars, not a good value.
take outs:
–located inside Lake Chabot Public Market
–service ok, HH is a misnomer.
–seating in communal space.

I came here twice. First time was on a Friday night as a double date and the second time, with a friend for lunch. I think this place is okay. The food is good but doesn’t spark ‘wow’ for me. The presentation of the ramen is nicely made. However, once you take a bite, it is just mediocre quality. The customer service is admirable though.
Plus, the complex really needs to do something about the seating area. There isn’t enough tables for people to sit at. Mind you, there is a T4, Milk & Cookie Bar, and a mini meat market inside this public market. Expect to fight for a table on weekend nights. Sad to say, I have had better and would venture off further to a different ramen joint. I would only come here because of the convenient location. I give this place a solid 3 stars.

Shumi means hobby. So when I first saw their name I was thinking «I guess they’re not serious about their ramen, it’s just a hobby to them?» Lol. It can also mean preferences/​to your liking so maybe they were going for that meaning instead…
They’re currently in soft opening mode, so I’m trying to refrain from super harsh judgment. But the plain truth is that the food wasn’t great, it was expensive (and these prices are supposedly cheaper for the soft opening) and it took a REALLY long time to come out.
They warn you beforehand that the food can take up to 30 minutes to be ready. Mine took 45 minutes according to the receipt. They were completely slammed, I understand that, but why would you open a place that takes 30 – 45 minutes to serve food in a cafeteria style environment like this? I’m not sure if this delay is permanent, but they really need to work on it.
Same note on the price — it shouldn’t cost $ 15 for gyoza and ramen considering this is NOT a restaurant, it’s a food stall.
Miso ramen — I didn’t eat the egg so no opinion, but the yolk was semi-​runny if you’re into that. The miso broth was below average for me, I would come back and try the shoyu. Noodles were pretty good, I like them on the thicker side.
Karaage (came with the ramen) — Mushy, overly greasy and not real karaage. Batter was not thick or crunchy. However, they didn’t taste bad.
Gyoza — Here was the real misstep for me. It’s difficult to make bad gyoza. These were made somewhere else and clearly cooked well before my ramen came out. They were not cooked/​crispy enough on the bottom (check the picture) and they were cold. Inside had no flavor.
Womp womp. Sorry to be so negative about a place that just opened, but it wasn’t good. I really hope they improve, because I was really looking forward to this place. I’m hoping that they also expand the menu and include things like curry ramen or tsukemen. A girl can dream.
Also looking forward to that ramen burger coming soon. I’ll give them some time and reevaluate after their soft opening stage is over.

We ordered:
Fried Chicken Miso
Spicy Miso
Gyoza
Potato Croquettes
I loved everything we ordered. The soups were very delisious. Plenty flavor and good amount of ramen. I shared mine with my 7 year old child and we had plenty to eat. Although the pot stickers and potato croquettes were good, they were not anything special. Next time I will not order croquettes. This something you can make it home.
I saw on the menu that they will have Ramen Burgers. It just said coming soon.
I will have to come back for the soups and for the burgers.
Give this place a try I hope you won’t be disappointed!
Ps. Wait time is long because today is only their third day open…

I hate reviewing places on the first day since there are always issues so let me start with the good
Good– ramen with chicken was delicious… Good spice good flavor and good chicken. Excellent Gyoza… Friendly staff…
Not so great– The prices are a little high if they are promotional. $ 9.50 for Ramen with chicken… We got there around noon which was our mistake… Waited an hour and still no ramen. Had to go back to work and send someone to pick up our order on their way back from lunch 20 minutes later. Got our ramen but unfortunately we were missing chicken for one of our orders (luckily my friends are sharing people lol)… Will give it another try soon so I can rate them a 5 but will check to make sure I got my chicken… Otherwise noodles with no meat is definitely not worth $ 9.
I did feel bad for them as they were not prepared for the overwhelming response they got… They kept their cool while being stressed to the max

Yay soft opening today! Everything looks good so far and hopefully this place will be around for a while: D Could plan better for the soft opening but I’m sure it’ll be better once they’ve prepared for more customers. Apparently only 125 portions were prepared for the soft opening since they didn’t exactly advertise it much, got way more people than they expected. Will definitely have a review update later on, I’m excited to try the ramen burger!