Takahashiya Tonkotsu Ramen

was the best. until agu came along.
Probably the best ramen on the island!
Of course I am biased towards tonkotsu ramen than anything else…
But this blows away tenkaippin, lucky belly and menchanko-​tei
My only worry is this place will be too busy once the masses figure it out.

The ramen is absolutely heavenly! The chef, Son, is a national treasure. If you’re nearby, you owe it to yourself to check this place out.

The best ramen on the island! We just found out today that they will be closing at the end of the month and moving to Tustin, California and Seattle Washington. So you better get in here quick and enjoy it while you can.

During our vacation, my boyfriend and I were trying to find a place to catch a late dinner. We drove by this place and decided to try it
Since we came so late, they were out of a lot of things on their menu. I ended up getting the fish ball ramen (spicy) and boyfriend got the beef (super spicy). It took quite awhile for our food to come out considered there were only two other tables there besides us. When we got our food, the presentation was nice and I was ready to dive in. I’m pretty sure they made my broth super spicy. My boyfriend tasted both and didn’t notice a difference. It was very good but very hard to eat after awhile because my mouth was on fire. The noodles and broth were the best that I’ve ever had at a ramen location. Just wish it wasn’t so spicy.
Aside from the food, the servers/​cook were very nice and accommodating to our needs. I would return if I go back to Hawaii for vacation again.

Back to 5 cause it knows what it is. It’s a damn good ramen joint.
The classic tonkotsu shoyu ramen is king! The eggy one is good too.
The eggy pork fried rice is good and would be a great dish to share with another person.
The only thing they need is a better menu with pictures.

I highly recommend this restaurant!!! We came for the shabu shabu experience and it was so awesome. Excellent service and the food was delicious and fresh. Sun and Ming were such great hosts and they were so grateful and accommodating. The food was fresh and the homemade noodles were oishii! We will be back!

Absolute shit. Extreme disappointment. I lived in Kyushu and know Tonkotsu ramen and this place isn’t it. Two years ago I came here and it was delicious, legit broth, firm imported noodles. Now it is complete garbage, local saimin noodles and reheat water/​salt based prepackage broth. Good ramen you will not find here. Avoid.

Stopped in on a cold (70 degrees. hey it’s Hawaii) rainy Saturday to grab some lunch. Since I’ve been trying to eat more plant based foods I ordered the vegetarian ramen but I had them use the tonkotsu broth. I had to assure the waitress that I realized that meat and bones were used to make the broth and that was fine for me. The tonkotsu broth was rich, thick, salty and yummy. The noodles were good but I like a chewier noodle. The missus ordered the Spicy Pickle Mustard Vegetarian Ramen with a shoyu egg. she liked her broth as the Pickled Mustard cabbage gave it a slightly sour flavor to balance the spicy. Overall a decent bowl of ramen but with so many options in the area I think we’ll explore more restaurants before returning. We wanted to order the pickled garlic and kombu but they were out so that was a bit disappointing. They also have a portion of the restaurant saved for hot pots but it looked to be closed during lunch.

I’ve eaten a lot of ramen from California, New York and Yokota Japan. But this restaurant is the BEST EVER!!! Nothing else come close…

I felt I needed to update my review because Takahashiya has changed so much from the first times I’ve went over a year ago.
1. The menu has changed from awesome looking food pics menus to a simple white binder with no pictures. Although there are a ton more menu items, most of the appetizers were not available. Not sure if this is temporary but I think the pictures help a lot more… I eat with my eyes! Lol
2. Sadly, the ramen has changed. The tonkotsu ramen broth was not as flavorful as it was before, and there were no garlic chips. Not necessarily bad, just it was so much better back then. Now it’s just OK.
3. The tsukemen (dip noodle) also changed, however, had a lot of different flavor (more ginger/​onion-​y?). The noodles came chilled in a bowl full of ice, and the toppings came with char siu, shoyu beef, ocean salad on the side. I like it same or almost better than how it was before.
3. Takahashiya is now part shabu shabu/​hot pot AND sushi bar (although empty counter). At one point they were also serving Ethiopian food. Not random at all lol.

parking: street parking
reservations: no
cost: $ 20 per person
the food:
Tonkatsu ramen
Gyoza
Went at 2pm on a weekday and this place was completely empty. They have a large space so can accommodate many. The tonkatsu ramen is thick, creamy, and flavorful. It was a little on the saltier side. The meat was a little tough and not as soft or fatty as others that I’ve tried. The gyozas were well made but nothing out of this world. I would say that this is an alright ramen place. Not the place and certainly not the worst. I wouldn’t make a separate trip to go to this place but if you happen to be in the neighborhood you won’t be disappointed.
Overall, a good ramen place, not great but definitely not bad

Scored parking right in front !!! Chee hu.
Meter parking is 25 cents for 20 minutes.
Ordered beef ramen and shoyu ramen and gyoza.(delicious).beef ramen was small kine spicy, but good. total bill $ 25 bucks, so will return soon.

Yuck! This is based purely on the food. I’m not sure if this place was having an off day, but I didn’t care for the ramen or the gyoza. The gyoza was average, but not outstanding at all. The specialty tonkotsu ramen looked amazing when it came out, but the noodles were too soft and the broth lacked the actual pork flavor. It tasted very watered down and bland. The boiled egg that came in the ramen was cold. The meat was the worst part. normally the pork should melt in your mouth. The meat here was tough and chewy. not flavorful at all. Pretty much, everything looked good but tasted average or below. Don’t think I will be back here.

I actually wanted to try the poke place next door but it was closed and we needed sustenance to keep us going while we made like tourists for the rest of the day. So, we went to this place next door and I’m glad we did.
I have to say that I was impressed with the quality of Ramen noodle; fresh and thick. the broth was excellent as well.
I enjoyed the spicy sauce for the very delicious gyoza and the other spicy condiments made readily available on the counter.
Only a couple other patrons were inside when we stopped by and so I’m happy to say that we didn’t have any issues with waiting like some of the other reviews noted.
If they had this ramen place in San Diego, it would easily be in my top 3 go to Ramen spots. I think if you like ramen, you will not be disappointed here.

I just ate here yesterday and I want to go back again today. The broth of the Tonkotsu is addicting and the chewiness of the noodles is perfect. I have yet to try the shoyu base ramens. which I am sure is great.
How can you not eat gyoza with ramen? Get it. But get the gyoza to eat with the dipping sauce. The sauce is why you get the gyoza here.
Oh and the housemade chili paste? Best thing ever! Put it in the Tonkotsu Ramen, put it in the gyoza dipping sauce, or buy a jar from the owner! He will tell you I’m probably his best customer. I’ve probably bought 4 or 5 jars of that stuff.

I had the pleasure of coming here again. This time my friend and I was in for a surprise. They now have BBQ sticks. The flavors are either black pepper or spicy shoyu (they said it is spicy but it’s not that spicy or at least not for me). We had both and it was delicious.
Another change they did was to give the customer the choice of how they want their broth. Kyushu style is less shoyu/​salt base. Tokyo style is a little more salt/​shoyu. They even asked how we want our noodle texture… Chewy, soft, hard. Although I liked the original way they made it, I guess now they are making it to order which I guess is a good thing for some people with different taste than what they originally made.
Free Wi-​fi for those dinning there so you can Unilocal while you eat.
Another good thing is it is BYOB. Yup that’s right bring your own and there is no corkage fee.
We stayed till they closed and we offered the owner them some of our sake and we had some good laughs. I will be back for their BBQ sticks and ramen.
I also heard that they are going to add a cold noodle with an amazing secret sauce and shoyu chicken dish which I will most definitely order.

I’ve been wanting to try this place our for months, but whenever I’d drive by it never seemed to be open. Well, I got my chance to a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised. The interior is alright, a hell lot nicer than when it was that Chinese restaurant before. When we sat, another couple had just left the restaurant, and another seemed to be mid-​way through their meal. No one else came in while we were there, so towards the end of our meal we were the only ones in there (I don’t like that… makes me feel so awkward!)
Anyway, I enjoyed the tonkotsu broth, and the noodles were cooked perfectly. There’s nothing worse than soggy noodles! I especially enjoyed the egg that came perched on top, and the sprinkling of garlic chips. There’s 2 homemade seasonings that you can add that the waitress goes over. One was really really spicy and the other seemed more garlicky.
For around $ 9 (regular tonkotsu, not the specialty) it is a pretty good deal, because each comes with a starter salad. My BF and I also shared an order of gyoza. I wasn’t impressed with these, but then again I’m just biased and only truly love those big Korean style fried mandoo.
Overall, this didn’t beat out Tennkaipin’s tonkotsu (which I really really like)…but it was nice to try a new place. The service was friendly and attentive (but then again remember that we were the only ones in there). It’s a pretty good deal for pretty good ramen.

Even though there are mixed reviews, I was open-​minded going in. And I thought my experience was positive.
I’ve tried many ramens before — tonkotsu and others — at various shops and definitely have my favorites (Santouku in San Jose, Orenchi in Santa Clara, Hakata in Gardena) but Takahashiya is definitely not nixed. I’d say for Hawaii this has been one of the better ones I’ve tried after Menya Ifu-​do-​do in Shirokiya and Tenkaippin across the street.
The lady that helped us was so nice too. They were offering a new spicy sauce to add to your ramen and allowed us to taste it first to see if we’d like it. For all you spicy lovers out there, it definitely has a kick.
I would go again.

I went to Takahashiya Tonkotsu Ramen tonight using a Groupon that said $ 25 value for $ 12 so I was very excited to try this place. However, upon showing the Groupon, I was told that I could not order the Specialty ramen. I could only order from the top row of the menu! (Yes, I asked if I could pay the difference but was told no!)
We added gyoza & a boiled egg to the order. The boiled egg was delicious but served ice cold! So you add this very cold boiled egg to your steaming hot bowl of ramen to get lukewarm ramen. Not good. (Yes, I asked them to warm the egg but was told no!)
Finally, when the check came, I was told that I could not use my credit card because the amount was too small since I used a Groupon. I’m pretty sure there is something in the merchant credit card agreement that says no minimum for credit card charges. (Yes, I asked to charge the balance and the waiter took my credit card then returned it to me, yup, you guessed it… NO!)
Definitely not a good experience so I left a shiny new dime as a tip. Well… maybe more of a hint than a tip.

I am a big Ramen fan and have been dying to try this authentic Japanese Style «tonkotsu» Ramen and left with mixed feelings about the restaurant. For starters, Kapahulu has had it’s share of trendy new bars and restaurants. Most of these new places on located on busy Kapahulu Avenue, and these establishments occupy space within very old buildings that do not have a parking new air conditioning. Don’t expect much for the restaurant design, décor, or restroom facilities (poor condition).
Another strange thing was the fact that their menu offered a cold style noodle that you dip into the soup, but this apparently wasn’t available yet?
As Ryan K mentioned, they offer boiled eggs as an appetizer, so why order the Ramen selection with boiled eggs? Anyway, it was a nice starter as opposed to bread or kim chee. I also ordered the Specialty Ramen which basically offered all of their wonderful topping in rich Tonkotsu (pork based) broth: p There were (3) three pieces of char siu, green onions, scallions, roasted garlic, a boiled egg, and firm Japanese style noodles. The noodles and broth tasted very similar to the one offered at Yotteka, but I prefer the way the Ramen from Takahashiya broth.
As mentioned by Brandon S, their staff is very friendly and customer service oriented, but their were some internal communications problems that led to my families order being lost? The manager noticed that did not get our order (before we asked about waiting for 20 minutes). They found our order, and expedited the dishes to our table. We were pleased with their follow up and effort to please their customers :)
I thoroughly enjoyed their flavorful broth and wonderful Specialty Ramen dish and look forward to reviewing their other dishes!
31 Unilocal Review Challenge: #1/​31