Ramen Yamadaya

Ramen in a chilly San Diego sounded like a plan! On a family vaca so we Unilocaled a spot. This place was cute, quaint and had a very friendly staff.
We got there during prime dinner time so we sat in the back patio area. It was still pretty warm since they had heaters everywhere. Our server took our order and our food came out fairly quickly. We tried these pork buns (not sure of the exact name, its no.2 on the menu) which my son devoured. They were very tasty.
Spicy tuna bowl, recommended! Spicy!!!
I ordered the spicy tonkatsu level 2, I love spicy! It wasn’t as spicy as some other places I have had but the kick was there. There really wasnt a lot of «stuff» in my soup mostly just noodles, we had to order it all as extras. The amount of soup was also a Lil disappointing. I was given a large bowl that was only filled half way (pictured below). Sort of made me feel a Lil jipped, my bowl seemed to be the only one lacking in the soup area so maybe it was just a one off fluke. The ramen itself was pretty good.

My bf & I decided to try this place based on the Unilocal reviews and a friend’s recommendation. We were very disappointed. Neither of us are a fan of thin ramen noodles and the broth was average. It is cheaper than most ramen places around the area, but they give you only one piece of charsu pork. The karaage was decent and juicy inside. I still don’t understand why this place has 4 stars on Unilocal.I would recommend going somewhere else for good ramen.

This place in Clairemont remains on the top of my hit-​list for awesome Ramen in SD. I’ve been to Underbelly, good, you get a ton of noodles but it did not have the delicious pork flavor that Ramen Yamadaya has. I went to Izakaya Masa in Mission Hills/​Hillcrest area. The pork flavor and price are good but noticed the noodles are not made from scratch. Ramen Yamadaya’s noodles are made from scratch — there is a difference. I did eat at the Ramen Yamadaya downtown location, it is good there but they do not give as much pork as the Clairemont location. I had to order extra pork at the downtown location in my bowl.
It has been a while since I’ve been to the Clairemont location but I like the new menu format, it is easier to follow.
–Service — great!
–Taste — great!
–Quality — awesome!
–Kid-​friendly — yes.
The location is easy to find but if you’re driving fast it is easy to pass this gem.
This is my favorite place in SD for Ramen, I would still eat at the other locations but this place hits a home run still!
I highly recommend this place!

I’ve been to Ramen Yamadaya several times. My favorite is tonkotsu kotteri ramen, and this is so not suitable to be consumed when anyone is on a diet because its broth is really fatty, but yet I like it especially on a cold day. However, their signature ramen is called Yamadaya ramen, which has a slightly bigger portion and 2 slices of pork. Yamadaya ramen is a bit more expensive too, over $ 11.
Service is good but not great in my opinion. When the restaurant is busy, it’s a bit slow. But when the restaurant isn’t busy, it doesn’t take long for the orders to arrive.
Their bathroom isn’t too clean in my opinion, but it’s ok, at least it’s not disgusting and the floor isn’t wet. Yet, I happened to see their kitchen floor is all so wet (not sure what was happening), and I felt a bit gross. But overall, I’m quite satisfied with their ramen & service, and that’s my main concern.

I had read good reviews to this place and bookmarked it. On a cold Saturday afternoon I finally was able to come and check it out. I like that it is a bit closer to me than having to go down to Convoy area. I do not call myself a ramen connoisseur so I can’t say if this place is the best ramen, but it was good. Not sure how you can mess up ramen, right? I mainly came because they sold pork buns as well and wanted to try it out. The bun wasn’t as soft as I had hoped but the pork melted in your mouth.
There is parking out front in the lot. They have an outdoor patio that looked inviting but it was way too cold to sit there, so I sat inside. It’s pretty small inside but luckily it wasn’t a busy time when I went.

My absolute most favorite ramen spot in SD, ever.
My first time trying Yamadaya was when I was in San Fransisco, so once I found out they had a shop down here in SD, I went nuts. Like fr, bat sh*t crazy nuts. I always get the tonkotsu or spicy tonkotsu when I go here (or any other ramen shop for that matter lol), but this has to be the best in SD, imo.
It’s not just the ramen though. Their pork buns, oooomfg. Perfection, I sh*t you not. Do not even leave this place without trying one.
The service is pretty good too. Nothing to complain about whenever I stop by. And even on a packed night, they’re quick to seat you.
If you’re searching for the right ramen, stop. Stop trying sh*tty spots like Underbelly, LOL. Just go here. You won’t regret it.

Super super good ramen, and you get extra noodles for free with student id and can add fresh garlic for free.
I stole a bit of my friend’s tonkatsu ramen, and I was surprised as to how good it was lol. The broth is super fresh, and the garlic gives it an extra kick.
The only bad thing was the taiyaki… it may have just been a miss night for them, but it was really soggy and tasted a bit burned. :(

Super tasty ramen!
Great place to go after you and your homies get haricuts from Happy Barber next door!
The ramen does take a while to come out, but it is soooo worth it. We love ramen so much here. I’ve tried the black garlic tonkotsu, spicy tonkotsu, and the tsukemen and loved all of them. If you’re a student, you even get a free large noodle upgrade!
The tonkotsu broth really is the star here. Perfectly rich, creamy, without being overly rich. Coats each perfect bite of ramen you stuff that hungry mouth. The noodles are nicely thin and has an excellent amount of tenderness and chewiness. You can easily eat the whole bowl by yourself, delicious
The tsukemen was also delicious. The noodles are thicker than the ramen noodles and the 14oz comes with soooo much food. Could easily fill two people. The noodles are nicely chewy and the broth is extremely flavorful as well. So good.

3.5 stars.
It was okay. I saw so many good reviews about this place, so I decided to give it a try. I have to give the fried chicken a lot of credits though ! It was juicy and it tasted great with lemon and the side salad.
However, I am here for ramen !!! I ordered the ramen with black garlic oil (the first picture on the menu), and OMG. I thought I was drinking oil. The noodles were cooked perfectly, yet the soup was wayyy too oily !!! I was hoping to have a less salty and less oily soup base. Nonetheless, I think it tasted better than Tenjima (sorry !!!). May or may not come back, because I just feel like it’s not bad but it’s not that great too.

Ramen places that usually have pork broth is my favorite. Ramen Yamdaya has quite a nice variety.
Their ramen is mostly pork base but with different seasoning and flavors that range from shio, shoyu, spicy, kotterri (rich/​fatty broth).
The tonkotsu kotteri ramen is what i tried which had a nice creamy rich flavorful base. the black garlic oil gave it a nice kick. The noodles are okay though nothing really special.
This place kinda reminded me of a ramen place i tried in New York. No complaints on service. A nice authentic Japanese ramen spot worth the try.

Came here for dinner and the place wasn’t too busy. We were able to just grab a seat anywhere. There was only one menu on the table so I had to swipe one from another table.
It was hard to make a decision because I thought there would be more variety of Ramen flavors but unfortunately they only have pork. I’m used to having more variety and I didn’t want pork. So I opted for the curry bowl and gyoza. There were no description of what kind of curry it was so the waiter had to explain it. Ground chicken curry it is, it was quite nice with just enough spice, the gyoza was cooked perfectly.
Overall it was an ok place, it took them a while to take our order. May come again to try the fried rice and have more gyoza.

My fiancée was craving Ramen. and based on Reviews, she chose this spot.
At first. the menu was a little confusing. after looking at it for a minute. i figured it out… order a Ramen on the left and if you want to add sides. add the sides on the right. addtnl $ 3.95 to $ 4.95(for 2 small items).depending on what you get.
I tried the spicy. level 1 Ramen. Had 1 piece of pork, ½ an egg, thin noodles and bamboo shoots. The noodles were your thin style noodles. The broth and the spice was actually just right. Every bite had just enought kick to it without being too too hot. It was really tasty. The meat was oh-​so tender. I enjoyed this till i couldnt eat no more.
My fiancée ordered the Ramen-​rich and fatty ramen with black garlic oil. This had the same items.1 piece of meat (tender), ½ egg, and bamboo shoots. The Broth was smooth and silky. I think i could taste the fatty in it. Fatty foods = Delicious. YUM
I think this place beats out Tajima with their different Ramens. Its worth going to this place.
They have limited seating inside, they have seating outside in the garden as well. The staff was friendly and the service was prompt! Food came out really fast.
I would visit this place again for sure!

I cannot believe that I haven’t reviewed this place! Ramen Yamadaya is one of my favorite ramen places in SD. This ramen is located in a very busy plaza with the popular hotpot place, called the little sheep. Therefore, parking can be a pain sometimes, especially on the cold winter days. There are plenty of parking under the solar energy panels if you are willing to take a few steps more.
Ramen Yamadaya can be busy sometimes. When they are busy, you have to sign in on the clipboard and they will seat you in. If you are lucky and they are not busy, you are welcome to seat yourself. They have a small store front with about 6 tables but they have a very large outdoor patio area with heated lamps. It’s a pretty cute place to seat outside if the weather is good.
Their menu is very simple. They offer 4 different types of ramen broth and two styles of ramen. You can order the regular style ramen with 4 different broths or do the yamadaya ramen style with a broth of your choice. My typical order is yamadaya ramen with tonkotsu spicy broth. Yamadaya style ramen means you get two different types of pork, lots of seaweed, seasoned boiled egg, and green onion. I highly recommend their yamadaya ramen style. They did a fantastic job cooking the pork belly and chashu, which were well marinated and cooked perfectly. In my opinion, they have the best chashu and pork belly for ramen. Their tonkotsu broth is rich, slightly creamy, and well flavored without overly salty. Seasoned boiled egg was also very good. The yolk goes very well with the broth and noodles. They serve thin ramen noodles, which was well cooked with slightly hard inside. Overall, excellent ramen! Just simply good. One secret ingredient is to the fresh garlic! Make sure you ask for that and add some to your ramen! It adds another layer of flavors and makes your ramen even better.

Great food and cute little wall décor and lighting.
1. Place seems as if it is small but there’s an extension in the back for more people to be seated.
2. Waiting to be seated doesn’t take long (my experience twice wasn’t so bad).
3. Must try the Tonkotsu spicy and pork bun (VERY delicious).
4. Accepts student ID for additional off for orders.
Reason why I’m sadly giving it 3 stars is due to my past experience the only downfall I was upset about was during a rainy day and the roof had water coming down the walls and ceiling… Leading to getting wet and also rain seeping through the ceiling on my food. The service that day was horrible I understand it’s busy but they weren’t as attentive and knowing there were issues with everyone getting wet the servers were not assisting or having any curtesy making sure their tables were doing okay.
Don’t get me wrong — love the food! I guess that day wasn’t our luck dining in.

One of my favorite ramen places in SD! This place’s vibe is different from Tajima. Both places are unique for different reasons.
Pros:
— no long waits (compared to Tajima)
— the meat, esp the kakuni is so fatty and good
— the broth is also so good
Cons:
— I prefer the thick noodles at Tajima better
— A bit more expensive than Tajima (but not by that much)
Definitely come here and try the ramen! I would recommend the Yamadaya ramen with the tonkotsu koterri broth.
Also students get extra noodles for free if you show your student ID! (I was bummed I forgot about this).

A good friend of mine in San Diego has made it his personal mission to find me Ramen that is on par with Japan and swears each time he introduces me to somewhere in SoCal that this will be the ONE. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case at Ramen Yamadaya. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad ramen, it’s just if you don’t do a tonkotsu perfectly, it will have a little off-​putting porky stench to it – and this ramen had a trace of it. What does that mean to a rating? Well, it means a star falls off. The noodles also were a little soft and not chewy like traditional ramen noodles – and I’m all about the starch – miss on that, and it’s a real bummer. Add to that our initial order being forgotten and 45 minutes later having to ask them where our order wasm, only to have to reorder and start the whole process again – well, that gets another star knocked off.
The silver lining in all of this was that the Japanese young man who came to help us after the first order was missed was extremely apologetic. (I know, not a cultural stretch here) And he was also quick to get us the new order AND even took off 25% (might’ve been a little more). That was pretty cool.
I may give them another try someday. Just not anytime soon.

Not a bad place to go for ramen. Portion is a bit small. Their karage chicken is super good! Also got the pork buns. Theyre almost $ 4 each and not really worth it. It tastes a big sweet, in a good way, but it is pretty expensive for a small bun. It’s worth checking out!

Been awhile since I’ve been here and the last time I can remember being here was when this place was still remodeling their patio. My fiancée’ was feenin’ for ramen during this cold time in San Diego and this is one place she has yet to try.
Atmosphere:
The main dining area is still the same; small, but not too small, enough room and space for a handful of tables. However, I must say this was my first time seeing their new patio complete and it is quite nice. Spacious, plenty of seating, nice lighting. We sat inside since my fiancée gets chilly easily.
We arrived about 20 mins after they just had opened for dinner. There were parties already seated and it wasn’t as busy. However, people started to fill in inside and all of a sudden it was a packed house. Glad we came early when we did.
Food/​Drinks:
We were just here for ramen today.
I ordered the Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen Yamadaya style. (pretty good broth. tokyo style shoyu. great flavor. savory. noodles were so so. yamadaya toppings were excellent. meat was tender cooked perfectly.
Fiancée ordered the Tonkotsu Kotteri with Kakuni. (very large piece of pork belly. rich pork broth with garlic oil broth was very tasty. i liked it better than the shoyu broth. noodles were thin and not al-​dente as preferred)
hot green tea (it was okay. but served SUPER HOT. would have to wrap your napkin around the cup just to pick it up)
Service:
We were sat immediately (not busy upon opening) servers were attentive. waters filled without asking. ramen came out in good time. very fast/​friendly no complaints. about 5 other tables occupied but also keep in mind this was during 20mins after they just opened for dinner on a Wednesday.
Overall:
Definitely a fan of this place. Ramen broth is top notch. Noodles could use some improvement (if it were a little thicker and al-​dente would have been perfect). Service was great. Will come back to try other food items. A must try.

So I haven’t been here in 8 months and the first time I came here I sat at the small tables in the front so I decided to sit in the garden area
The garden area is lovely!!! Lots of pretty décor and it’s breezy. There’s a big sign they made that states how they make their broth for 20 hours yada yada.
I was more impressed the first time I came for the food. This time I thought it was okay.
The gyoza is pan fried but I like all fried gyoza. But, it was very soggy and stuck together and would all rip open when I tore it apart. The crisp side had a weird taste to it I can’t describe. The sauce tasted sour.
The yamadaya buns is actually only one bun even though it’s name is plural. It was good but room temperature. I’ve had lots of yummy buns so it didn’t meet my expectation.
The broth wasn’t as flavorful as it was before. It was okay. It wasn’t hot but warm as well. I like hot!!! But I very much adore the thin noodles here.
They also give a great amount of seaweed on the side. I love seaweed!

Do you like waiting for ramen for over an hour? If so, this isn’t the place for you! I’m sorry to tell you that when you walk in, you’ll immediately be seated and attended to almost right away. Unheard of!
This is a solid place for tasty ramen without the obnoxious wait. So I’m already a fan at this point, and chances are that you are too. But how’s the food?
It’s damn good too.
The **Gyoza** has a homemade feel to it with nicely browned bottoms and that perfect slightly crispy texture. They’re all stuck together too, so they’re nice and sticky.
The **Yamadaya Ramen** is one of those amazing combos. I’m a huge fan of food items that gives you a huge variety. This comes with 1 slice of chashu pork, 2 slices of sinfully delicious pork belly, seaweed, bamboo shoots, and a whole soft boiled egg. Yum! I also added corn to make this even more of a ramen masterpiece. I was incredibly satisfied after this meal.
TIP: Add-​ons are the best part of ramen. Customize however you like.
DATE TIP: Treat yo self and your special someone to all this goodness… without a super long wait. No awkward standing in line, where you may have run out of things to talk about!