Ton Chan Ramen

Best tasting ramen restaurant in town.
Small restaurant seats 24 people. Good friendly service. I definitely will be back.

Look, waiting for half an hour at a place like Daikokuya? The place is legendary, but despite the popularity… waiting in line for half an hour is not my style. Nor is it worth my time waiting about half that time for a place like Orochan. Overrated and overpriced.
When I look for quality ramen and I want it quick, Ton-​chan never fails to hook me up.
Deep, deep flavor in the soup. I usually finish the noodles before much of the soup is gone, so I order extra noodles. Chasu pork slice? It just melts in your mouth. I was surprised to find an order of extra noodles were free… In the end I finished the bowl to the very last drop.
Chasu bowl. Try it. It compliments an order of ramen really well.
They also removed the Orochan-​esque system of choosing how spicy you want your ramen. Now they’ll simply provide you a small dish of chili
paste upon request. Pick your poison.
Dessert. Free? This magical tofu pudding stuff. I thought I was full ’til they brought this stuff out.
Definitely going back.

This place did not meet the standards.
It’s located in a shopping plaza which was kind of hard to find because it was in a corner.
ATMOSPHERE: Small, they have a few tables and it was your typical casual dining place.
FOOD:
Noodles — they looked so promising but were not chewy at all, they were on the thicker side but the fact that they fell flat didn’t appease me.
Soup — got the Tonkotsu, it was too watered down and not flavorful enough.
Egg — it was soft boiled which was a plus.
Pork — not fatty or tender enough, was kind of tough.
We also ordered the chicken karaage and the takoyaki. The Karaage was breaded weirdly so it didn’t taste crispy or golden brown. The Takoyaki was pretty good though.
I think they have a spicy challenge but my friends who got the spicy ramens said it wasn’t even that bad, from what I remember you can rank the spicy levels.
Overall, I’d have to say this place wasn’t that good, if you’re a ramen enthusiast you wouldn’t want to waste your money or time here since the noodles didn’t taste fresh or chewy and the broth was around a 3 – 4 in terms of intensity.

I feel bad, we had really great service! Our waiter was very nice and attentive. However, I was disappointed with the food…
Had the lunch special, can’t complain about the price! I had the Miso Ramen and my first thought upon looking at it was wow there’s like a layer of fat and oil over the broth? First few bites were pretty good, I actually liked it! I enjoyed the noodles. You get 2 free toppings with the ramen, I added an extra egg and corn.
However, upon biting into my first egg which was cut in half… the yolk was cold in the middle. what the heck? The soup was super hot but the egg itself was cold? My extra egg was a whole egg and that TOO was cold in the middle :/​My uncle ordered char sui in his ramen and said it wasn’t hot at all and somewhat hard.
I got the lunch special which came with curry too. Same, I was eating my curry rice, it was hot. Then there was a medium to small sized chicken bit and I put the whole thing in my mouth… it was COLD in the middle! AH. It was that moment when you just stop chewing and get a chill and try to figure out what to do next. I got a napkin and spit it out.
They offered a free strawberry milk pudding at the end. It was a nice touch but I thought it was just ok.
I’d give one star but the service was good. I don’t think I’d come back though. When I arrived back home I took a nap and woke up a couple hours later with a stomach ache… not good.

I’ve been to Ton Chan more times than I can count now, and was a fan since the first night I sat over my bowl of Miso ramen with extra egg and bean sprouts. I frequented this place so often in 2011, I’m almost certain I was known by the staff as «that crazy girl who dumps a giant dish of spicy sauce in her soup… and then asks for more.»
However… my complaint is that the food and service are inconsistent, and quality is seriously declining lately. On a great day, the broth will have a perfect depth of flavor, eggs will be soft-​boiled to perfection, the portion of chashu will be generous and fall-​apart-​between-​your-​chopsticks tender. Water will be refilled as soon as the server notices it’s empty.
Then on the bad days (which is much more frequent lately), service will be so slow and inattentive (I never see my favorite waiter any more — maybe he left?), they’ll forget the extra toppings I requested, or not put in any chashu/​egg at all. And speaking of the aforementioned spicy sauce, the recipe is always changing. Last time it was hot purely for the sake of being spicy — no flavor beyond the heat. Thumbs down. But by now, I’m sure it’s been changed… again.
C’mon, Ton Chan, I know you can do better than what you’ve been serving lately.

I would recommend the Hakato Shio ramen. I’ve tried all kinds of Japanese ramen, and this one turns out to be my favorite. I also liked the broth. You also get to choose two toppings on the side. I ordered the chasu (pork), corn, and seaweed. Next time I think I should order my ramen with chasu and bok choy or perhaps I should try their famous Bomb ramen that comes with the whole package.
This restaurant serves the best gyoza ever! Their gyoza is made fresh daily by hand. They use the best ingredients. You can totally taste the difference. They also make their special spicy gyoza sauce if you’re into spicyness.
The waiter is also very friendly and attentive. He’ll fetch you whatever you need without any hesitation.

I’m downgrading my review. Lately, Ton Chan hasn’t been the same good experience as last year. My eggs have been overcooked. The wait staff continuously forget my extra chili when I had ordered my ramen spicy. The soup hasn’t been as good either. It has been less flavorful, perhaps less fatty. Something is amiss.
Needless to say, too many mediocre to bad experiences has led me to never going back. Sorry Ton Chan.

This place is quite delicious. If you love ramen, come give it a try. If you don’t, come anyway. There’s a rather wide variety of menu items for a ramen place. Their chashu bowl is awesome, piled high with fatty pieces of pork belly which melts in your mouth. The curry is also worth trying. They used to have this dish that consisted of fried rice, topped with a soft fluffy egg, and all of it covered in curry sauce or *some other sauce that I can’t remember the name of*. Well, I would have definitely recommended that but they took it off their menu so I’m a little mad about that.
Their ramen is also good, although sometimes it can be a little too salty for my taste (at least the miso). There are several different flavors you can choose from, and I happen to like all of them. You get to choose 2 extra toppings, and I always get the chashu and the egg because I’m a pig, but take advantage of these free toppings because they’re free! The egg is awesome though. The yolk is still soft and gooey, and it’s just super tasty when eaten with your ramen. Oh and you get free dessert! Freeeeee I love freeees
Lastly… they make the most awesome chilli sauce. It’s super spicy and you should use it sparingly if you can’t handle spicy food. But I love it. I seriously get it to go and use it in all my meals. Of course I sh** fire the next day but whatever it’s totally worth it.

I’m bumping this one star down.
FOOD QUALITY:
I actually stopped coming here for a while since I received a stomach ache from their karaage chicken curry. Tasted great then but sent me straight to the loo. Decided to come here again and noticed that hey, the curry’s different. Taste was a little off but one thing that ticked me was the curry was watered down. That and it made me feel a little weird again too. Wasn’t really fun to have to worry about it before watching a movie with your crush.
Don’t worry! Ramen is still good, just don’t get the extra fat since their Hakata Shio already has enough fat in it.
SERVICE:
Is still pretty solid, but wasn’t as great as it used to be.
ENVIRONMENT:
During the summer I would really honestly ask for them to turn up the AC because let’s face it, eating ramen during a really hot day is already a crazy idea in itself; it doesn’t help that the restaurant itself doesn’t encourage you to eat the thing they sell best.

Their broth was super salty. I couldn’t even enjoy drinking the soup with the noodles without having to take sips of water.
I got the manpuku set: 1 ramen, an order of gyoza and ½ fried rice for $ 15. Definitely a good amount for 2 ppl.
Nothing special about this place. Don’t think I’ll be back.

Picture this, FATHER’S Day 2012.
You would think that hubby would get to dine on food he would like to eat, NOT!
So… how did I get my Mother and hubby to eat noodles at this place in SGV?
Aha! Visit the Huntington Library and work up an appetite, that’s how!
Ramen buddy says they have the best gyoza, so of course, I order…
Gyoza on a hot plate
Comes to the table sizzling, looking quite pretty on the hot plate. Picked one up and bit into it, HOT!!! And so delish! Quite tasty with different «stuff». Not sure what it contained, but it sure mighty tasty!
Mom hearts Shio (salt) ramen and they have it! Hakata style, not exactly what she wanted but she really liked it!
Shio ramen
Hubby ordered the yakisoba. First time I have ever seen it being served with an egg. He really liked it, couldn’t tell me why but, he does order it every place we go.
Yakisoba with egg
Me? Spicy Miso, of course! Really good flavor and they served with my favorite noodles! What more could a gal want? Ajituske hanjuku tamago
of course! I received one half of this lovely egg, to die for…
The chashu
was thick and fatty enough for my liking as well!
Heat level — I tried a 5 out of 6, this being my first time and all. Wow, not spicy at all. I will ask for a 6 with extra heat next time!
Spicy Miso level 5 of 6
My all time fave noodles
Seriously? We get a FREE dessert? Sweet!
The pudding was more like jello with a hint of peach flavor. Loved it!
Hubby doesn’t like jello so he gave me his, score!!!
FREE peach pudding!
Interior
Small but everything you need
Contest winners for being able to eat spicy ramen
Speed eating contest winners
I will have to come back and eat their spicy ramen during one of their contests and show ‘em how to roll!
Food — 4 Stars — Good enough to come back for. Especially for Mom since she like the shio ramen.
Ambiance — 4 Stars — Little hole in the wall, not decorated with the warm woods that I like.
Service — 4 Stars — Great service from a smiling, nice young man.
We’ll be back.

This was my third attempt recently at trying a different ramen place in the area besides ShinSenGumi. I’ve heard of Ton Chan from a free magazine that I picked up at Fujin Ramen…
We tried to get into SSG but the line for dinner was too daunting. That’s was when I remembered that I wanted to give Ton Chan a try. Like Kosuke and Tamaya before it, I considered our meal to be somewhat in the middle of the pack, ok but not great…
First step: choose your broth: Hakata Shio (salt and soy added), Tokyo Shoyu (original pork base only), or Sapporo Miso (miso added). The noodles are the yellowish, chewy, thick curly type except for the Hakata which is straight and pale…
Second step: choose 2 extra toppings. The basic ramen already comes with a piece of chasiu, half an egg, nori, and green onions. Extra toppings include more of the same standard ones, corn, bok choy, bean sprouts, mushrooms, kotteri (extra porkiness)…
Third step: choose a spiciness level: 1 to 6…
My son chose Hakata Shio with extra bean sprouts and chasiu with level 1 spiciness
whereas I chose the Tokyo Shoyu with extra egg and chasiu similiarly with level 1
. The Hakata Shio broth was more opaque and milkier looking than my base broth, I thought mine was on the oily thin side and not as rich as I had hoped. The ramen needed the extra chasiu as only one piece is kinda chinsy. The extra egg boosts the count to one and half eggs, but I would have traded better quality for quantity as I would have liked a more runny yoke…
To my ramen I added a spicy tuna bowl
and turned it into a combo. The spicy tuna was not the freshest, and worse, it was topped with a creamy sauce that seemed to be overwhelming. I was a little surprised that it came on a warm bed of rice. They have other ramen + bowl combos on the menu like curry bowls, spam musubi, uni, salmon roe, and more; not every combo comes with dessert…
It’s a pretty small place, bright, but a little stark. The service was adequate for a week night, but we were not very demanding, the interaction was minimal. Pricing can hover around the $ 10 mark, some a little more, some a little less. I noticed a kid set which is a half order of ramen, a spam musubi, and a mango pudding dessert for $ 6.95 — not a bad deal, especially for lunch. However, I’m not impressed enough to want to come back if I wasn’t already in the area…

Ton Chan gets 2.5 stars from me, but they lost to my quarter when I did the toss up.
Found this place on Unilocal iPhone app because 1) I was craving ramen, and 2) the first choice I wanted to go to was closed. Was surprise to find a hole in the wall ramen store in this plaza known for the Vietnamese restaurant. Either they were newly opened or I haven’t been here for quite some time already. Whatevers. But as usual, the parking situation at this plaza is a nightmare.
RAMEN:
standard ramen comes with chasu, ½ egg, seaweed and green onion. You get a pick of 2 additional toppings. You can choose from 3 different broth, and the degree of spiciness (on the scale of 0 – 6). There are ramen sets that comes with sushi rolls, or you can pay an additional $ 3 to add sushi rolls to your meal. I can’t tell what’s the difference. Perhaps, you get your sushi rolls served in a box if you order the set.
Despite the fact that this is a small restaurant, and they only have a few tables, it took them quite some time to get my order ready. It was quite disappointing because 1) I hate it when my ramen comes in luke warm broth, 2) there were chunks of disgusting fat particles floating in my broth, 3) both my friend and I ordered extra chasu– he got 5 pieces and I only got 3, and 4) they forgot to hit spiciness to my ramen and just gave me a plate of chili to DYI.
NOTE:
— CASH ONLY
— Please carpool, parking situation is bad here
— FREE Dessert

I finally had a chance to try this ramen and was very disappointed.
The place smelled just like Yamadaya ramen when I walked in. It smelled super good and I got even hungrier.
I ordered ramen and uni combo for $ 12.
Ramen: sapporo miso, level 3 hot, with extra chasiu and hanjuku tamago. Level 3 hotness is not spicy for me. I was already disappointed with I saw my curly yellow noodle. My egg had a giant hole and it was overcooked. The chasiu was big, fat and tender but tasteless.
Uni don: I regretted ordering this because I knew I wouldn’t get a good quality uni for the price. It was salty and not fresh.
My Unilocal assistant ordered shio ramen with extra chasiu. I got a little jealous because his noodle was white straight noodle. He didn’t like his ramen too.
This place reminded me of Yamadaya but not as tasty as Yamadaya. I saw collagen floating on both Ton Chan and Yamada’s broths. My Unilocal assistant complained that his lips were stuck together from the stickiness.
This place was super friendly. All of them were super nice. The worker saw I didn’t finish my ramen because I didn’t like it. He offered me different broth but I already lost my appetite.
Free mango pudding dessert. The pudding was my favorite part of my lunch. They also have shaved ice, uji kintoki and green tea ice cream (with shiratama dango and azuki red bean). Other ramen available here: tsukemen, yakisoba, tan tan men, and even crab ramen. Enter the ramen speed eating contest and the winners end up on the wall of flame.
2 stars! Many of my Unilocal friends like Ton Chan but sorry this place is not for me.
Ton Chan is not yummylicious!

Mmmm mmmm good. We don’t have anything this good in SD. This is as good as it gets to eating at a ramen shop in Japan! I’ve been searching all over so cal and i can safely say i’m very content here! The environment is laid back, clean, simple & cozy. As it should be! All the attention & love is in the bowl! From the just right chewy texture of the noodles, to the abundant toppings & fine tuned broth! These bowls are big ladies & gentlemen! And delish!!! Great prices as well! The staff is very friendly & getting dessert at the end of my meal makes me feel like i’m eating at mom’s lol! I’ll be back!~ (^^)

I’m not thoroughly sure about why my ability to consume spicy foods has dropped significantly. So whenever there is an option for spiciness in the soup base, it becomes a gamble for me. How spicy is their mild/​medium? [Yes, you chili-​nutheads who laugh at me sweating off a «medium» spiciness because the ultra-​spicy is just «mild» for you… I just can’t anymore aight?]
The sweetest part is this. The chili comes on the side and you can mix it into the broth to your liking so that «medium» is indeed YOUR «medium» spicy. This is a total PLUS for me. So instead of giving this place a 3.5 stars, I just had to bump it up to 4 instead. ^_​^
As for the taste of the food, I can’t complain. Ordered the Tonkatsu Ramen and the fried rice (full serving).
Ramen — came with firm noodles (which I prefer), a nice balanced broth flavor (with spiciness mixed in to personal liking), chasu that tasted just okay, and a soft boiled egg that perfectly added to the overall taste [yes, I love eggs and ramen!]
Fried Rice — a lot more moist than I’m used to but the overall flavor was there. Slightly under-​salted, which is okay in my books.
Service is really friendly and the free desert is another plus.
Cash only, lol, gah, oh well.

Came here last sat for dinner and ordered the tokyo shoyu & sapporo miso ramen w/​gyozas and fried rice. Ramen comes standard with cha sui, ½ an egg, seaweed and green onions. You get to choose an additional 2 toppings if you order the regular size. The choices are corn, baby bok choy, bean sprouts, mushrooms, extra cha sui or egg. There were also different spice levels to choose from. Non-​spicy for me!
The shoyu was very flavorful and the sapporo miso was salty and oily. The noodles had good texture and the egg was cooked perfectly, slightly runny, Mmmm! They give you big pieces of cha sui and a lot of it too. The same goes for the other toppings. Very generous. I’ve never had baby bok choy in Japanese ramen before and was pleasantly surprised.
The gyozas were ok but a little too oily. They were slightly brown and juicy inside. It was served on a sizzling hot plate, which I thought was kinda cool and different. Now on to the fried rice… MmmmGood! Very flavorful and highly recommended.
The service was good but kinda slow because there was only one guy taking orders. Water was refilled without being asked and don’t forget, FREE DESSERT! :)
BTW, its CASH ONLY!

When here twice, I also did when to the previous ramen place of the same location, they improve the quality. The old ramen place use like instant ramen package and weak soup tasted. (no eggs) tasted too much like Chinese Ramen.
Saw very good review, so when for lunch, the portion is definite smaller than I see from the Unilocal image, look like 30% less portion. When second time in the 50% off event, similar portion size but you can do add 2 more toppings for the dinner combination. Order the spicy tuna bowl which had a bit too much mayo or sauce.
Is more like 3 and half stars, but since you can’t put that ½ star in Unilocal,rounded to 4 stars. I do think they needs to improve the portion a bit, since you are paying more than DK food court price. Most customer eat there are Chinese who know to want best bang for the money. The free dessert is nice, but i prefer more ramen noodle.

Hanjuku Tamago Sold Here!
Hanjuku Tamago (Runny Egg) vs. Ajitsuke Tamago (Seasoned/​Flavored) Egg. I like both. I can’t stand yellow noodle and love white noodle.
Miso broth, green onion, seaweed, fresh spinach, pork, oh yes runny egg, and white Canadian noodle. The broth was average at best but I added their side of spicy mix and it some how brought the broth together as a vibrant full bodied soup. There is some type of Thai pepper n the spicy sauce but the guy won’t tell me anything. They make it in house.
~How to Eat Hanjuku Tamago
Hot Broth and room temp. Lick it gently then suck out all the yummy egg juice and eat the whole egg. Right! Put the whole half egg in your mouth and suck the goodness clean while eating it. mmmmmmmm
Note: I tried the ramen with the yellow noodle and did not like it at all. White noodle rocks! The broth was terribly week, but after adding the spicy pepper sauce it was a really good broth.

Not bad! Maybe a 3.5 in terms of the ramen, but I’ll round up to 4 because they gave free dessert and service was pretty good. :)
So having read some of the reviews before coming, I already knew I was going to have trouble deciding which broth to get because I’m indecisive when it comes to these things… because I want to try them all! haha. But I got to try two flavors, so yay!
All ramen bowls come with egg (soft-​boiled to perfection!), green onions, chasu, sesame seeds, and nori. You can add 2 other items for free (either extra of whatever is listed already, or corn, ginger, mushroom… not really sure if it’s mushroom haha) It’s really the broths that are different.
[Miso Broth] — I liked the noodles in this one better. Curly, chewy, QQ noodles that were thicker than the shio broth noodles. The broth itself tasted heavier and more flavorful… almost like there was a hint of black bean (the chinese stuff). Only got spicy level 3, but I didn’t think it was really spicy at all. Disclaimer: I can eat pretty spicy.
[Shio Broth] — A lot lighter than the miso broth. It wasn’t anything crazy special, but wasn’t bad either. The noodles that come with this one are a lot thinner, and granted they are good, I actually personally like thicker, chewier noodles :) but this isn’t bad, just my personal preference.
Overall, I think I like Daikokuya’s broth better, but the egg here is really good and so were the miso broth noodles. The chasu was a little too fatty for me… I liked Daikokuya’s better. But Ton Chan is still pretty good, the wait isn’t ridiculous like Daikokuya, portions are generous, and the spicy kick in the broth is different/​good :] I think I’ll have to kick it up a couple notches next time =P
At some point I’ll try all 3 broths haha (missing the Shoyu)…and the rice dishes I’m sure since this place is super close to where I live. Prices are pretty similar to Daikokuya as well! And yay for free dessert! =)