Nishiki Ramen (originally from Japan) recently opened in San Diego. With promises of fresh made noodles, I’ve been eagerly anticipating its opening for months, constantly checking the storefront and their Facebook page for updates.
The grand opening was Sunday, though we ended up going on Saturday instead while they were still in the soft opening stage because we wanted to avoid the opening day crowd.
Nishiki Ramen with Soft Boiled Egg
I ordered their signature Nishiki ramen, consisting of a chicken and tonkotsu soup, thin slices of pork chashu, onions, baby corn, tomato, and a drizzle of black sesame oil. For an additional $2, you can add a soft boiled egg, which I did.
The presentation was lovely, especially with the nest of red pepper threads sitting on top. The broth itself was very rich, creamy, and a little heavy. It’s far richer than most of the tonkotsu broths I’ve had in San Diego. On its own it could have used a little more salt, but I found that once I mixed in the sesame oil, it balanced things out quite nicely.
The chashu pieces were flavorful and soft, nearly melting in my mouth after one bite. The soft boiled egg was also nicely executed, with a still runny center
The star, of course,were the noodles. The thin, wavy, whole wheat noodles had a good bounce and chew and definitely tasted liked fresh noodles. They picked up just enough of the soup and retained their texture until the last drop.
Miso Ramen
The miso ramen is served with a garlic and chili sauce, chashu, asparagus, and onions.
Again, I loved the presentation with the single thin asparagus and red pepper threads. The noodles used for the miso dish were thicker than ones in the Nishiki ramen. The thinner ones are the ones I’m more accustomed to for ramen, but I actually preferred these thicker noodles. My ideal choice would have been to have these noodles in the Nishiki ramen broth.
Chicken Karaage
We also ordered a side of chicken karaage which actually ended up taking a bit long to come out. I don’t know if they had too many orders or if they had some issues making it, but it seemed like nearly everyone was waiting on their chicken order. When it did finally arrive, we were pretty pleased. It wasn’t quite like most of the chicken karaage I’ve had. It barely had any batter coating the chicken, but each piece was still pleasantly crunchy. Our plate also contained several pieces of fried skins, which we actually enjoyed, but I don’t normally find in my chicken karaage.
Overall, we had a really good first meal here. With the addition of the fresh noodles, this was the best bowl of ramen in a long time and the best I’ve had in the US. The service, while a little nervous and still ironing out opening kinks, was extremely friendly. This has shot to the top of our go-to ramen list and we definitely plan on coming back many more times.
Menu:
Make sure to also check out mmm-yoso’s review here.
Nishiki Ramen
8055 Armour St Ste 201A, San Diego, CA 92111
The ramen looks awesome. I also prefer the thicker noodles, wonder if you can sub the thicker noodles in the Nishiki bowl. My love for thick noodles makes me always go for the thick Chinese hand pulled noodles and Italian pasta like bucatini. It’s probably going to be crazy there for a long time. Now if we could get a decent dumpling place. Thanks for the review.
I feel the same way about the thicker noodles! And I’ve been wondering whether you can sub the noodles. I might try to ask next time
Looks so gooood… Must have Dennis try these noodles since he’s very big into ramen! Hopefully we’ll have a chance to check it out, especially since a friend of ours mentioned it just this morning!
i hope you have a chance to check it out too!
I’m so excited to try this place. The noodles really can make or kill a bowl of ramen.
yes i agree!
We went on Sunday…busy! I guess word gets out and people really love their ramen. We didn’t get in until after 12:00pm and they sold out right around 1:00pm! Busy busy. 🙂 We liked the thicker noodles too. Nice chew to them. No new menu items though from when you guys went. 🙁
I think they won’t be expanding their menu for a little while, until they have this system down. wow, cant believe they sold out so fast!
What exactly were the red pepper threads? The slices are so very thin. Another place to visit in the near future! 🙂
just very, very thin threads of red pepper. more of a garnish than anything
Finally they’re open! I was at Convoy last night (Tasty Noodle) and the line for Raki Raki was HUGE for dinner. How was parking at Nishiki?
parking was pretty normal for that plaza. it’s always busy but we were able to get a space.
Glad you were able to check out those thicker noodles. I was curious about that. I thought the broth was fine, though I prefer my tonkotsu with less chicken. I could really make out the flavors in the broth because it didn’t have all that msg…..
Hi Kirk! I usually prefer thicker, doughier noodles, so I really loved the noodles in the miso. But both were great and it probably comes down to preference. Yes, I could really taste the flavors of the broth too. So nice that they didn’t use msg.
ooh glad to see you and Kirk’s seal of approval, I have to try this place out sometime!
I was really happy with this spot! it wasn’t one of those–it’s good for San Diego. It’s better than ramen I’ve eaten in LA, OC, NYC, etc