It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at Yakyudori Ramen & Yakitori and I’ve been wanting to revisit. We went for lunch recently and found they even serve a lunch special menu. Yay for lunch specials!
Nagoya Ramen
I’ve never had this type of ramen before so I thought I’d try it out. I couldn’t find much on the internet other than that it usually uses a lot of Chinese ingredients and is sometimes called “Taiwan style ramen.” The chives and ground meat did remind me of Chinese food. The soup base is quite light and was a little bit spicy. What I didn’t like was that the hot pepper oil separated from the broth and kept hitting my throat when I drank it. The noodles were cooked al dente which I liked.
Tonkotsu Ramen
DH opted for Tonkotsu ramen. Like Ramen Yamadaya, they use the thinner white noodles which is specific to Hakata-style Tonkotsu ramen. However the noodles were overcooked and quite soft. The broth was also very salty and not as creamy as the Ramen Yamadaya version.
Even though we didn’t particularly like these two bowls, we still like this place overall. Next time I would just stick to our regular favorites rather than venturing into new ones. The bad thing about coming for lunch though is that they don’t serve yakitori. You can read my previous visit here which also has links to older posts and posts from other bloggers.
Here are pictures of the lunch menu:
Yakyudori Ramen & Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 268-2888
Thanks for the lunch menu! I was wondering how it was different from dinner.
A little bit fewer options but it looks like they have all the ramen!
Hi Kirbie, hope you guys are doing well. You’re right, the other name for the spicy Nagoya ramen is “Taiwan Ramen.” Another one of those adaptations/inventions to suit the people’s taste. It’s pretty regional and most Japanese don’t even know about it unless you’re from the city. I’ve been to Nagoya a couple times but never had a bowl there so don’t know how Y’s version fairs but from what I gather they serve a very tame version.
I’ve been a bit frustrated with Yakyudori’s ramen over the year with fridge cold toppings and soups that aren’t hot, clumpy noodles. I’ve always appreciated their subtle flavors but I’ve often had ones that were plain bland recently. I hope they get back in the groove of things but the yakitori (only served during dinner) is still quite good.
Thanks for verifying and explaining that Dennis! I was worried that I had it wrong because I could barely find any information. Interestingly, the waitress was explaining each one to the table next to us but when she got to the Nagoya, she said she couldn’t explain it. hehe.
I do love the yakitori here.