So, I recently got word that Ujin Ramen, whose storefront I first noticed in March of last year had finally opened. Man, what's with Renaissance Towne Center? Remember Kuljem Chicken & Beer, that was first supposed to be JJ Chicken and then Honeyjam Chicken, before the final renaming? Well, I remember when Ujin was going to be named Ramen Hanyuzur?
Anyway, I thought I'd check things out during the soft opening. Our friend "Google" and the other four-lettered site said Ujin opens at 11am. So, having some time I headed on over and for some reason easily found parking at 1115. I then walked over to the shop.
Where I found a gentleman opening the door. I walked on over and was told that they weren't opening until 1130…..fine, it's the soft opening period, so I went for a short walk and returned at 1130.
The interior is quite modern "trendy – artsy"??? There's a huge statue of Mercury at one of the corners. There are a few tables indoors and some al fresco seating, along with the standard bar area. There's also a communal 12 seat table where I was seated by the very sweet young lady.
It also seems that they may make their own ramen noodles. I asked about that, but never got an answer.
The menu is brief, something I actually like; especially when it comes to stuff like ramen. You don't see any of the good ramen shops in Japan making all styles of ramen…it's only here where places like Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai will have to start making tonkotsu ramen.
The ramen did seem kinda modern with porcini and mushrooms featured in the soup for several versions. There are two mushroom type broth, the tsukemen, shoyu, and shio soup features chicken.
Well, I just wanted to get some ramen, so I went with the "Classic Tokyo" Shoyu Ramen ($17.95). When my bowl arrived, I quickly noticed the noodles which were quite straight. I've always thought of Tokyo style ramen to have curly noodles of am medium thickness. Also when does a classic version of shoyu ramen have truffle and porcini?
You could make out the scent of truffle. If you took a look at the broth, you'd notice little flecks of black. The more flecks, the stronger the truffle flavor. The broth was very light and in my mind could have used a bit more richness. The savory flavor of shoyu was barely evident. More of a mushroom broth to me.
Two of my pet peeves were instantly fulfilled when the menma and the tamago were delivered ice cold. The egg could also have used a bit more time marinating.
The noodles were of the thinner variety and a bit overcooked for my preference.
The meats were interesting.
The chashu had been grilled before serving; which totally changed the texture and taste. I like a nice "buttery" chashu and the grilling had made it rather tough and stringy. The flavor was on the lighter side as well.
The chicken breast was an oddity. At first glance I thought this was gio lua. Perhaps the thought was that it would be something decadent, almost like a pate or foie gras, instead the texture was odd, dry, fairly chewy, the flavor quite bland. Really did not enjoy that.
It was an interesting bowl. Consumed while under the watchful "eye(s) and wings" of Mercury.
One thing good about the location….it's fairly close, so I decided to try the shio ramen….sorry mushroom/vegan ramen is just not my thing. On this visit, even though I confirmed an 11am opening time before I left previously, I arrived at 1130 just in case. Well, even with this buffer Ujin was not open. The young guy who mans the cooking area came out and told me they weren't opening until noon. Ah yes, the "softest cushion" of a soft opening. Luckily, I needed to get a couple of things from CVS and managed to kill time that way.
When I returned at noon, there were already several parties seated, so I'm guessing they opened before noon? Well, anyway, I decided to order the 3 piece Chicken Karaage ($6), along with the Shio Ramen. There are three different proteins you can have with your Shio Ramen; the Chicken Breast Chashu…..based on my previous visit, no thanks, Sliced Beef, or Wagyu. I decided on the sliced beef version ($18.95).
I was a bit hesitant about ordering the Karaage; after all it said "3 pieces", so I kept thinking it would be 3 typical sized pieces of karaage, but I was mistaken as these were quite large.
I must say; this was fairly good, at least in terms of how moist, tender, and for the basic marinade/seasoning. The coating could have been a bit more crisp or crunchy as it deteriorated quite fast. Much of that was probably due to the overly sweet and sticky glaze used.
Still, this was much better than I thought it would be and definitely has potential.
As for the ramen. Well, the "beef" in the ramen was beef teriyaki-bulgogi like.
There were some definite improvements on this visit. The noodles were firmer, the menma and tamago were not iced cold.
The beef was really low quality, lots of "sugi" (chewy fat and connective tissue), quite tough, the teriyaki style; sweet-soy-ginger type marinade was kind of interesting and really clashed with the large amount of savory-salty-oceany katsuobushi provided. The beef was really like something you'd get at a low-level Hawaiian BBQ type place.
The thin broth was dominated by the katsuobushi. There was just too much going on here in my opinion.
Overall, the service was unobtrusive, the young lady working the front was very sweet.
While I'm glad things are moving on from San Diego being "tonkotsu city", I'm not quite sure about the ramen here. I enjoy shoyu ramen to have the flavor of shoyu; if the chicken is used in the broth, perhaps there should be a reflection of that. To me, the perfect home for Ujin would probably be North Park, South Park, or Normal Heights…
Perhaps I'm just out of touch and this is the future of ramen in San Diego? And perhaps I'll return after the soft opening period. Perhaps….
Ujin
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122
The bowl was delivered nice and hot. The tamago was now provided on the side. The yolk was adequately soft, the marinade a bit weak….but of course…my pet peeve, these were ice cold….sigh.
The broth seemed more full-bodies then on my previous visits and while still a bit on the saltier side, I found the added richness more enjoyable . It's still seems fairly straight forward in flavor, but I think that might be a good thing in this case.
Unevenly coated, not crisp or crunchy enough for my taste, on the blander side. The flesh was fairly juicy and tender though. Not a big fan of the sesame like dressing provided either.
Santouka has been fairly consistent over the years. Of course that consistency is a two way street. Santouka has probably the worse tamago. And yes, it's always been terribly overcooked. But hey, if you want consistency, that egg was just as bad at 
I prefer the savory, somewhat salty, barrel aged shoyu broth to the tonkotsu here. It has nice soy-savory complexity and the broth has a decent velvety tongue feel.
The chashu was porky, with a nice shoyu flavor. It was so soft and buttery; the best I've had here to date! I decided to get the noodles katame; firm, and the woman working nodded in approval. The noodles were indeed firm, slippery, but also did a great job "picking up" the broth.
The pieces of karaage were large, the batter slightly crunchy, the chicken was on the tougher chewier side. It was also fairly bland in terms of seasoning. Not my favorite version of this.
The broth was interesting, a lot lighter than I would expect for Hokkaido style ramen. It did have a good amount of saltiness and based on what I'd read, there's supposed to be a savory-seafood based component to it, like how Santouka is in Japan. I was looking forward to that, but I really couldn't make that out. As a whole, the broth lacked complexity.
The noodles were nice and springy, of the slightly thicker variety, much like what we'd had at 
Man, check out that chashu. It looked different from the version I'd had on my previous visit. It was still the same overly lean cut, but was also super salty. In fact, I wasn't able to finish it!
The one bright spot were the perfectly textured, springy noodles, that did a great job picking up the broth. Now it would have been great if it wasn't so salty….and I like salty foods!
Since I arrived before 11, I took a stroll around the strip mall. It was quite interesting. Back in 
The interior is bright, rather spartan, and almost "fast-foodish". And to keep up with the times, you can order via menu or order and pay via QR code. The young lady, who was quite friendly also told me that there were special promotions for "online ordering" which was also reflected on the bottom of the menu.
The shrimp was served with a "Thousand Isle-ish" dressing. The shrimp was overcooked and dry; the potato strings while mildly crisp lacked seasoning. A fairly bland dish overall.
Well, let's just say, this reminded me 
The chashu had been marinated and charred. The flavor was not bad, but it was on the tough side.
This was an interesting dish. The tonkatsu was nicely breaded, quite crisp, the pork itself was moist, but mushy, and lacking in flavor. The texture was kind of strange and the taste was definitely in the "other white meat" category.
Man, I still really like the noodles here. It has that perfect ratio of chewiness to slippery pull and girth that I enjoy. The garlic paste went well with the tamago, which was nicely seasoned and still warm. It was a bit much for the broth; which had that nice tongue feel and savory tones I enjoyed previously. In the past it teetered on too salty, but today it was nicely balanced. The garlic paste was too bitter and messed up the balance of the broth. Man, the barrel aged shoyu does wonders for the broth adding a slightly sweet-umami "edge" to things.
I enjoyed this bowl and also the service. As things are now 
Before my ramen "took to flight" I dug in. As with my previous visits, the tamago was perfect, still warm, with a runny yolk. The firm noodles were indeed that, good stretch, slipperiness, and chew.
