shichiroku.com - himawari (san mateo, california)

ramen review: himawari

Address:
202 2nd Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401

Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-12:00 a.m.
Sun 11:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

During my trip back to the Bay Area, I continues my search for ramen all over the world in San Mateo, California. Many ramen fans in the Bay Area know of Santa Ramen, but I thought I give Himawari a shot. Well, okay, it was also because Santa Ramen was CLOSED that day. Such bad luck.

As you can see, Himawari has a very modern decor. It doesn't have the traditional Japanese ramen shop atmosphere, but of course, that doesn't mean the ramen can't be just like your traditional ramen shop, right? I had the company of three friends who all tried different offerings (Steve, Tracy, and Pam in the picture), so let's see how Himawari stacks up.

We started off with a simple vegetarian wrap and gyoza for appetizers. The vegetarian wrap was very delicately made, and even though it did not have any meat, it was very tasty. It did have a bit too much onions in it, in my opinion. The gyoza was cooked just right, with very thin skin, and just the right amount of flavor in the meat. Now, on to the ramen.

My theory with new ramen shops is, always try the simple ones first, then branch out to others. So I ordered to the Shouyu ramen. Can't go wrong with Shouyu ramen, right? Of course not. Himawari made a good shouyu ramen (top left). Soup base was good, although the noodles itself could have been much better. We proceeded to Steve's Butter Corn ramen (top right). Seems as though it was made from the same soup base and noodles, just with corn. Then it was Tracy's seafood ramen (bottom left, girl not included in the meal). This is probably not your traditional ramen, but the soup packed a nice seafood punch, flavor mainly came from the clams. And last but not least, Pam's egg foo yun ramen (bottom right), again not your traditional ramen, but the soup very flavorful, especially if you like a thicker soup base.

Conclusion

Himawari isn't your traditional ramen shop, and doesn't offer a specialty ramen like some of the other places here in the Bay Area. If you want a eclectic range of choices with some fusion of western flavors with your noodles, give it a try. They also have many other choices along with a nice set of appetizers to fulfill you taste buds. It's not your typical ramen shop, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Freshness rating:

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