Sunday, November 09, 2008

Halu Ramen

I met up with Judy and Anna for a quick bite to discuss Judy's upcoming wedding, and to quickly go over with Anna the next days' bridal shower plans. They suggested to meet up at Halu Ramen, which was supposedly pretty decent. I'm always down to try somewhere new in San Jose (back when I was living there, I thought Chili's was fine dining. Yeah. I've learned.).

Halu Ramen's interior was cute, but a bit cramped. Anna was saving us a table by the time we got there so we didn't have to wait any - sweet!
I ordered a strawberry Ramune "marble soda". I don't think I've had one of these since high school. I don't know if everyone has had one of these, but the basic concept is, the bottle has a little marble in the top, and you push it down with a little plastic ring, which forces the marble in the top area, and lets you drink the soda. The marble then rolls around when you tip the bottle up to sip. It's totally gimmicky, and the soda itself is not amazing or anything, but it's still kinda fun. I hadn't had strawberry soda in ages so it was a treat.

Halu Ramen
I ordered the small size Halu Ramen. It consisted of the broth, ear mushroom, green onion, bamboo shoots, a tiny amount of chashu, an egg and seaweed. The broth was super salty. They only gave me one piece of chasu, wtf. The egg was awesome though, worth the extra dollar to add it, as it was all runny on the inside. The noodles were much thicker than usual ramen noodles, like a cross between regular ramen and udon.

Halu Ramen
Anna ordered "The Works" plate on the side, for her ramen, which consisted of cabbage, ear mushrooms, chashu (more than I got, definitely, probably because they didn't try to hide it in the broth), corn, seaweed, bamboo shoots and spinach. This looked really tasty, especially all laid out on a plate.
Halu Ramen
This is the ramen that Anna ordered with her "works" plate, you can see some of the ramen noodles. She requested less salt in her broth, which was the way to go, I think. If I come back, I'm getting less salt for sure.

It was a cute little place but I like some of the ramen I've had in LA better, and of course, Japan. Still, those boiled eggs are awesome, and might come back just for those.

Halu Ramen
375 Saratoga Ave # M
San Jose, CA 95129
(408) 246-3933
http://www.ramenhalu.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, maybe we don't get as much chashu up here in NorCal, but I think their chashu portions are fine, considering how good it is and that you got a small. I'm pretty sure the other sizes only get one piece as well. There's additional Chashu and Double Chashu options (Kelvin and my coworkers always get these) so the restaurant certainly seem to think their chashu is worth extra. My other favorite ramen place, Maru-Ichi, has more, but I like Halu's chashu way better. (Maru-Ichi has better soup, tho.)

But yeah, definitely ask for less fat and less salt (I like the salt, so I keep that regular), cuz their ramen's definitely a heart stopper with the amount of lard they put in it. And you need to take me to some of these awesome ramen places in LA you speak of.