Tag Archives: East Bay ramen

Happiness Is A Lazy Sunday Afternoon In Berkeley When…

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Boiled gyoza afloat in a spicy miso-pork broth at Ippudo.

Boiled gyoza afloat in a spicy miso-pork broth at Ippudo.

 

When the traffic gods cooperate so that Interstate 880 isn’t a nightmare…

When you find parking off bustling University Avenue easily…

And when there is no line at Ippudo, so you can stroll right in for a seat immediately.

Because, I mean really, is there any better way to spend a rare relaxing Sunday afternoon than slurping up a big bowl of ramen?

Surely not.

A column in the center of the dining room.

A column in the center of the dining room.

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to enjoy all of that when my husband and I waltzed into one of the Bay Area’s hottest new ramen joints just before 5 p.m. to enjoy an early dinner, which we paid our tab for at the end. Normally, there would be a line out the door. But we managed to beat the crowd. And this place can fill up fast because it’s not very big. A nice touch are the black boxes underneath the table to stow a purse or backpack so you don’t have to just drop them on the bare floor.

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Itani Ramen — Where Noodling Around Is Fun And Delicious

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A rice bowl with eggs three ways at Itani Ramen.

A rice bowl with eggs three ways at Itani Ramen.

You have to smile at place where the bathrooms are identified as: “raMEN” and “raWOMEN.”

Itani Ramen takes its food seriously, but everything else with a sense of humor.

The second restaurant by Chef Kyle Itani of Hopscotch in Oakland, Itani Ramen opened a month ago in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood.

I had a chance to try it two weeks ago when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant. It happened to be a night when Itani’s good buddy, Chef Daniel Holzman of New York’s The Meatball Shop empire, happened to be helping out, serving dishes and chatting up diners. Holzman also assisted in the kitchen when Hopscotch first opened. And it’s his photographs of colorful street scenes in Japan that grace the walls of Itani Ramen.

Chef Brian Ikenoyama, Chef-Owner Kyle Itani, and visiting-Chef Daniel Holzman.

Chef Brian Ikenoyama, Chef-Owner Kyle Itani, and visiting-Chef Daniel Holzman.

The long restaurant is industrial-zen looking with unfinished wood on the back wall that gives it an almost shoji-screen-like look. Packages of Japanese instant ramen and bottles of sake decorate shelves above the bar and open kitchen.

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