National Ramen Day is April 4 and Sonoma County has a variety of great ramen places where you can celebrate the day with panache, including two restaurants that were just spotlighted on Yelp. The Taste of Tea in Healdsburg and Kiraku Sushi and Ramen in Santa Rosa have made Yelp’s list of the 100 best ramen spots in California.
Coming in at No. 63 on the list, The Taste of Tea (109 North St., Healdsburg) is currently averaging a 4.5 star rating based on 194 reviews. Popular dishes mentioned on Yelp include Miso Ramen, Curry Ramen, Gyoza Ramen, Yaki Udon, Yaki Soba and Oyako.
“It started as a tea place and it still is but now it’s also a spectacular Ramen place,” said Yelper Rockaway Rob N. from Tamarac, Florida.
The Taste of Tea is a family-owned and operated business founded by Executive Chef Nozomu (Nez) Tokugawa and his wife Donna, with daughter Tai serving as a co-owner and General Manager.
“If I lived in Healdsburg, I’d be a regular here,” said yelper Natalie M. from Pasadena, California, who described the establishment as “a really cute, clean, charming spot with great service and a fantastic bowl of ramen.”
Kiraku Sushi and Ramen (1985 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa) came in at No. 87 on the Yelp list of top ramen spots with a 4.4 star rating based on 287 reviews.
The restaurant’s popular dishes mentioned on Yelp include: Spicy Miso Ramen, Curry Ramen, Pork Tonkatsu Ramen, Tonkotsu Ramen, Spicy Tan Tan Ramen, Fried Coconut Shrimp, Pork Dumplings.
Aside from the tasty ramen and other dishes, a big draw for many Yelpers is the special way the food is brought out.
“We had a wonderful experience here. Kids loved the robot and conveyor delivery system. We all loved the food! Yum,” wrote Yelper Betsy W. from Hillsborough, California.
More great ramen
Sonoma County has plenty of other great ramen spots. Miso Good Ramen (507 Fourth St.) and Raku Ramen and Rolls ( 2424 Midway Drive) are two more Santa Rosa restaurants that specialize in the cuisine.
Miso Good Ramen’s entrees include a Miso Butter Veggie ramen with with fermented soybean broth, okra, corn, sprouts, mushrooms and garlic seaweed. Raku Ramen and Rolls features tonkotsu, shoyu and vegan ramen bowls.
In Sebastopol, Ramen Gaijin (6948 Sebastopol Ave.) serves the popular Spicy Tan Tan Ramen with Sapporo noodles, sesame, scallion, pork belly chashu, spicy ground pork, charred cabbage, woodier and a 6-minute egg. And, in Windsor, Qimura (8960 Brooks Road S.) serves excellent beef or pork chase shoyu ramen.
A recent food trend pairs the flavors of Mexico, the consommé and beef of birria (a long-simmered chile-infused stew) with ramen noodles. Tacos Los Iniguez (460 Mission Blvd., Santa Rosa) and Jalapeño Mexican Grill (1630 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa) both serve this Birria Ramen.