I was in the Bay Area recently, and hit Ramen Hula.

Before leaving North Beach that morning, I did a search for the best ramen in South Bay. Your usual suspects came up, mostly in San Jose and San Mateo, with a couple in Mountain View. However, one blogger whose name I don’t remember and whose blog address I forget said Hula in San Jose was the best, and that was good enough for me. Later when we were at the establishment, a framed article by Melanie Wong in the San Jose Mercury proclaimed Hula #1 in the in the Top 10 ramen restaurants in the South Bay Area, so my instincts in this instance proved correct.

An hour later and a few failed opportunities for carbon offsets later, we were in San Jose, right off the I-280 freeway.

Across the street was a fitting visage for our times.

Hula opens for lunch at 11:30 AM sharp. At 11:15, there was already a line.

The Indian market next door advertised what appeared to be the Bollywood version of One Crazy Summer.

The menu features pre-configured specialties.

And also an a la carte itemization for a pimp-it-yourself ramen experience and a most excellent drink menu.

We started with this delightful okara salad. The texture was like a thick farmer’s cheese. Very refreshing.

Shio ramen. A light broth, thin noodles. Pretty straightforward, but decent (if a bit perfunctory).

The special house Ramen Hula. Thick noodles, bold, strong, assertive broth that was a veritable salt bomb. The pork was meaty, yet tender.

The broth literally had chunks of pork fat floating in it. So unctuous.

The noodles were thicker than most ramen I’ve had, and I loved them. This was a good damn bowl of soup.

In the back of the house, I saw them breaking out the crack torch for each bowl of HALU ramen that left the kitchen. My theory is that they put chunks of pork fat on top of freshly ladled bowls of ramen and melted the fat into the soup.

After I snapped the photo, this proprietoress gave me a slightly askew look. At the time I wondered perhaps she thought I was stealing trade secrets, but she probably was thinking I was a pervert for scoping her rack.

If you’re in San Jose by a freeway, I suggest you get some ramen.

Ramen Hula

375 South Saratoga Ave
San Jose, 95129
408.246.3933
Website