Ryowa

This is one of the wrost experience I have had in a ramen house. The restaurant owner is a very impatient old lady that was really unfriendly when taking my order. When she served my ramen she just put the ramen on the side of the table and said «here» while walking away. The ramen is not bad though.
Main reason I gave 1 star: I left 0 tips and wrote down «bad service» because I felt very under treated. The owner chased me out of the restaurant and said «you stupid Chinese». I have always suspected that I am a little stupid but I don’t think being Chinese is the reason.

Came here for lunch on a Saturday and got the shoyu ramen with a side of gyoza. The ramen was tasty and the noodles were cooked well. Loved the pork and egg too. The gyoza was okay, mine fell apart easily though, but a side order comes with a lot, 6 big pieces.
Service was alright. I ordered and got my food promptly, but the server wasn’t too friendly and didn’t check on us often (I had to get up to go find her whenever I needed something).
I’d come back for their lunch specials during the weekday, it seems you’d get more bang for your buck then.

I came here on a lunch trip with my 3 co-​workers. The service was quick and courteous. They serve the usual barley tea automatically without asking.
The ramen is well made and the broth shows it. I’ll be coming back again. :)

VEGAN review: I got the vegetarian ramen for $ 9 — pricy but they do give you a huge bowl, so that’s a plus. Soup is very bland so add in chili flakes or something. There weren’t that many toppings and the noodles tasted odd. The tofu was also almost (if not already) expired — it tasted very funky.

I dont know why this place is getting a good rating.
For the service — one of the worst services I ever seen, this old lady makes me feel like I’m not welcomed here. I ask her for a tea but she doesn’t respond (I know she heard me) so I had to get up and get it from the chef in the counter.
When She brings my food, she doesn’t put it in front of me, she put it on the other side of the table and just says «here»
Easily gets p***sed off when I am ordering
As for the food,
It used to be a lot better a year ago
Now the soup lacks savoriness.
At least its better than Cal Ramen, but thats it

This is one of the more decent ramen places in berkeley. I didn’t realize they had a lunch special so I decided to give that a try. There were four ramen combos and each came with three gyozas and a choice of steamed or fried rice, all for around ~$ 10 (please note it’s cash only). The ramen portion was a bit smaller than I expected (or remembered) and the fried rice was a bit bland, but the gyoza was really yummy. Quantity-​wise, it actually turned out to be a pretty decent meal. I was surprisingly full, but not in the i-​hate-​myself food coma state. Quality-​wise, the ramen was still good. They also had kimchi on the side, which was a bit strange, but I’m not complaining!

TL;DR? Pretty decent mediocre ramen shop. Flavors and portions of meat/​veggies are lacking but they provide plentiful of noodles! Want cheap, casual ramen? Ryowa’s got you!
Prices: A
Food Quality, Location/​Ambiance: B
Service: C
For the huge portions you get, their prices are cheap, under $ 9 I believe. I tried Shoyu and Ryowa ramen. I preferred the Ryowa broth but like the Shoyu tidbits better. Surprisingly, noodles come in abundance and are springy chewy as well yay! The most noticeable thing is the broth flavor. I am not sure if it’s the regional way of how they make ramen broth but it’s not memorable to my taste buds. My friend usually has his usual Wonton Ramen and I’ve had a taste. Pretty bland but comes with lots of dumplings! Location is somewhere farther from the busy downtown of Berkeley but parking is SUCH a pain especially the weekends. Ambiance is okay, interior is tacky with wooden tables and chairs while lacking in decorations and a TV that is never on? Service is quick and fast. 5-​Star French restaurant service? Don’t get too much of that vibe but it’s a mom pop shop and their niche grace is their portions and flavors to whomever enjoys their ramen style.

I’m surprised that this place has such low ratings, this is my favorite ramen shop in Berkeley! Their broth is really flavorful, their noodles are chewy, and their lunch specials on weekdays are such a steal (ramen, fried rice, and gyoza)! Being from LA I get my fair share of delicious ramen, and I was very happy to have found this place.
Though if management is reading this, I’d like the complementary kimchi back!

The atmosphere inside Ryowa is small and casual. My friend and I dropped by for Valentine’s Day around 6:30pm and it filled up by 7. We sat at the bar, which was cool since we got to see all the workers making the food. The portion size was average, for about $ 10 per bowl. Slightly overpriced, but since there aren’t too many ramen shops around, I definitely understand that they can charge more. The location is so convenient (next to Bobby G’s on University and Shattuck), too.
HOWEVER, this place is closed on Mondays (sigh), and it’s cash only. Fortunately, there are a ton of banks just a couple blocks away by the Bart station, so you can take a detour to withdraw some cash without the silly ATM fees.
There was only one lady there waitressing, so it took us a while to get the check. She was really kind and motherly to us, though, so I couldn’t fault her too much. She was also helping out in the kitchen while she wasn’t helping customers, which I thought was impressive… But not a sign of great service. Whenever she refilled our waters, she would refill mine and then reach over my food (I would have to stop eating and lean back) to refill my friend’s. It was all right the first time, but after 3 more times I started getting irritated that she couldn’t just walk two steps over to refill his water without leaning over me.
The food itself was great, especially since I’d been craving ramen. I ordered the butter corn ramen with gyoza. I personally thought the broth and noodles were decent but nothing too special. Really loved the gyoza though, they were perfectly crispy and juicy.
I’d definitely come again, but only because of the location and the fact that there are hardly any ramen shops in Berkeley.

I don’t usually try to go to Ramen houses because I think they are overpriced and not economical for the portion.
Average about $ 10/​bowl of ramen
Decent variety
Average bowl sizes
3 pieces of meat in each bowl of ramen
Flavor wasn’t there
i ordered Shoyu and friend ordered the butter corn
Butter corn had a chunk of butter in it with regular can corn most likely.
Broth wasn’t flavorful in either.
Average place. could be better. but not many around campus, so i guess thats a plus

This is a quiet little gem on University that I am absolutely addicted to! The servers are very reserved but always polite and friendly. All of their flavors of ramen are great (though I love the Butter Corn and Ryowa in particular) and quite tasteful. The broth, which I usually cannot comment on at other ramen places, is excellent and hearty here. If on a whim I feel like having my noodles more spicy than usual, there are trays of various spices at each table. Their sides, which include rice, edamame, or gyoza, never disappoint. Good food.

I would give this place 3.5 stars if I could. Great if you are craving Ramen, otherwise just decent!

I had sworn that I had seen a foodie friend’s boyfriend post that they had gone to this ramen shop in Berkeley, so I was insistent to my own boyfriend that we HAD to go because those two rarely went to bad-​tasting places!
Boyfriend was more skeptical. Was I POSITIVE that this was the place that they had gone to?
OF COURSE I was positive! I was so positive that I didn’t even bother asking either my friend or her boyfriend to confirm if this was indeed the location or not. So, one unsuspecting Saturday afternoon, I dragged Boyfriend to Berkeley with the sole intention of eating here. I was super-​excited because I had never had ramen outside of Top Ramen before, so I was preparing myself to be impressed by what ramen was SUPPOSED to taste like.
I really should have double-​checked with my friend first. Or consulted Unilocal.
There was almost nobody in the shop when we walked in – though I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since we had walked in around 3:00PM (which isn’t really a usual dining time, I admit). The lady sat us (a little gruffly, but nothing that constituted with bad service, per se), poured us some water, handed us menus and walked away.
I went to grab my water to sip as I perused and paused. The water was… tinted. A faint yellow/​brown color, to be exact. Boyfriend looked horrified. I tried to reassure him that it was probably just cold tea or something (since it had come out of a pitcher), and took a sip. And almost gagged a little. I tasted… coffee? It seriously tasted like someone had poured me coffee-​flavored water. I was so confused. And a little grossed out. I tried to convince the Boyfriend (and myself) that it was probably just some kind of tea, set it aside, and settled down to order.
I ordered the Butter Corn Ramen and Boyfriend got the Won Ton Ramen. When it was brought out to us, we both sort of stared at our bowls. It didn’t really look bad… but it didn’t necessarily look appetizing either. The broth was fairly tasteless, though VERY salty, and the noodles weren’t too much better. The corn looked like it had come out of a can, and I could see a tiny pat of butter melting away into a grease spot in my broth. Boyfriend’s won tons were sad little bunches of meat products in dough sacks, floating in a sea of salty despair.
I make better Top Ramen at home on the stove top, with a couple of eggs and some spam.
Needless to say, neither of us finished our meals. And after we left, our tongues had a weird, tingly feeling to them. Boyfriend joked that it was MSG, but I wasn’t too sure what was going on. I just knew 2 things for sure. 1) I wasn’t going to go back for noodles again, and 2) I really need to verify places before I go to them (it turns out that the ramen house they had gone to was in like, Mountain View).
Chalk it up to a learning experience, I guess?

I first tried Ryowa on a rainy day in Berkeley. I wanted something warm and I wanted it right away.
Ryowa has fantastic ramen! The ramen is 5-​stars hands down, but I rated it 4-​stars for the décor of the restaurant. I find it funny that they have a whole bookshelf of mangas.
My favorite is the Ryowa ramen; it’s under $ 10 including tax. They currently have lunch and dinner specials that include rice and gyoza for only $ 1 more.
Also, something must be said of being about to watch the cooks make your meal fresh-​to-​order!
If you’re hankering for something warm on a cold Berkeley day or simply have a hankering for a warm filling meal, try Ryowa!

First time having ramen and settled with Butabara Ramen. It was excellent.
Service was sufficient, atmosphere is passing and the prices are very fair.

I frequent ramen places a lot in San Jose and I was looking to find a ramen place in Berkeley to satisfy my cravings. I found that Ryowa isn’t too far from my apartment and decided to come here with my room mate. She got the beef ramen and didn’t really enjoy it: too much fat on the beef. I ordered the shoyu. Broth is salty just as I had hopefully for shoyu ramen. But the chasu pieced didn’t look very appetizing and I never had ramen with spinach. We received some bitter cooled jasmine tea to go with our meal but we decided we would rather go to Asha tea house instead.
The restaurant looked dark and grim and wasn’t very inviting. It needs more lighting. The bookshelf with manga looked cool though.
Overall, I would come again if I was craving ramen really badly but I wouldnt come here on a date or with someone looking to be impressed by Berkeley food.

There arent many restaurants in Berkeley that are ramen houses so I was hoping this would be my go to place for ramen. I got the Ryowa ramen with pork and it tasted good but I still thought it was average. The broth wasnt very flavorful and sorta watered down. I have had my fair share of good ramen like Orenchis and this place definitely does not compare. I believe if the broth fails, then the bowl of ramen fails. I guess if you are absolutely craving ramen, this place is the closest you can get to ramen but just know that it isnt the best.
**TIPS**
1) Lunch specials include ramen, bowl of rice, and gyoza. That actually sounds like a great deal!
2) Enjoy!

I used to frequent Ryowa as an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. I hadn’t been back in a few years and when I sat down the first thing I thought was — What?! Kimchi isn’t free anymore? Sad :(.
Well, that tragedy aside, they still did offer a $ 2 side plate of kimchi, edamame, and seaweed salad, which was a nice starter. The pork gyoza was tasty as well.
I had the Shoyu Ramen and my boyfriend had the Miso Ramen. What I’d recommend to order would depend on your taste:
— Shoyu was definitely saltier and the broth was clearer. The broth tasted good, but I felt like I was drinking quite a bit of water afterward.
— Miso was milder and richer, but if you like a little more salt I’d go for the Shoyu.

The first and only time I was here was a few years ago and I came with a girl friend (who never been here either). She ordered for us. Gyoza = awesome. The miso ramen with extra veggies = meh, kind of a disappointment. It had been kind of bland.
Well, I came back here the other night mostly because 1) I was Starving coming home from work, 2) It’s soooo close to Bart and 3) I still had ramen on my mind. Boy was I glad I came because it really satisfied my appetite. I think the key is to go with the Beef Ramen from the «special» menu. I also ordered the pork fried rice and gyoza on the side (when you browse the reviews on Bart with an empty stomach you tend to want to order everything that sounded or looked good and there were a lot raving about the fried rice!). Anyway, the gyoza = still awesome but the fried rice = mehhh… I don’t know if it was really made fresh or if maybe the rice they used to cook it had been made earlier in the day but that’s what it tasted like — rice that had been made in the morning and it sat around all day (kind of stale) and it was a little salty… but I could see where it might be a huge hit during Lunch time. The soup took a little longer to come out. I was already halfway through eating the fried rice and gyoza (and I was eating very slowly to ensure I didn’t fill up before my soup arrived) when my ramen finally came. It. was. worth. the wait. It was Piping hot and full of flavor (I added ichimi togarashi to add some spice)! I haven’t had a whole lot of ramen so I don’t think I could accurately say I know what «really good» ramen tastes like but I’m convinced that the Beef ramen was outstanding for a non-​San-​Jose-​located-​Ramen place! It was a good-​sized bowl, had a lot of meat which wasn’t chewy or hard to swallow and I didn’t even have to order any extras. It definitely hit the spot.

If you’re short on cash and you’re craving ramen, Ryowa is definitely the place to go. The lunch special will get you:
*A bowl of ramen (sesame, soy sauce, miso, or butter corn broth)
*3 pieces of gyoza
*White rice ($ 9) or fried rice ($ 9.50)
THE GOOD:
*Ramen was still a bit chewy (just the way I like it to be)
*Portion size was huge (two girls who are always hungry was full off the ramen & gyoza)
* Plenty of toppings come on your ramen — corn, bean sprouts, pork slices, bamboo shoots, & green onions
* The pork was deliciously tender
*Broth was flavorful yet still on the lighter side
*A vegetarian ramen option is available
THE NOT SO GOOD:
*They don’t do spicy — they tell you to use the chili pepper and chili oil provided on the table
*Fried rice was a bit bland — nothing a bit of salt can’t help
*Egg only comes in your ramen during dinner hours
The ramen rated about 3.5−4 stars but the value for the amount of food definitely bumped it Ryowa up to 4 stars.
SERVICE:
Inattentive. We had to stare and try to make eye contact to get the waitress’ attention. We weren’t checked on and had to flag her down to get boxes for our fried rice and the check.
PARKING:
Metered street parking which looked a bit hard to find. Ryowa is close by UCB’s campus and accessible by BART.