Kahoo El Camino

Redemption!
Open late and I believe their recipes have changed since I’ve last been here.

I don’t know why this is listed as closed right now.
I can’t check-​in, thanks Unilocal.
Anyway, I like this place a lot! It’s huge and the ambience is great. The service is spot on. I think the only downside is the taste… Sorry, it’s lacking A LOT, but that’s fixable with salt and soy sauce. No big deal.
It’s a great location and the place is huge. Not sure if I’d avidly go here once a week, buts its easily accessible.
Their menu is surprisingly smaller that what I expected, but it’s okay, you only really go to a ramen place for ramen, anyway (:

I’m writing this review as I am waiting for my bill. Service here sucks reducing my previous review from 3 stars to 1. Trying to leave yet we can’t have our bill processed. Told another wait to ask and check on it because it’s clearly not being processed. Food here is alright. Nothing really that special. Combos are a decent deal but the rest is somewhat overpriced. I could get better else. Oh look I finished this review via phone before my bill came back. I really don’t know why I came here again. But go to the other location if you can. 0 stars here if I could.
PS: I even loaded the full site from my phone and posted the draft. Because you can’t post a review directly from your phone.

Been here a total of three times. Each time is a different experience. Service is normally okay. Food is not as great as original one.
Second time was the best service received. The waiter reviewed the happy hour menu and gladly explained to my friend and I what each item was.
FYI: Yeah, they charge you $ 2 for green /​oolong tea (even though its just a tea bag and kettle of hot water). But they will tell you before giving it to you.
Ordered a two shoyu ramen, one with extra spinach. Total cost with tea was $ 22 rounding up.
The original (on Moorpark) is always better. Always always always.

This is the worst ramen experiences that I’ve received!
Came here today for lunch with my fiancé and my dad; there were a few groups of people ahead of us waiting at the entrance. I put down my name and stand there for a good 13min with no assistance! Not to mention they were not that busy, probably half empty.
A couple of groups just left because they were waiting for too long. I saw two waitresses and one waiter there working; I said hello to the waitress with long hair, she looked at me and gave me a «you wait» look; the other waitress with short didn’t even bother to look at me; the waiter has the «do not get near me» face!
After 16min, the waiter came by and screamed «table for two?» then took two people to the table and left all the others standing and waiting again; after 18min, he came back and went through the wait list by the party numbers (he screamed «party of 4? no party of 4? are you party of 6? what is your name? Jeff? party of 5 here? no? what’s your name again? Jeff, right…) why can’t he just go through the names?!
Servers were spoken in Mandarin, so they are not Japanese like the original Kahoo Restaurant.
So we were seated after 20min, it took out all of my appetite eating anything there; we just ordered ramen #6 (can’t remember what it was) and it tasted worse than the one we had in Ajisen Ramen, Dohatsuten Japanese Ramen and Maru Ichi Ramen. It was so thick but blend!
Of course when we asked for the check it took them another 12min and I was almost late to work; NOT coming back here for sure.

Dropping rating down to 2 stars.
Came back here with a friend since the line for Orenchi was ridiculous.
This time, I opted for the miso ramen and chicken karaage. Karaage was better than last time, but still not the best I’ve had. It would be much better with chili powder like at Misoya.
Miso ramen was disappointing. It seemed like a mix mash of different things on top of the ramen.
Service was disappointing. We had to ask for water, and it took nearly 10 min for us to flag someone down for our check.

Came here once with the boyfriend to try and another time because nothing else was opened. Two too many times.
I got the shoyu while the boyfriend got the spicy miso. My shoyu was too salty and eating it felt like a chore. My boyfriend wasn’t a fan of the stir fried veggies in the spicy miso because it took away all the attention from the actual ramen. To be honest, there isn’t really much for me to remember about the spiced pork. It tough, not tender and forgetful. The portions were reasonable but too much for me to eat because it didn’t taste good.
We walked on a cold rainy night before going out and the windows were fogged and it was musty inside. It was dead when we walked in and it still took a while for us to be seated. I get a little confused when we come in here because I could never figure out which side to go and the host/​server isn’t very attentive. She was nice but it was difficult to flag someone down to get things.
Overall, no thankies. I’ll see you soon Maru Ichi, Misoya and everywhere else!

Food = good.
Prices = reasonable. Their special of the day is a steal: bowl of ramen, and a mini-​bowl of don. Under $ 10.00! Great kimchi pork, and good ramen. Cha-​su was a bit on the fatty side though.
Service = efficient. They’re semi-​friendly. They’re a bit slow though.
Parking = small lot.
I prefer their other location, even though this place is much larger with more seating.

«Meh» would be the perfect description of this ramen place. This is why it’s so mediocre:
— Like someone said, there was no host/​ess. We had to sit ourselves down and wait for a waiter/​ttress to come by
— Long wait. The place is pretty big, and when we went, it was about half-​filled. We still waited probably 30 minutes for our ramen after ordering. And I literally saw 3 – 4 waiters/​waitresses standing around, talking and laughing with each other. Yo, this isn’t play time, it’s a restaurant! Give me my ramen in a timely manner!
— Mediocre broth. My sister and husband got some kind of spicy-​brothed ramen while I got a more standard one. The flavor of mine was okay, but after a few bites, didn’t taste like anything. My husband’s broth was spicy but bland. It was really weird. So was my sister’s. The noodles are okay.
— I don’t remember, but I think it was still like $ 9-​$ 10 per bowl
Okay seriously people, if you can drive 6 more minutes down Lawrence, get your butt over to Orenchi and endure the 30 – 45 minute wait. Or at least go to Misoya across the street, which is still whatever, but get the chashu and it will redeem your ramen experience. What are you still doing at Kahoo? GO, GO!

NO MORE HAPPY HOUR!!! :(
Wtheck so much disappointment. I’ve been meaning to try their happy hour special for a while and I finally found time to come try it. Unfortunately, after we were seated they informed us that they have decided to cancel their happy hour in favor of their new «fall specials» which consisted of mainly rice bowls. No seasonal special ramen!
I was starving so I just ordered the daily ramen special of the day which was shoyu ramen with a mini ginger pork rice bowl. The special also came with a radish daikon salad which tasted better than what I expected because the radish didn’t taste too raw. The ramen was pretty satisfying and I was surprised that it was the same size as the regular ramen order. The chashu pork it came with was very tender and flavorful and the ramen noodles were chewy. It also came with half of a seasoned soft boiled egg, my favorite! The ginger pork rice bowl wasn’t too bad either. The pork had a sweet ginger flavor and I avoided the little dollop of the sweet Japanese mayo because it was too much.
The service seemed a bit slow though. I felt like we were sitting around for a while before we got a chance to ask them about their happy hour and the wait seemed even longer when we were waiting for them to place our order. The restaurant is split into two sides but there weren’t that many tables that they had to wait on, so not sure what all the waiting was for!
Overall, this place is a pretty average ramen restaurant. The ramen is what you expect it to be but nothing too special. I thought the daily ramen special was a pretty good deal since you get a lot of food for around $ 10, so I would definitely recommend that for hungry people or if you just want to try more items on their menu.

I am sad to say that I went to Kahoo yesterday and was told that the happy hour is now «cancelled». For me the main draw for this Kahoo was the happy hour and
since they do not offer it, its not really worth going to.
The reasoning behind cancelling the happy hour was due to the introduction of new menu items. I did not order any of the new items but when I was reading over them nothing seem to stick out and did not replace the void I was feeling from the denial of happy hour. The additional items included many rice bowls which you can get at any other Japanese place.
The service was still slow, never got my water refilled once, and took constant asking for the bill. Skip this ramen place, the food is average at best and there are much better places near by.

Ramen was decent enough that I had a bowl even after already eating dinner! I guess you could say I have a huge appetite, or that I’m somewhat of a pig. ;) Unfortunately the ramen was pretty bland. The staff are really friendly and attentive, and it is a nice place to sit down and slurp some broth. I would come here if I was nearby and in the most dire straits of craving ramen, but I wouldn’t go out of my way.
TIP: There are definitely better ramen spots, but this works if you are right outside and absolutely need some kind of hot soup ASAP.

Update:
I guess Orenchi is close on Mondays so came here for the second time. Now trying it for the second time, I’m changing my rating to 2 stars. The ramen here compare to Kahoo on Moorpark is totally different. I don’t understand why it is. The only thing in common is the name. It’s mainly the broth, it lacks richness, flavor, craving of wanting more. I left feeling unsatisfied. I recommend this place for large groups who wants to eat ramen.

I had the Sesame Miso Saboro Ramen. It has an egg, green onion, corn, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and LOTS of ground pork. I’ll admit it’s tasty, but after a while, I was like, what did I just eat? The broth was seasoned fine; rich, but not overly so. I could taste the sesame and the miso, but the flavor got old really fast. After finishing the noodle, everything was masked by the pork’s consistency. Maybe less broth and more noodles would help. The flavor of the ramen and broth is solid. I just think the ratio needs to be adjusted.

Ramen is probably one of my favorite foods. Lived in Japan for 15 years so I have consumed my fair share of ramen – GOOD ramen. To be fair, I’ve only been to Kahoo once. But honestly, one visit to a restaurant is all you need to know if it’s worth a second visit, and I don’t think I’ll go back to Kahoo.
The good points first – lots of sitting space, didn’t have to wait at all. My ramen wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t hitting the spot. The broth was off, and ramen is all about the broth. The broth has got to kick it, and this one didn’t. Just average.
If I’m absolutely dying for a ramen fix and I have nowhere to go, I may come back to Kahoo, but otherwise, I don’t think so.

If you want spicy miso ramen, it’s much better at Santouka than it is here. If you want delicious soft broiled egg, Menta Ramen’s egg is better than anywhere else including Kahoo and Orenchi.
There were sooo many bean sprouts in the ramen! And deceitful because at a glance it looks like ramen noodle, so you think you’re getting a chopstick-​full of gummy ramen but then crunch! yech.
The sliced pork in my spicy miso ramen was not very good. They give you a ton of veggies though, and I love veggies so that was nice. And the noodles themselves are pretty good too.
Overall it was just an okay meal and I’ve definitely tasted better elsewhere. Service wasn’t bad either and the space is HUGE for a ramen shop. There’s a bar too, interestingly enough.
[EDIT]
The whole night after eating the ramen, both me and my boyfriend’s throats were super dry and hoarse. We kept drinking water but felt perpetually thirsty. Even felt dry the next morning!
Then my boyfriend ate my leftovers a few days later and got that hoarse feeling in his throat again. Too much MSG. The soup was WAY too dehydrating.

Came here on a random weekday around 7pm. As we walked in, can’t help but notice that the restaurant is HUGE, and only another table dining at the restaurant. I was looking for something similar to a tonkatsu based broth ramen, but didn’t find it on the menu. My friend and I both ended up ordering the Kotteri Miso Ramen, and a side order of the Karaage Chicken to share. The food came out really fast.
They have happy hour everyday from 5:30 — 7:30pm and the menu includes different appetizers including Karaage Chicken for $ 4. It was a good amount of chicken for the price, I’d say around 5 pieces. The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, pretty good, no complainin’ here.
Kotteri Miso Ramen on the other hand, is not the case. If you like a really really thick dense soup (not see through) and super salty, you may enjoy this one. Although I think I ordered the wrong ramen for my liking, I am basing this off of everything other than the soup base. Egg was overcooked, not exactly soft boiled. The pork was very thickly cut, and was not melt in your mouth fattiness. The ramen texture itself was not that chewy bounciness that you would want your ramen to have, it was more flat and dense. Everything about the ramen was not good, and they are all items found in the other ramen dishes.
I have never not enjoyed a bowl of ramen until I came here. As bad as I feel for giving them two stars, I think the food was just not up to par. The staff here is super friendly and they really care about their ramen and customers which is why I feel bad for giving them such a low rating. But in all honestly I will not be returning to this restaurant because as I sat there with my bowl of ramen, I just wanted to be eating somewhere else.

Went back twice, wasn’t as good. Curry plate was average, my friend’s Shoyu was lacking. Original Kahoo on Saratoga is the best.
***
My #1 (Kahoo) just got dethroned… by the NEW KAHOO. Your ramen-​eating life will never be the same!
I rarely write reviews anymore but when I saw the poor reviews for this place on Unilocal!I was shocked. My experience was awesome, so
I came right as the opened for dinner, 5:30pm. I was greeted with the standard Japanese welcome greeting and sat at the bar. Nobody was there yet, so I got to take a look around and see the layout of the place… really cool, modern take on a ramen house. Way better for groups than Kahoo on Saratoga (where you can’t take more than a party of four).
Right away I saw that the menu was different. Instead of my favorite mini rice bowl of minced pork curry, I found BEEF CURRY. Win. Automatic order. I saw Spicy Kara-​age) which I only order with friends when we can share), and I have no doubt that it’s the same amazing appetizer because the proprietary house spicy sauce I got with my ramen later is exactly the same. I noticed there was no Tan-​Tan men… oh the horror. But I am no ramen rookie. Having tried every different broth and noodle combo at Kahoo, I was pleased to find something new in its stead:
SPICY DELUXE MISO
It comes with:
–Two big Tonkotsu slices
–Additional pork
–Double the veggies (cabbage/​carrot/​onion/​leek) you get with the normal Miso
–Double the spinach
–Corn
–Scallion (both white and green parts)
–Bamboo
–Half a soft-​boiled egg
–That amazing spicy sauce on the side
–DOUBLE THE RAMEN
I only ate half of it and boxed the rest of it… as big as an XL Phở bowl but so much more filling and with a plethora of these amazing toppings.
I would recommend splitting it with a friend unless you are a beast. It is probably best enjoyed by two, and if you are hungry, with a side of spicy karaage or beef curry.
The beef curry was hearty and super flavorful, and not too salty or sweet… Many Japanese places I find straddle this line with great difficulty. But to get a curry that tastes like this is not easy.
So do yourself a favor. Skip Orenchi, Santouka, and even the original Kahoo (blasphemy!), don’t bother with Halu or the other over-​hyped places in Fremont and San Mateo (you know what I’m talking about), and get the real deal.
They even have their own parking lot!

Glad to see another Ramen open and carry the same name as the one from behind Nijiya market on Saratoga Ave. So I thought it should be half way decent at least.
A little bit of my background understanding, Kahoo has the same name as that little ramen shop behind Nijiya who use to be something else I forgot, that ramen was one of the early ramen which was really good. It was pre-​Halu dated. Since the arrival of Halu across the freeway, that place was sold and became Kahoo. Went there a few times, it’s different kind of ramen, they stir fry the topping (somewhat Chinese style) and placed on top of ramen. It was decent, nowhere close to the former operation though even it’s the same style. Now this place in El Camino open w/​the same name, I would expect more or less same.
Get there on a Sat noon busy time, it’s not busy, plenty of open tables, no a good sign. We were placed in the back where the fire place was, that seems to be all the people with kids ! It’s happy playground back there. Most guests are Asisan and even Japanese speaking folks, so I still had high hope.
Service good but how’s the food, you can judge by my rating. Fry rice came out first and it’s almost drown in oil, very greasy. Gyoza came out, it’s pan-​fry, not deep fry, good sign but it’s probably a bulk order purchase rather than hand made on-​site (no fact checked here, just taste bud guess). Salt flavor and garlic miso ramen came out. Presentation was pretty sad, drown in soup, you can barely see anything on top. Brooth were pretty sad too, it’s not about salty or blend, it’s just does have the high quality complex flavor of other better shop like former Halu and Orechni.
On my way out, I glanced the semi open kitchen and only notice 1 Asian, I have nothing against that but you got to know what you doing. Like you think I can open a French restaurant and compete with La Tour d’Argent.
Forget about matching this againt the real stuff in Kyoshu or even Orenchi ½ miles down … The Korean black noodle in the food court across the street are better than this. Sorry! Fix the food, there are potential.

I came here with my sister and we we’re craving some major Ramen. The smell was in the air and it was thick. It was a good thing! The restaurant itself was pretty big with numerous seating areas. There was a long bar in the front but diner style type NOT a «bar» feel.
Anyway I ordered the #1 which basically had sea salt broth and my sister ordered the #2 which had soy sauce broth. Both were pretty good and the amount was just right BUT wasn’t enough for me. I wish they weren’t so damn stingy with their ingredient’s and I wish they added more ramen noodles rather than broth. This is where this place gets you. The bowl looks big but only because of the heavy broth and toppings on top. Don’t be fooled.
I rated my pot a ⁴⁄₅ because it was good. The flavor was there and the presentation was great! NOW, the saddest part was when we received our bill. Nothing was wrong with it until I walked away and the waitress had ran to me and held my arm saying that I didn’t place enough tip on the check? I was stunned! I couldn’t believe this rude lady and her pitiful service. First off she was in a pissy mood that day and she didn’t bother refilling or catering to our needs. I could have said something BUT I just ignored it. I added another dollar for her. UGHHHHHHH! this totally ruined it all for me.
Please teach your waitress’s to respect their customers and to not open our checks/​bill right in front of us. This is common sense and it’s rude of the service.