Underbelly

This place turned me onto ramen. I’m usually not a soup kind of guy but I was invited here once and have it a shot. The belly of the beast is definitely the best one to try although the self titled underbelly isn’t too bad either. Picking the bowl up to sip the broth is encouraged and expected. Extra manly points if you do it one handed. The craft beer selection is usually top notch as well.
For some reason some of the people that I’ve recommended to this place didn’t really like it complaining that the broth wasn’t as good as more traditional ramen houses but they were also ramen aficionados so that may have something to do with it. Personally I like it after I dress it up with their chili flakes and sesame oil. I’ll keep coming back and sending people this way!

Recently moved down to SD from LA and I wanted to try Underbelly after hearing rage about it. I was surprised about the whole no spoon thing. I am sorry but no spoon didn’t help the flavor. The broth tasted watery to me (maybe because I came on a Wednesday) and the noodles were lacking. Lacking as in overcooked and had the density of packaged noodles kind of :(
My favorite part to my surprise was the ghost pepper sauce, unconventional usage for this kind of eating but proved to be a terrific addition on the meats! The egg was also wonderfully cooked to perfection keeping its true sweetness. Well done on those.

Underbelly defies almost everything I would expect from a noodle house, and most times it wasn’t for the better.
Came here during lunch with others that had been. This was my first time. At the time we came, it was pretty dead with maybe 2 or 3 other small parties dining.
First off, walking up to the place, it seemed somewhat to stand out in the neighborhood. Underbelly is the new hip place with large communal tables, fire in the middle of tables, open seating, not confined. But yet the neighborhood had more of a chill laid back vibe.
To order I shared the eggplant tempura bun and the underbelly ramen. Others ordered the belly of the beast ramen and buns. Water is self served at the water station.
Seating is almost like outdoor patio seating. When I crave ramen or any soup for that matter, it’s usually cold outside. Personally I would prefer a less open area to keep the warmth in, instead of sitting outside. There is very minimal seating available inside, so chances are greater that you’ll be outside. Since it was the middle of the day and starting to warm up, we sat in one of the large communal tables outside. Since it wasn’t busy, we had the table to ourselves. Half of us had shade while the other half had sun.
Food came out as it was ready. The buns are good and definitely something I recommend. The tempura eggplant was surprisingly really good. I typically am not a huge fan of mushrooms, but the shitake added a good flavor and the sauce was just right.
The soup was ok. I wasn’t a fan of the pulled pork, just didn’t seem like it didn’t belonged. I did want to try the soup, but I’m anti slurping. Bowl edges are handled all day with various people touching it and it didn’t appetizer me to slurp from there. Biggest disappointment.
I would come back for their buns. If it were cold and I wanted good ramen that I could enjoy the whole bowl, I’d goes elsewhere.

Atmosphere was great. Ramen was meh. It’s BYOS — bring your own spoon. Ample outdoor seating, great selection of beers, and a pretty extensive menu. I went with the miso ramen which was decent. My broth was tepid and the egg was downright cold.
Honestly, my experience would have been so much better if they had spoons. It’s a really stupid gimmick.

I never really been a fan of ramen, but Underbelly changed all that. It’s my go-​to-​spot if I ever want to have a nice meal with my girlfriend and friends. The beers on tap are the best and the customer service is amazing.
I recommend the wings and the tonkotsu ramen and if you like spice; ghost pepper chili paste is fire!

Dog friendly, outdoor patio in charming north park. Amazing ramen, salads, and beer. Comfort food extraordinaire.

On a cold winter’s night in San Diego, I was longing for some delicious ramen noodles. My friend had recommended this place to checkout. Underbelly definitely can’t be missed as it has a huge sign at the corner of 30^th and Upas. Parking is a huge detractor for me to come to this place. I had to circle the block numerous times before I could find a spot. At least if you live close by, you can just walk to Underbelly.
So you order at the front counter and they give you a number that you put at your table. Water is self service. There is a water station near the outdoor area. The ramen was pretty good, but wish they gave you more noodles. Also, they don’t give you a spoon which I personally did not like. The Underbelly comes with chashu belly, kirobata sausage, bacon, a whole soft boiled egg, and of course the noodles. The pork broth was delicious along with the perfectly cooked noodles. However, I wish they would have cut the egg in half. I did like the modern look of this place, including the flaming exterior tables that add an excitement to the neighborhood.

The décor and soft-​boiled egg is the only slightly redeeming qualities about Underbelly.
–the ramen comes out lukewarm
–the ramen is overcooked (or it sat in the broth while it was mysteriously cooling)
–the broth is too greasy and bland
All this could have been borderline forgivable/​acceptable if it were not for the attitude of the server when i asked «can i please have a spoon?»
Her pretentious response, «we don’t have spoons here, you can sip from the bowl.»
First of all, if you serve liquids out of a bowl, you should have spoons. A spoon is a basic utensil in any restaurant. My non-​asian friend ordered the fried rice and didn’t get a spoon either.
Second of all, if you expect diners to pick up their bowls and slurp the broth, it would be common decency to wipe the grease off of the side of bowls before serving.
Disappointing.

I like this place way better than the little Italy location. Nothing wrong with the other place but this one is way cooler.
Came in and ordered belly of the beast and some brisket buns. Overall is was awesome. I felt like it had more flavor here. And the meat was cooked better as well. Definitely prefer this place.

Best food on an El Niño night…
Taste: I ended up doing the new veggie ramen they have. Which came with the standard noddles, broccoli, cauliflower, and fried Brussels sprouts. It was amazing but for me it lacked any true flavor to it.
Plus they ran out of 5150 on tap, no Bueno ;(
Cool place though!

I went to Underbelly in Little Italy a couple of years ago for the vegetarian ramen and it was so disappointing. It had a flavorless broth, a small quantity of bland toppings, and forgettable noodles. I have been avoiding both locations ever since.
But today a friend wanted noodle soup, and this was the only option in walking distance. So I braced myself for another bowl of sad and ordered the vegetarian ramen again. Only instead of a small, watery bowl of noodles I got a huge, flavorful dish. I swear it was completely different from what I had before. The broth was cloudy rather than clear, the portion was easily double the size, the toppings were far more plentiful, and included beautifully colored carrots.
And the taste? Amazing. The broth was rich and flavorful without being greasy, and the noodles were the perfect balance between tender and chewy. I couldn’t taste the truffle oil, but the dish had great umami, so perhaps that was the source. I’m not entirely sold on the carrots, but the variety of toppings were wonderful. The only disappointment was the egg I added on; would prefer Tajima’s seasoned egg over the soft boil any day. (Although this Underbelly vegetarian beats Tajima vegetarian by miles.)
I’m so glad that I gave Underbelly a second try, and I can’t wait to come here again! If the ramen always tastes like this, I would definitely bump it to five stars.

This place was super hip and the outdoors dining seemed rather romantic!
The ramen was good, very similar to many of my favorite ramen joints.
Next time I come here I want to give the buns a try and perhaps dine outside where the bar is.
The service was good, the restroom was even clean and hip as well! All in all I’m pretty impressed!

I come here so often I can’t believe I haven’t written a review.
Underbelly Ramen is my go to and a side order of Pork Belly Yakitori (served after 5pm).
This is not your traditional ramen joint. It’s where east meets west. :)
Have a beer with your ramen and sit on the nice stone tables with a fire pit in the middle or by the bar looking at beer. :)
Definitely my GO TO ramen joint in North Park. Slurp away and no spoons needed or will be given to you.

After eating ramen in LA for over a year now, coming back to SD for ramen was kind of a let down. Thankfully, Underbelly did wonders for my ramen cravings.
Their décor is really nice and is dimly lit — perfect for that date night.
Now onto their food…
I ordered the tonkotsu ramen ($ 8) as a first timer and was really happy with the outcome. The broth was really flavorful and the noodles were springy, which I like a lot. Also tried their shrimp gyoza, which was pretty tasty. I wasn’t a fan of their crispy chicken wings, but that’s just because I’m not big on sweet and spicy meat. I will definitely come by next time to try their underbelly ramen ($ 10) though. I am a fan of kurobuta sausage and so I’ll give any excuse to try theirs.

My friend and I came here before we went to a concert and I ordered the Belly of the Beast with extra dumplings and no bacon.
I’m embarrassed to say that before coming here I had no idea what kind of dish Ramen was, even though it is pretty self explanatory.
I was blown away by the taste! The portion was large and enough for one person. It was such a delicious meal, that I brought my roommate here for her first time within just a few weeks of me coming here! I’m sure I’ll be back again with some more newbies to show them the best ramen spot!

Underbelly puts the ‘under’ in underwhelming.
Firstly, while the décor was very modern and interesting with the fire pit in the middle of the tables, the seating setup was somewhat awkward. They have viking style tables which are normally fine, but if you’re stuck in the middle, everyone has to slide out for you to get out. It’s definitely a cool concept but fails in practicality.
As for the ramen, it was bland and unremarkable. I tried adding spicy seasoning to salvage the broth, and while it did help, it was just… okay. The noodles were a tad overcooked. I usually like my noodles to be al dente with a chewy bite, but it seemed a little bloated like it was cooked a little too long. As for the pork belly, I don’t really remember much about it which already says a lot.
A thing to note about this place is that they don’t offer spoons since the broth is meant to be sipped from the bowl. It wasn’t a problem for me, but I could see it being a problem for some people.

San Diego weather is predictable 90% of the time but all of a sudden recently it’s been like the Day After Tomorrow. I decided to cozy up to the bar at Underbelly for some soup after icicles began to form on my testicles at an evening Futbol match.
Ordered the Vegetable Ramen Vegan Style and added a couple skewers of eggplant wrapped Tofu. The ramen consisted of oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, white asparagus, hon shimeji, enoki, spinach noodles, and a broth dashed generously with truffle oil. A decadent treat for hobbits and mushroom fanatics alike. I briefly felt like I was supping at some Michelin starred eatery in Tokyo.
Authentic she may not be, but with the finest ingredients and creative flavors Underbelly won this Non-​Ramen guy over.
P. S. The boys eventually thawed.

Definitely one of my favorite ramen spots. Those oxtail dumplings keep me coming back for more. I would pick this location over the one in Little Italy anytime, for the simple fact that it’s roomier. I love the ambiance of the CH projects, I’m never disappointed at any of their establishments.
The belly of the beast is the definite hit here. It’s a win-​win for the fiancé and I since I’m usually the one craving ramen and he’s the one looking for beer. They don’t give you spoons and encourage you to drink the soup straight from the bowl (after eating your noodles of course). I always get the belly of the beast, but as of lately I ask for extra oxtail dumplings and extra noodles for us to share. I usually end up with enough to take home for another serving. That white scorpion pepper paste does wonders to my tastebuds! I can’t get enough!

No como por lo general este tipo de comidas, pero el día de ayer con el frío que hacia se me antojó y sin duda fue una buena elección, los sabores no son muy fuertes, tiene un espacio muy padre para comer al aire libre el clima no lo permitía ayer y nos fue un poco difícil encontrar lugar adentro ya que solo tienen un par de barras con aproximadamente 8 bancos cada una.

Hmm. Ok. where do i start.
Location/​Ambiance:
I thought the location at a corner and being out door with fire pits was pretty cool. It a seat-​yourself style restaurant. You would think that its by reservation based on how it looks, but you select and pay up front and they give you a number and its a free for all seating.
Service: I thought they were all friendly and helpful. Food took about 10mins to come out. They were busy so its understandable.
Food:
The presentation was nice.
Oxtail Dumplings Ramen– Very gingery/​bland. The noodles were good thats about it. The meat was tender but lacked flavor. All we tasted was ginger. And you get 2 Oxtail dumpling. yea just 2.(it was really good though)
**THEY DONT HAVE SPOONS
Now im not sure the reasoning behind not having spoons… if its a tradition. but its soup… you need a spoon. Although i did see one guy pick up his bowl and sip it that way and compromise. but cmon.
Meat bowl– Came with a fried egg, brisket, pork belly and fried rice. Brisket was pretty dry. the pork was good, it was like soft bacon and the fried egg was pretty good. My fiancée like the egg more than anything we ordered. You can seriously buy frozen fried rice at Trader Joes that taste exactly like the Underbelly fried rice. I buy it already– hehe.
Pork bun– OK, now this is the only thing i thought was worth RECOMMENDING. The pork was tastey in buns. The sauce complimented and was well balanced with the pork/​bun/​pickle… shoot it was just straight good! $ 7.00 for 2 buns… kinda steep but worth it when the other 2 items were’nt up to par.
all in all– would i come back?.. only if i was craving the pork buns (which would be a rare moment). thats about it.
I was disappointed– but definitely glad i tried it.
— Oh yea– their Poke salad looks promising– i saw a few orders go out and they are huge portions. I ddnt try it. Maybe. just maybe. one day.

The night that I visited this Underbelly location was absolutely perfect ramen weather. It was drizzling off and on when I was supposed to meet three friends at this Underbelly for dinner. I had to admit, I think I had pretty high expectations because one of my friends cited this place as her absolute favorite for ramen. She told us to meet at this location because it was less crowded than the Downtown San Diego one.
I had a hard time finding parking – I must have circled around the area three times – but I finally found a stall and didn’t have to walk too far. I liked the vibe of this location because there was patio seating – more spacious, apparently, than the Downtown location – but the patio seating wasn’t too ideal when it was raining. My friends and I ended up sitting in the patio area, but the covering was enough so that we were mostly protected from the rain. It just got us a little when the wind blew it in.
You order at the counter immediately when you walk into Underbelly and you’re given a number, which you take to your table. Your food is brought out subsequently. I felt like it took a really long time for our food to come, but the wait was worth it.
I feel like I don’t have high criteria when it comes to ramen, but I really did enjoy what I got at Underbelly and am glad I got to experience it while living in San Diego. I’d definitely return! Here’s what we got:
«Underbelly Ramen»: Since this is one of the eatery’s signature items – it IS named after Underbelly – I decided this would be my ramen of choice for my first visit. It included a soft boiled egg, charsiu belly, applewood smoked bacon and kurobuta sausage. Talk about super savory! I loved all the meats included in this dish. The bacon wasn’t really fatty, the charsiu belly was tender and tasty, and I liked the salty flavor of the sausage. But I think my favorite part of any ramen dish is opening the soft boiled egg with my chopstick and watching the yolk ooze out. The ramen noodles were tender but not overly soft, and all the flavors in this dish just really matched well together.
«Belly of the Beast Ramen»: Everyone else on my table ordered this entrée because it’s one of the popular items on the menu. If you’re a meat lover – or a brisket lover – you’re sure to like this one. It includes a soft-​boiled egg, oxtail dumplings, smoked brisket and hoisin glazed short ribs. My friends especially liked the oxtail dumplings – that was something different that you don’t see in ramen dishes every day – and the smoked brisket. This is definitely a meaty option and all that savory meat goes well with the tender ramen noodles.
«Tonkotsu Ramen»: If there’s any type of tonkotsu on the menu, you can rest assured that I will be ordering it. Although I didn’t order this ramen on this particular trip, I definitely want to try it the next time I go to Underbelly. It features a soft boiled egg, along with the eatery’s standard toppings — bean sprouts, ginger, scallions, seaweed and sesame seeds. If I did get this entrée, though, I would probably order it sans the bean sprouts and scallions. Everything else seems delicious, though.
«Pork Belly Buns»: If it was really hot outside and I didn’t want ramen, I would get two of these steamed buns. Although I do enjoy eating brisket now and then, I would probably go for the pork belly option. It includes sous vide pork belly, pickled cucumber and ginger hoisin mayo. Pork belly has really grown on me, and I would love to try this option one day.