Hawker Eats

If you’re looking for a traditional ramen stop with options like miso or soy sauce broth then this isn’t the place for you. However, if you’re looking for a place that takes a big twist on ramen by adding flavors you wouldn’t have ever imagined like my favorite vegetarian option which includes a coconut ramen broth with hints of cumin and lots of broccoli. My friend had this one with pork belly which they give giant slabs of and the broth was perfectly spicy along with soft boiled eggs, grilled onion slices and other toppings. There are a few izakaya items but we passed on them. For prices, it’s very comparable to the rest of the city ranging from $ 12-​$ 18 and apps ranging from $ 5-​$ 10. Not the cheapest meal but ramen in this city never is.
It’s a cute richmond district shop a block from Han Il Kwan on Balboa. Parking isn’t the easiest but definitely easier than Little Tokyo area. Definitely check it out if you’re in the area but don’t think it’s worth the drive all the way out here and the challenges of looking for parking.

Small space, over priced ramen. Sometimes I just want some noodles to warm my body up in the cold San Francisco weather. Came here on a Friday night with my boyfriend. The area was abnormally quiet but whatevers I just need some food to get into my belly.
Arrived at the location, no lines and quickly seated by the waitress. The waitress was super friendly and immediately gave us our menus. She also asked us for our choice of beverage. Great start. Service: 5 stars!
Glancing over the menu, ramen ranges from $ 13-​$ 18, with optional add-​ons for $ 1.5. Okay fine but this ramen better be super delicious! Time to order our food. I got the karaage ramen and my boyfriend ordered the XO ramen but to find out they were out of pork belly. (side note: I find it very strange how a ramen shop is open without Pork Belly!) Anyways, replace pork belly with crispy chicken) Choices: 3 stars!
Food flavor:
— Karaage Ramen: I’m a soup girl so I have to say their soup was more on the oily and salty side. Chicken was crispy and sweet but mixed with the soup, it was a weird mixture. The flavor and texture of the whole thing was just off. Can’t say I had a great food experience.
— XO Ramen with the crispy chicken: broth was garlic-​y tossed with sesame. Boyfriend didn’t particularly enjoy the mixture of the topping and the broth.
Okay, so if you enjoy salty and more of a fusion flavor ramen. This is place would be great but if you are like me and enjoy more of a traditional bowl of ramen then I will not bother with Hawkers. The portion sizes are large but more does not mean better. Some might enjoy a filling meal over flavor but I definitely won’t be coming back for the ramen. The service was great but I would only recommend coming here if you looking for more of an intimidate setting and has no more than 4 people in your group.

So glad I came here. The food is delicious and the ramen was worth the wait. Had the K.O. ramen. Another had spicy ramen which was also delicious yet the chicken could not beat the pork belly in the K.O. Ramen. The best ramen in the city in my life so far.

Expensive but innovative ramen. Thought and design of menu was top notch, but ingredients were below par. Overall, a decent experience. They have about six tables so you may find yourself rubbing elbows with your neighbor. Dinner service was incredibly slow.

To be fair, if you’re coming here for ramen, you might be ok, as their KO Ramen was fairly good for me on two occasions. Although, the second time, the pork wasn’t cooked nearly as perfect, and the cuts looked different, so I’m curious if they’ve changed cooks or something. The short ribs are totally unnecessary as well. Nonetheless, the broth and noodles were both good, be it at a price of $ 16 a bowl. The karaage appetizer is done pretty well, good chicken, the sauce could be better. The edamame is a hot appetizer cooked in butter and garlic, which was pretty tasty.
What left a bad taste for me was the service. Besides not refilling our tea, and then getting room temp tea when we asked, our waitress made a hard sell at the end of our meal on their pineapple ice cream. She talked it up saying «it’s quite special» and they make it in house. I thought, «homemade ice cream, sure, why not». When it came out, I was dumbfounded. It was a gaudy giant pineapple that was hacked up, placed on a plate with its giant green tops standing up in the middle. The pieces of pineapple were stacked, topped with 2 scoops of ice cream, covered in candied sugar, powdered sugar, drizzled with chocolate sauce, honey, sliced strawberries and large mint leaves. It was completely over-​the-​top, in a bad way. When the check came, it made sense…$ 9. That thing cost more than the karaage! The quality of the ice cream itself was fine, but the whole experience from the way she tried to sell it and the 9 dollar abomination we ended up with, it just made me walk away thinking I’d been conned.
Overall this place is a mixed bag and needs guidance on their service and execution.

The name, Hawker Eats, reminds me of Singaporean fused kind of ordeal in terms of cuisine type to classify their menu items.
Their entrée choices are so bomb! They are generous with the ramen bowls and what they pack in them, meat wise! I love the squiggly chewy noodles compared to the stringy ones. The broth was nice.
The yakitori, skewer, selections were to ponder over. Got their ribeye skewer and it was savory and tender.
Their watermelon juice that comes in an actual watermelon, is a looker. The green gyozas made from soybean for the wrap, potstickers, were tasty.
The concept of their food here is noteworthy and exciting to try.

I stopped by Hawker Eats for lunch on a Saturday afternoon after seeing that the wait at the nearby Han Il Kwan was way too long. Hawker Eats is tiny, with just 5 tables, but we were able to get a table without having to wait.
The signature item at Hawker Eats is the Ebirah Monster Ramen — and with a name like that, I just couldn’t resist. The ramen was very unusual and different — the broth seemed to be like a spicy coconut lime cioppino which complimented the generous quantity of seafood in the bowl, which included a whole lobster tail, a couple scallops on the half shell, mussels, and shrimp. The ramen noodles were nice and chewy, and the sous vide egg had the consistency of a soft poached egg, but managed to stay together. I’m usually not a fan of Asian fusion, but the Ebirah Monster Ramen was very good, and I highly recommend it.
Although the Monster Ramen was pretty big (as the name would suggest), I had a bite of the beef tongue skewers, and they were excellent. The tongue was just barely cooked and was still crunchy.

A little hidden Raman gem with a seafood twist. I checked out this place on a brisk winter day and the food proved to be just the warmth and comfort I needed. Although there were so many options to choose from, I decided to go with the soft shell crab dish, with an edamame appetizer. And let me just say, that edamame was EVERYTHING! It was nicely seasoned and just the right amount of flavor to leave me wanting to lick the bowl (thank goodness I’ve developed a bit more decorum with age to control those type of urges).
The soft shell crab was delicious and just as flavorful. The crab was fried just right and everything just worked together perfectly. I wanted to finish the entire thing, but couldn’t.
It feels good to finally have a go-​to ramen place that caters to my pescatarian needs within city limits.
Likes:
–flavorful dishes
–large portions
–lots of pescatarian options
–EDAMAME!
Dislikes:
–sometimes open and/​or closes randomly
–website would be nice
–parking sometimes sucks to find (but isn’t impossible)

Came here for a late dinner with my parents and sister, the wait was so long and they have limited seating. After waiting an hour we decided to just sit separately. They also ran out of the tonkotsu broth that night.
We had the takoyaki appetizer which I liked but it had way too much wasabi sauce on it. My sister ordered the KO ramen with a different broth since they were out of the tonkotsu and I had the chicken karage curry. She thought hers was just ok, and I thought the same of mine. The chicken curry was WAYY too sweet, had an odd flavor. I’d rather go to volcano on Geary. I think kaiju ramen, their sister restaurant was better.

Holy Moley this place is tiny! Only 5 tables, definitely can seat up to 20 people.
Appetizers are delicious! The Ebriah ramen is a must. However, it is a pricey bowl of ramen costing $ 24. For the price, the portion size does make up for it. The fresh watermelon juice is just Instagram worthy.
If you end up dining here, be prepared to wait outside cause it’s an extremely small restaurant.

I didn’t expect much, but it’s not bad actually.
Okay so I find this restaurant hilarious. The wait-​list paper is just a trimmed blank piece of paper, the outside restaurant name on the sign is painted in brush strokes over the faded previous restaurant’s name, and their menus are hand-​written and scanned for copies. Ghetto much? I didn’t mind it, but I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. Came here around 12, and waited about half an hour because a couple of friends wanted to try this new place. Street parking all around, and service was really slow. Seems like they barely have enough people in the kitchen to prepare everything, and there is only 1 waiter. The restaurant is really small and can only fit 20 – 25 people at a time. Barely any decorations, and overpriced ramen.
I ordered the K.O. Ramen, and my friends ordered the Kung Fu Ramen and a Chicken Karage Curry Rice Bowl. The host brought us a small plate of assorted salad to thank us for waiting so long, which was nice of him.
The K.O. Ramen came in a huge bowl but it didn’t look filled. Half of a soft boiled egg (should’ve asked for the coconut crusted egg), a couple pieces of pork belly, a rib, a sweet&sour pork chop, and some seaweed. The broth tasted flavorful and not too salty at all. The Kung Fu Ramen looked packed with a lot of chicken and sprouts. Broth tasted good too, but too spicy for my taste. Not sure how the noodle cracker added anything to the bowl except for presentation. My first thought at looking at the Chicken Karage was, «Why are there Doritos looking chips inserted into the rice bowl?» This also tasted good and looked filling. Someone at the table next to us ordered the Ebirah, and for $ 24 that dish was not stingy on the seafood. Surprisingly everything tasted good, so ratings of this place accurately describes the food well.
This place pleasantly surprised me, and I wouldn’t mind coming back. Four stars for the food, but three stars for the service speed and amount of seating.

Very sad that there is new management. My most recent visit week of ¹⁄₁₃ fell short of expectations. Just wanted to note a few changes since my initial review:
1. Menu items have been drastically reduced. Gone are the curry dishes, skewers, many meat appetizers, ramen add-​ons (egg, different noodle type), and desserts. What remain do appear solid but I really wanted to come back and try those items that were taken off the menu.
2. Bare minimum décor. All the super cute and cozy décor have been stripped away. Even the menu now just has hand-​written descriptions. I know this isn’t food related, but definitely adds to the experience.
3. Increased prices? Someone told me they raised prices along with the new management. I don’t remember how much my ramen bowls cost the first time around, but it does mildly irritate me that the cheapest bowl of noodle is $ 15. This is the Richmond district, not the FiDi…
4. The ramen I got (KO chicken) just wasn’t so good. I wasn’t given enough broth and it wasn’t anything too memorable; it tasted very one-​dimensional to me. There were way too many pieces of karaage, and the noodle was pretty firm. Overall it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
Will I be back? Not likely if future visits would mirror my last.

I was so excited when I heard there was a new ramen place in the Richmond district. I had high hopes and expectations based on the 4 stars reviews on here… And unfortunately, it didn’t live up to it.
Strike #1: Unilocal mentioned this place opened at 11:00 AM on Saturday. So my friend and I decided to come here at 11:30. When we got there, there was a sign on the door that said «we will open at 11:40.» So my friend and I stood out in the cold to wait.
Strike #2: when the restaurant finally decided to open, the waitress didn’t give us any menus or water for ten minutes. Even though she was the only person who did everything, the restaurant literally just opened up. It shouldn’t even be busy because there was no customers to follow up.
Strike #3: my friend and I got the KO ramen. The price was steep for a bowl. I think it was $ 18? The portion was huge with pork belly, half of soft boiled egg and other meats. I was really disappointed because the broth was reallyyyyy salty. The pork belly was all fat! Gross. The egg was over cooked as well. It looked like hard boiled to me.
I don’t think I will return. The place was really cramped– probably fit only 20 people. And for $ 18 bowl of ramen, I expected way more.

Ramen on a rainy SF night? Sounds perfect, right? I guess it sounded better in my head.
First off, I must say that I love that this place offers non-​pork broth options. Since I don’t eat pork, non-​pork based ramen is definitely a MAJOR plus. Hawker Eats offers a chicken broth option as well as a seafood option which is awesome.
For appetizers, I had the baby lobster ($ 9, comes with 2 pcs) & beef tongue skewers. The baby lobster was super tender but a bit on the salty side. The beef tongue, however, was perfectly seasoned and had the chewy texture that I usually look for in beef tongue– glad to report they definitely delivered on that one.
Since ramen is their speciality, I had to get the Kung Fu Chicken ramen which runs for $ 16– a bit on the steep side for a bowl of ramen. The portion, however was pretty massive if you ask me. My bowl had TONS of chicken and noodles… almost such an overwhelming amount that my bowl was on the verge of overflowing. I guess that makes up for the price but I would have preferred a smaller bowl for perhaps around $ 14? But for those that love hearty portions, this is the place for you!
The soup was spicy and garlicky and I love spice and garlic so that was probably my favorite part even though it was a tad on the oily side. The chicken also had a soy-​teriyaki flavor to it that just didn’t really go well with the broth imo. The runny egg was tasty but unusually cold lol. Overall, as much as I wanted to love it, I just wasn’t a fan of the dish. The service was nice and the menu was super cute though!

Please read this review and then immediately forget about this place so I never have to tirelessly wait in line outside this tiny, unassuming, god-​send of a hole-​in-​the-​wall. I have been on a serious ramen kick since Karl the Fog has rolled in, and the ebirah (aka seafood ramen) is thebombdotcom. Lobster, crab, crawfish, mussels, oysters, brussel sprouts, eggs, and broth with a kick. The portion is huge so I was able to take some home and sleep very soundly, knowing I could wake up and eat this delicious meal for a second time.
I highly recommend coming here for dinner at 5 o’clock on the dot. We did, and were the third group of people to be seated in this 7(ish) table restaurant. The poor souls waiting outside in the cold SF air… at least the waitress was bringing them warm tea.
Slightly pricey, but you get what you pay for. 5 stars easily.
PS: do yourself a favor and order the garlic edamame. I would smother my entire body in the garlic sauce if I could…

3.5 stars
THE FOOD
The menu at Hawker Eats is full of intriguing descriptions and exciting ingredients. The «ramen» here is really more like Asian fusion noodle soup than traditional Japanese ramen. You can sub out the ramen noodles for udon, soba, and yam noodles.
I ordered the ebirah (aka monster ramen), a $ 23 bowl with lobster tail, snow crab legs, clams, mussels, and scallops. All of the seafood was perfectly cooked. The lobster was really delicious. I subbed out the ramen noodles for udon (+ $ 2). The broth tasted like a very thick tom yum soup, with coconut, lemongrass, Thai basil, and lime flavors. It was good and worked well with the seafood but a bit heavy and greasy.
The S.O. ordered the kung fu chicken ramen ($ 16), a bowl of shoyu chicken broth with wok fried dark chicken meat. It was topped with a seaweed garlic toast crisp. This was too salty and greasy for my taste.
The soft boiled coconut panko crusted eggs were interesting, but the panko crust had gotten soggy and fallen off the egg by the time the bowls hit the table. These might be better served on the side.
We also got seaweed salad ($ 6) and super tempura ($ 8), a bowl of battered and fried «super foods,» such as kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.
Hawker Eats was out of a lot of things that night. Instead of snow crab legs, they were offering tiger prawns for the curry and ebirah. Not really a good replacement if you love crab but don’t care for prawns. No discount for turning down the prawns either. The asari ramen was out. The butterfish sashimi raved about in many reviews was not on the day’s menu. The coconut and watermelon desserts, advertised with cute drawings on the wall, were also unavailable. Come early, or don’t come with your heart set on eating something specific.
OTHER NOTES
Hawker Eats has seating capacity of 20. There are 7 tables that seat 2 and one table that seats 6. Don’t come with a big group.
The only staff at the moment are the 2 owners. They looked a bit tired and overwhelmed the whole time we were here, and things moved a bit slowly. I felt so bad I wanted to offer to help refill some tea or wipe some tables for them. Hopefully things will get better.
We got here around 7pm, and it seems like we walked in at a good time. There were a few empty tables that soon filled up, and there was a small crowd outside when we left.
Cute quirky drawings done by one of the owners adorn the walls and menu. One of the walls has a sign after my own heart says «EAT DRINK DESTROY.»
The restaurant is family friendly, with high chairs and crayons available for kids. Some kid at the table next to us wreaked havoc on the place, leaving noodles all over the table, chairs, and floor. :(

At the end of my meal, even though I could barely breathe thanks to the gigantic KO Ramen and our overzealous ordering of Tapa and Yakitori items, I couldn’t help but exclaiming how the butterfish sashimi rivaled everything I had eaten previously to be the best meal of 2015.
We decided to stop by thanks to some ramen cravings that came out of nowhere after our visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum. None of us had been here before and it’s hard to find highly rated places that were completely new to all of us. There was a small line outside but we noticed that it was being processed fairly quickly so we decided to stay. All the wait was outside because the restaurant is tiny but we didn’t mind it, the area feels safe so we went for a nighttime stroll around the block to kill time. About 25 minutes later they called our name but told us we’d have to share a table with another party. I was starving and they looked nice so I didn’t mind it.
Upon sitting down you get complimentary corn tea. It tastes just like barley tea you get at korean restaurants, I really enjoyed it and it complimented everything we ate.
The food: We ordered the KO ramen (ramen with pork belly, tonkatsu, and other meats), butterfish (the absolute best sashimi I’ve had all year — do not miss this!!), and yakitori (this was just okay, if it wasn’t so pricy we probably wouldn’t have felt so compelled to stuff ourselves until we had no leftovers).
The service: It seemed like our waitress was a one woman army serving the entire eatery. Even though she was so busy she greeted us warmly and we never felt rushed. The only hiccup is we never got water even though we asked for it like twice.
I’ll definitely be back, but next time I’ll probably skip the small dishes and save extra room for an extra order of butterfish. Seriously, this place is worth a trip from out of town just to try that.

Small corner hole-​in-​a-​wall place, and easy to find. I first found out about this while scrolling through my fb page and saw someone post about it. Funny, the same person, whose fb post drew my friend and I to this place, was at the table next to mine.
Anyways, this place is pretty good and decently priced. My friend and I ordered 1 order of Brussels sprouts skewers and 2 bowls of ramen. I had their popular KO ramen. Pretty tasty, noodles were long, and the portion was enough to hit the spot. I’m a sucker for ramen that comes with a soft-​boiled egg and doesn’t skimp on tasty, tender bbq pork, and this doesn’t disappoint. I’m a happy gal. The ramen quality at Iza Ramen, on Fillmore St. is better, but for a new and closer-​located ramen shop, I can’t complain. Hope to make a return trip sometime.

Ramen has really come a long way from its Top Ramen days. I remember when I was first introduced to these «gourmet» bowls. I couldn’t imagine paying over $ 10 for noodles and soup. Now I’ll go just about anywhere for the perfect bowl! My boyfriend rolls his eyes as I find the perfect angle for my instagram photo and proceed to examine the quality of the toppings, noodle texture, and broth for depth of flavor.
When Hawker Eats opened up in the Richmond, I was immediately captivated by all the Unilocal photos and glowing reviews. Showed up a week later on a Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to find the small restaurant with around eight tables pretty empty. Half an hour later though around 7:30pm, the place was completely packed!
THE ORDER:
1) Takoyaki (fried octopus wheat balls w/​wasabi aioli and bonito flakes): Some of the best I’ve had! They were fried to perfection, the octopus was tender, and the wasabi aioli was perfectly balanced with a creamy spicy kick.
2) Tataki (Pepper seared Albacore sashimi w/​crispy rice scallions): Presentation points when they pour the ponzu sauce onto the sizzling iron plate! The Albacore was fresh and I enjoyed the contrasting textures of the sashimi and crispy rice.
3) KO Ramen (Pork belly and pork cheek skewers in a Tonkatsu pork bone broth): Huge disappointment! Although the broth had a nice slightly velvety texture from the bone broth, it had no flavor and tasted like someone had forgotten the salt. The pork cheek skewers were also under seasoned and tough.
4) Asari Ramen (Mountain of Manilla clams in an umami seafood broth): They give you a generous amount of clams — beware of some of the sand though. The broth was flavorful, clean, and delicious.
5) Fresh watermelon juice served in a watermelon — cute presentation and very refreshing!
They only had one server for the entire restaurant and while she was friendly and did a great a job juggling all the tables it was clearly too much to handle. Parking is tough because it’s mostly residential. ~$ 30/​person for dinner and just a side note… I was able to use my credit card when I went, so it appears they are NOT cash only as Unilocal states!
The KO Ramen really caught me off guard. It appears that most people request it spicy, but the spice should not determine whether the broth has flavor. Hawker would have easily been a solid 4 with their delicious appetizers and careful attention to detail, evident in the plating of their food and flavor combinations, down to their handwritten menus. My $ 16 bland ramen forced me to downgrade to a 3. They’re still new, so perhaps it was a fluke. I’d still be willing to come back again though.

Was really excited to try this place especially after seeing all the foodgasmic photos on Unilocal.
FOOD– husband and I tried the Kung Fu chicken ramen, K.O. ramen, and skewer samplers. The chicken in the Fung Fu ramen was tender and the ramen was pretty flavorful. Unfortunately, it was too oily. The K.O. Ramen was a disappointment, smelled good, but flavors were lacking and the ramen was overcooked and mushy even though the pork was not bad. The piece of crispy noodle that came with the ramen was hard and oily. I would much prefer a large piece of seaweed instead. It looked cool though. Skewer samplers were okay, average. The waitress didn’t tell us which is which, but it was not difficult to figure out.
AMBIANCE/​DECOR– cute little shop on the corner with many windows that brightly lit up the place with natural light, but it could get too sunny and glaring to the eye. Postings and menu are written in cute handwriting and images. Even the menu is handwritten/​drawn.
SERVICE/​STAFF– There was only one staff to man the floor but everything was taken care of. She was super friendly and hardworking, even closed the blinds when it was sunny and getting hot.
Overall, ramen looks delicious and service is stellar but the ramen tastes okay… definitely not worth $ 16 per bowl. Far from Japanese standards, but I recall liking the Asari clams ramen at Kaiju Eats, so maybe I will be back here for Asari clam ramen if I’m craving it since this place is a split from Kaiju Eats and I thought the clam ramen there was pretty good. The recipes were created by the people now at Hawker Eats.
Most menu items are identical to Kaiju Eats on Geary. The handwriting and images on the menu also look identical to Kaiju Eats. The waitress who served us was the one who served us at Kaiju Eats a while back. Prices may be ~ $ 1 – 2 more for the same item, but I’m sure the experience would be better here. Parking could be difficult since location is in a mainly residential neighborhood, so allocate enough time to look for parking if you are meeting other people here. Currently, they do not take reservations, but if you live closeby, they are willing to help put your name on the wait list if you call.