Iza Ramen

ramen popup is awesome!
the broth was actually very rich. its nice that its not in a busy area making parking easy and the wait was decent on a weekend afternoon.
whats even more awesome is that the blowfish restaurant has android jones’s digital artwork on the walls!

So far, Iza Ramen is the only place that hasn’t let me down!
Why do I keep coming back?
1. WAIT (or lack thereof): line usually isn’t too bad, unlike the ramen joints in the south bay
2. FOOD: flavors have always been consistently good
3. SERVICE: waitresses are usually very nice and attentive. they do get busy and often times go a mile a minute. remember, patience is a virtue! also, i am a picky eater, when i order you’ll hear ‘no this or that, but add this’ and i love that my order ALWAYS comes out right! i thank them for their patience with me!
4. PARKING: we can usually find parking in less than 5 minutes, admittedly we have driven off after 10+ minutes of circling around with no luck

Had high hopes for this one. We were walking around the neighborhood on a Saturday and decided on s follow up the following morning.
We went the following Sunday and we were disappointed by the karaage. It didn’t have the crunch it flavor we were looking for.
Next up, ramen.
The broth was on the tepid side. Not nearly hot enough, in fact the broth rapidly cooked down.
I wish they would ha r served it hot
The ½ egg and pork were actually cold, pulled out of the fridge cold.
The noodles were very good.
Glad we tried, mostly likely will not return.

Pop up ramen place that is apart of blowfish sushi… pretty decent ramen, broth I think is a little bit too salty but it has good toppings, meat was nicely seasoned and very soft, friendly service, wished they had more selections because there are only 2 ramen a to choose from but I guess it’s because it’s a pop up place

Rating is for their spicy tsukemen. The broth was so, so rich and flavorful — I love how spicy it was, and with the fine chewy texture of the ramen dipped into the broth, omg it was heaven. I wish they had slices of pork instead of shredded pork in it. Took a star down because the wait to get my food was quite long, it took maybe a good 25 minutes after our order for them to serve us two bowls of ramen.
But I did enjoy the quality of the ramen, and would definitely come back for that. I came around 1pm on a Saturday, and there was no wait.

Soooo good Ramen! The flavors are so nice and unexpected! Simple choices are always better and this new place has got it down ;)
I went on Saturday night at about 8:15, put my name down in he clip board and by 8:30 the host came out to place a sold out sign; they close at 10! The names on the list were still able to come in. We ordered pot stickers, 1 spicy ramen and 1 regular. The table next to us had ordered some of the edamame and received two extra bowls, so they offered us a bowl; how nice right?
Service was super, every time we looked up someone asked us if we needed something. We were watching the Warriors game so our eyes were up all the time, lol.
Just overall great experience :) highly recommend trying some Ramen here.

so glad i finally tried out this ramen spot. it is a bit out of the way (especially for a weekend) and there is a long wait, BUT the noodles and broth are totally worth it — though i think the additional toppings are a bit expensive for what they give you :/​i added a LOT of toppings though so perhaps a skewed view. haha
the chicken karaage is delicious! so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside… i ate the whole thing by myself! i’d be down to try their other apps, but i was by myself so didnt wanna over order. i got the spicy iza ramen (comes with free salad that is also delicious with the dressing. l) and it was a delight. toppings come on the side. noodles are perfectly chewy. broth is rich.
plus one star for the slow service and wait.

Delicious tsukemen and ramen. We stopped by at 2pm on a Saturday and there was no wait. Unfortunately the salmon tartare was sold out so may be worth going earlier.
I got the spicy Iza tsukemen and hubby ordered the spicy Iza ramen. The tsukemen had thicker noodles and tasted much salter than the ramen, but still had good richness of flavor. The waitress gave me a small side of rice vinegar to give my ramen a more spicy-​sweet-​sour flavor; a small amount did help tone down the saltiness.
Definitely one of the better ramen places in the Bay Area, and probably the best tsukemen in town. The spicy ramen wasn’t spicy and the chasu was decent but not great. Minus a star for one waitress being a bit grumpy (the others were very sweet), our getting the wrong check twice, and our table being a bit dirty.

If you’ve read my previous reviews about ramen, you’ll see that I’m kind of a prideful ramen snob.
BEST RAMEN SHOP IN SAN FRANCISCO. (it’s worth the wait, promise)
Thank you for proving to me that moving to SF wasn’t a wrong move after all. Though it didn’t quite hit the same spot LA’s Daikokuya can, Iza takes a classic, yet innovative twist on ramen.
Broth: A+
Noodles: A+, texture is on the thicker side, but that’s how I like my noodles.
Pork: A++, I wanted a bowl of just this, to be honest.
Side of cha shu fried rice: B, solid fried rice, but could have done without it and it was more rice than it was toppings.
Appetizers: my friends and I ordered the octopus balls (B-​) and seaweed salad (A). Next time I would skip the octopus balls and just order 2 seaweed salads.

I have been back to the Bay Area for more than a year and tried out more than 10 ramen houses — to name a few: Dojo, Ramen Underground, Katana-​ya, etc. I was deeply disappointed by every single ramen-​ya. But finally found a place that I could say I like — Iza Ramen!
I have tried out more 50 ramen houses around the world by now (Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, LA, etc) and I would actually rank this place among my top five favorites.

Torn between 3.5 and 4 stars.
PARKING: It’s kinda hard to find parking but if you circle the street long enough you’ll find something.
WAIT: We came on a Saturday about 5 minutes before it opened to put our name down and there was already a line forming. Definitely recommend coming early.
ATMOSPHERE: This location is where blowfish sushi is, but they are going to have their own location soon enough. Check their hours because I believe they are only open during lunch time on weekends.
FOOD: They have regular ramen and the Tsukemen. The Tsukemen has the thicker curly noodle while the regular ramen has a slightly curly noodle but not as thick.
TSUKEMEN — comparing this to Tsujita or Ben Ten is not even close. The dipping broth is much more peppery than Tsujita and has an interesting taste, almost like tap water, it’s hard to explain. I think it might be the pork that they put with the tsukemen (because I tasted it in the pork rice bowl too) but it has this strange taste. The noodles themselves look so promising but they are not as chewy as Tsujita. They are kinda flat and not springy. Definitely thick, but not quite chewy.
RAMEN — noodles reminded me of Jidaiya’s noodles. Slightly thick and slightly curly but not chewy and kinda just forgettable. Same peppery type of broth.
Egg was good
Overall, I just wish this was better as my expectations were quite high.

I came here for right when they opened at 11:30AM for lunch. I arrived before they opened but that allowed us to get first on the waiting list. There were plenty of parking spots on the streets when I arrived, but they quickly filled up and seemed harder to find parking by the time I was finished eating. This little ramen shop operates inside Blowfish on the weekends lunch, but good news from the owners– they’re opening their own shop soon and if you eat here now they will give you a coupon for free appetizer at their new place!
Now onto the food…
Me and my friends tried their chicken karaage, takoyaki octopus balls, and the ramen. Additionally, the meal includes a complimentary salad. I must be extremely picky in comparison to them, but they both described the food as delicious and mouthwatering while I, on the other hand, doesn’t think there are anything special to them. The chicken karaage piece I tried, was fried soggy on one side. The takoyaki was good and I would highly recommend it. For the ramen, I got the spicy Iza ramen and overall, it was good with a pretty large portion. The broth was good and I loved the half boiled egg. However, one thing that annoyed me was the chashu pork. The pork was rough, hard and dry and was worse than my soggy chicken karaage. One good thing about the ramen was that they portion sizes are little deceiving. First glance you would think that the bowl is small, but once you dig into it… you realize that the bowl is pretty deep.
Overall, although I am more picky in terms of my food, this place is probably the best ramen shop I been to in San Francisco. It is great for a close ramen fix, but if you’re craving something that will have you drooling for days, I suggest traveling a little further to San Mateo or Santa Clara.

I really liked Iza Ramen! It’s probably a little out of the way for most people but worth the trip if you’re looking for good ramen in SF proper.
I went on a Saturday around 12:30, and there were still a few empty tables. My friends and I shared a takoyaki appetizer (delicious!) and then each ordered a bowl of the Iza Ramen. I thought it was tasty, very fairly priced, and the extra salad that came on the side was a nice touch. The soft boiled egg was perfect!
I’ve definitely had more flavorful ramen elsewhere in the Bay, but Iza Ramen is easily my favorite in the city.

Thoroughly impressed with this place A lot of other Elites seem to have not liked it, but I think they must have changed their recipe since some of the older reviews since my friends and I absolutely loved this place. We were looking for a new ramen place to try in the area, and Iza had the highest rating so we decided to go with this place. Iza is essentially a weekend pop-​up inside of Blowfish Sushi serving up some delicious ramen and tsukemen and rice bowls (but really, if you come here, why are you getting rice bowls???)
As far as I know, Iza is definitely one of the few restaurants in the Bay Area that actually serves tsukemen. The last place that I saw with tsukemen was Santouka, but that’s not what they’re known for, and some other random place in the South Bay. So when I heard that this place served tsukemen, I knew it was a must try despite the harsh reviews some people have.
My friends and I arrived around 1pm on a Saturday and had about a 15 – 20 minute wait. The line wasn’t that long, but I guess parties just take awhile to get through the cycle. The inside décor is super hipster and very spacious – pretty unlike typical ramen shops, but I guess it’s technically a hipster Japanese restaurant that serves ramen on the weekend. Anyways, after you order, they bring out the food in less than fifteen minutes which is great.
I got the Iza Tsukemen and it was phenomenal. I’m surprised they didn’t have the lime, but that’s okay. The noodles for tsukemen are on the thicker side as tsukemen noodles tend to be, but that’s how I generally like them. Very chewy, and just generally great quality noodles. The dipping sauce was a little too pepper flavored for my friends, but I thought it was great since I’m a fan of pepper flavors anyways. The toppings that came with the ramen were fine — typical stuff like bamboo, fish cake, the meat was kind of weird, was unclear what was going on there, but honestly at the end of the day, the only thing that matters to me is the noodles and broth and those were so spot on here. Tsukemen broth for those not familiar, is like… a thicker soup base, and tsukemen noodles are typically meant to be dipped in the thicker broth. This broth was extremely flavorful and coated the noodles perfectly and just was honestly delicious.
Final price post tip was about $ 14/​person which wasn’t too bad at all for lunch. All in all, definitely dig this place and I wish it wasn’t only open on weekends! Such a hidden ramen gem.
tldr; the best tsukemen I’ve ever had in the Bay Area, would highly recommend!

This is a pop-​up ramen shop that’s only open 11:30am-3pm weekends within Blowfish. We came right at opening at 11:30am and waited around 7 – 10 minutes before getting seated.
The spicy tsukemen was so good! Though I do feel like there was barely any meat in my ramen but overall my taste buds were happy. If you’ve never had tsukemen before like me, it’s basically a bold broth that you dip your noodles in to eat. I wouldn’t recommend actually sipping on the broth too much like how you would with regular ramen.
Food does come out slow though so be warned.

Amazing! My sister and I came on a Saturday around 11:25 (they open at 11:30) and there was already a list of names on the waiting list. They did have quite a bit of seating inside so we were able to grab a table pretty quick.
We ordered the karage which I’ve had at other places and wasn’t impressed, but at Iza their karage is soo meaty and super juicy!!! The dipping sauce they pair it with was really good too and tasted of seaweed. They also gave us a little side salad that had a nice oil type dressing.
My sister ordered the Iza ramen with kimchi and black garlic oil and I got the tsukemen dipping ramen with mushrooms and garlic oil as well. Both were super rich and flavorful. My sister even said it might be better than orenchi: x
This was my second time having tsukemen (my first time was at Japan town) and I was blown away! The noodles itself were really good, the pork they cut into little cubes were meaty and not all fat like at other ramen spots, and their egg was perfectly cooked with the soft yolk.
We left happy and satisfied. I would definitely come back. I’d suggest arriving before 12 if you don’t want to wait. And they’re only open sat/​sun 11:30 — 2:30!

The Iza ramen is awesome! I ordered the Iza Tsukemen, which I don’t think I would choose over the Iza ramen ever again. The dipping broth is really heavy on the spices, especially pepper and salt, which effectively hides the otherwise delicious rich broth flavor. The noodles are wonderful, the Iza ramen broth is A-​mazing — not too fatty, not too salty. You get half a soft boiled egg (I feel like it should just be a whole egg, right?), bamboo shoots, a heap of fresh onions, sea veggies and chasu. The portions are perfect.
Wait was only a few minutes at 1230pm on Sunday. The menu is otherwise pretty small. We ordered the Karaage to start, and it was extremely juicy. I would definitely return for the ramen, since the atmosphere isn’t crowded and the wait isn’t ridiculous! I only wish that it was a whole soft boiled egg.
We ordered the blood orange sherbert for dessert, which was just a fun sweet way to end the lunch.

I’ve been meaning to try this pop up joint for awhile now, but because of it’s very limited weekend lunch only hours (Sat/​Sun — 11:30 AM — 2:30 PM) in the city, it’s hard for a South Bayer to catch! It’s located inside Blowfish, so don’t worry, you’re at the right place when Google Maps directs you to Blowfish.
We both ordered the Iza Ramen, one regular, and one spicy. Both were very consistent in it’s base… very rich and flavorful! The difference between the two was minimal and spicy only tasted as if spicy oil was added to it. That’s about it.
All ramen bowls came with a salad (something that’s not explicitly written on the menu from what I remember). Simple and came with with a light dressing. I was very pleased.
At first bite, the Spicy Iza Ramen was delicious and the cha siu was a winner. Nice thick piece of cha siu with just enough fat and meat. Egg was okay, a little overcooked for a soft-​boiled egg, but still enjoyable. However, with a few more bites, the deliciousness was diminishing… due to the amount of ramen they serve. Too much. I also disliked that the ramen was kinda really slippery… I felt like I had a hard time clasping onto them with my chopsticks and it just didn’t have the usual texture of ramen that I would expect.
The service was a bit of a surprise here! Everyone was soooo, sooo nice, polite, and friendly! We never had to even ask for a water re-​fill once.
The ramen is more like a 3.5, but because of the delightful salad and excellent service, I bumped this place up to a 4.

Iza has been a silent contender for best ramen in SF for a while now, and in my opinion, it deserves to win. It’s a weekend pop-​up at Blowfish Sushi in the Mission, open only from 11:30am-2:30pm on Saturdays and Sundays. For best chance at immediate seating, I suggest getting there either right at 11:30 or towards the end of the day (though with the latter you run the risk that they’ve already sold out of ramen).
So why does Iza deserve the honor of #1 ramen in the city? A few things off the top of my head:
1) Presentation: This is probably one of my weighty-​est points when it comes to ramen. Don’t forget that ramen comes from Japan, where it necessitates that food look pretty! You can tell Iza puts effort into its ramen aesthetic.
2) Taste: Well, duh. But ramen is more than just any old noodles dropped in salty broth with some pork and veggies thrown on. The noodles must be the right consistency, the broth must be complex, and the toppings must complement everything in order to comprise a good bowl of ramen. Iza again grasps this. The ingredients here are well-​thought-​out. I will say that on my most recent trip the ramen broth was rather thick and they must have been trying out some new type of noodle to go with it… something was off. But in general, you can tell if the chefs get it or not. At least this ramen aficionada can!
3) Mindful variety: Iza offers 3 – 4 different ramen items per weekend. Usually 2 different ramens and 1 type of tsukemen (dipping ramen). They rotate their menu week by week, so you can’t always get the same thing. Again, because they actually put effort and thought into their ramen dishes, these few choices are enough. Way better than places with 30 different choices, or those where you can specify salt, soy, or miso broth (when the chef is putting that decision on the customer, that’s a sure sign to me the ramen is not going to be good!).
4) Uniqueness: It’s a pop-​up, meaning it’s the only. Not to say that chains are bad, but well… sometimes chains are bad. I generally trust the good ol’ Mom & Pop to serve me a soulful bowl, if that makes sense.
Why did I subtract a star? They always seem understaffed here, so service is typically slow. Which I guess also means… ⁴⁄₅ stars may be the best that San Francisco has to offer. I guess if that’s what I’m sayin’, that’s what I’m sayin’! Still love the city.
What do I recommend for first-​timers? The tsukemen here is LEGIT. Amazing noodles.
Trust when I again say, best ramen in SF. If your wait isn’t too long, I know you’ll thank me!

Not my thing, and it was a long wait for me to experience it to find that out.
It is a pop up at Blowfish Sushi. But there is no sushi when Iza Ramen is there. So do not expect it. The couple next to us seemed really disappointed there was no sushi.
There is a handwritten sign up sheet when you arrive and probably will have a long list of people ahead of you, even if you see empty seats in the restaurant. It seems that they do not seat the full bar or all of the tables during the pop up. They come out to call your name but don’t miss out if you’re wandering the streets.
Chicken karaage: WOW. Love it. I don’t normally like karaage because it’s all fried, but this one was so juicy, tasty, tender, and wow so good dipping sauce. This dish is a huge winner.
The cha shu rice bowl: not too much flavor in the pork, and the bowl was just over flowing which made it really hard to eat. The kim chi was pretty good at least. But the mayo sauce was kinda odd.
The tonkotsu ramen: sigh, it was soooooo fishy and oily. The broth is probably the best thing there, but it was just not for me. It tasted like a clash of oil, sesame, and FISH all came together to make the broth. i tried to dry my noodles out but even after I tried to squeeze the broth off, it still tasted like an anchovy was swimming down my throat. It is not a clean tasting broth, but rather a very rich, oily, and seafoody broth. If that’s your thing, you will love it. Otherwise, this is not for you.
Given the wait, no reservations, and that I don’t know what else I can eat, I’m not sure I’d come back to wait 45 minutes just for chicken karaage. But then again, it was that good, that I might consider it… you can have my ramen though.