Nombe

Miso (?) Ramenburger — only ramen around the edge was crispy, and it was novel, but not something to get again
Hamachi kama — unfortunately charred and overcooked. i enjoy the blackened/​burnt/​roasty food mostly, but not the time or place here. parts of it were cooked more reasonably, though still slightly overcooked.
nasu dengaku — very sugary sauce on top, which dominated the flavor. gooey texture, which I love
shishito peppers — fairly standard for shishito peppers, lightly roasted and one or two were a little spicy
karaage — not that different from boneless fried chicken from wings places, KFC, etc. nicely seasoned, but doesn’t stand out that much really. though my friend was a big fan.
Came at 7:30 on a Wednesday, and maybe the only diners there. 1 – 2 more tables came later. Great personal attention and service, and food came quickly.

For lunch a friend and I decided to got to the Mission and try a new joint that seemed to peak our interest. The reviews were alright however my friend visited this place before and said it was good, so why not!
The best way to put this place is that they’ve taken an old diner, turned it into an Asian fusion restaurant and literally kept the diner feel and décor. Black and white checkered flooring, diner style countertops and booth seating. Our server was rugged yet personable. For lunch we got a couple of plates and decided to share:
–Ramenburger for $ 15. Shoyu ramenburger, mizuna, tomato, sushi vinegar onions, shiokoji Japanese cucumber pickles between to ramen patties. They also added bacon to the dish and served it with seasoned fries. The mizuna gave off an arugula vibe in sight and flavor. I thought the ramen was a little stale but had some crunch to it.
–Loco Moco for $ 15: Burger, sunny side up eggs, rice and gravy, salad and miso soup. The salad was unnecessary for the dish but I guess they were trying to go for a clean taste. I would have preferred more gravy, but most of the flavors were there.
All in all, the place was alright. I would probably revisit this place if ever in the Mission, just not jumping out of my seat. If you’re in the area, come check this place out and see if what I’m saying makes sense!

Ah, that’s a shame. I just read today that Nombe is closing at the end of the month after five years of serving fickle hipsters in the Mission. Married owners Gil Payne and Mari Takahashi apparently have been struggling to keep business up amid all the competition in the ‘hood, and when I came here a month ago, I saw only one table occupied during my visit. I was actually here soon after it opened when Unilocal threw one of their hot new spot events (review:
). The concept of a tapas-​style izakaya was still a novelty back then, and I liked the small plates I tried. Takahashi had since taken over the kitchen, and I returned because I just happened to notice they were serving ramen. I also heard they originated ramen burgers, but the appeal of that particular novelty escapes me.
I believe it was Payne who served me as he was very nice and conscientious about the service. The menu is quite a fusion hodgepodge but maneuverable (photo:
). I first tried one of the $ 5 Bites, the Nasu Dengaku (Miso Glazed Eggplant), just two tiny skewers of Japanese eggplant slices dipped in a sweet glaze sauce and freckled with sesame seeds (photo:
). It was kinda lukewarm when I was hoping it would be grilled. I moved up to an $ 8 Small Plate, the Bacon Wrapped Mochi (photo:
), which I knew would be tasty since I had a superior version at Halu. It was and I could have probably gone for another order had I known the portions of everything they served. Speaking of which, I ordered what I was hoping would be my entrée, the Tonkotsu Ramen (photo:
).
I think the baby-​size, four-​ounce bowl threw me since I am a colossal slurper, and a ramen order served in the Land of the Munchkins just wasn’t going to do me. Mind you, there wasn’t false advertising here as it was in the Small Plates section, so I knew I had to order the $ 4 option of Pork Belly. The requisite ingredients were there — scallions, bean sprouts, ginger and mushrooms (kikurage) — and there were two decent-​size slices of the pork. But I just wasn’t in the mood to tell Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road. My appetite felt unfinished, so I ordered dessert, an $ 8 Coconut Panna Cotta with Lime and Matcha Crumbles (photo:
). Liked it, not too sweet. The owners are still keeping the space for cooking lessons and a venue for future pop-​ups, so all is not lost, but it does feel like the end of a mini-​era.
FOOD — 3 stars… small plates is no joke with the tiny ramen bowls a bit disheartening even when execution was good
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… still a hipster diner vibe
SERVICE — 4 stars… the owner is definitely a nice guy
TOTAL — 3 stars… sayonara, Nombe… it’s been a nice run

Oh no what happened to this place. I brought a friend on a Thursday as I had mentioned I ate there a few years prior and it was really tasty.
It is now like tuna fish in a can, and not the albacore or tongol, but the good ol’ chix of the sea from grandma’s pantry (and for my grandma, this most surely means expired). Lets add some salty seasoning crumb crust to our ENCRUSTED tempura avocado which is now deep fried to a thick mozzarella stick like hardness and as if the avocado was brought to temperatures akin to melting glass, thus transforming it into an oozy pungent green lava with the added bonus of singing off any taste bud it comes into contact with.
The only other customers were a male and female duo that were either on a blind date, or a networking pitch gone wrong. Dude was so ‘silicon valley’ brogrammer cliché, and the diner setting was a twin peaks episode,. Was there more than meets the eye? In the end, the answer is no. She was uninterested in her ‘uh huh’ responses as she sat sideways in the booth, half paying attention to her phone underneath the table. Weird strange people on mission street kept rubbing their faces on the window as they grabbed a sneak peak.
The server was eerie at best. Mostly he was the most boring and non animated person to ever describe food or serve a customer. We will call him mr. monotone. Was is good? He Asked, when we didn’t finish our plates. And he asked if we if everything was all right. My friend could only muster a sheepishly delayed ‘thank you’ as the waiter had already retreated before hearing our answer.
Nombe…nombe gonna work here anymore

The 2 stars are for the decent service. Food was pretty much less than mediocre at best. We came here only because we read that this was one of the better ramen place in town, now we know.
We should’ve known since the customers in this restaurant were almost non-​existent.
We had:
Avacado fries: bland, lack of seasoning,$ 5
Chicken skins: 2 tiny skewers you could finish in 1 bite, this was 5 dollars.
Tonkotsu: broth was pathetically bland, noodle was alright bit overcooked, topping choices are very limited for ramen (and not very fresh).
The only thing that was okay was the pork belly on the ramen which was a 4 dollar extra. Ramen $ 8, pork belly $ 4. Chashu wasn’t even a choice nor did it come with the ramen.
Most likely won’t return, don’t waste your money coming here.

Okay, I saw the reviews. Mixed, but mostly bad. I tried anyways.
Ramen overtly expensive, charged me for meat & egg.
Tiny stingy bowls…
Broth overtly salty …
It was meah! Nothing to race on about.
The only thing great about the place was the mochi wrapped in bacon. But, it’s bacon! Anything with bacon is awesome!
Honestly, chef, you need to taste your own food. Seriously, uninspired… You need help. Tapas!!! For a Japanese restaurant that is very confused in menu, décor, and service.
I had a reservation. I waited 15 – 20 minutes before you served me & left before I finish ordering.
The Gyoza & mochi was only thing I thought was quite nice.
If you’re craving for fantastic ramen, don’t go here. Definitely not worth it. Please call Food show to help breathe some life into you. Very confusing & bad menu!
Oh, yeah, you were out of something when you first open at 6!!! Bizarre! Seriously, a disjointed place.

How come this place only has 3 stars?
My fiancé and I had our bday dinner here, although their service is slow, their customer service is really good. They gave us a flower and a candle to blow with our dessert! They’re just so sweet for that.. I just wish they would hire more servers.
I would also give props to the chefs who built the menu, my Beau and I enjoyed your unique and creative selection! We had the avocado fries (woo-​hoo avocado season!), Fava beans, roasted bone marrow (it was the bomb) Ramen burger, and coconut Panna cotta for dessert. All the flavors were on point!

Came here on the recommendation of the best ramen places in the city by 7×7 sf… Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Eats: salmon crudo, spicy tonkatsu, and the bacon ramen burger
Takes: Salmon crudo was great! The salmon was fresh, and the peppers they used didn’t over power the fish.
The spicy tonkatsu ramen was disappointing. When they say small, they really mean small. That was the smallest bowl of ramen that I’ve seen from a restaurant. The spicy seasoning was the forefront to the point that yes, you felt the burn and coughing fit as it hit your throat. The accumulation of seasoning rather than add to the ramen, actually took away from it; not sure how the bf pushed thru, but just one spoonful and a couple of bean sprouts later, I was done.
As for the ramen burger, I’m not sure what to think about it. The ramen buns were definitely on the crispy almost burnt side. It has potential, but didn’t meet my preconceived notions of a ramen burger.
Wait time: For a Saturday dinner, it was surprisingly empty. No wait time at all! The food did take awhile to come to the table, specifically the ramen burger.
Service: Our waitress was definitely very attentive, especially given that it was our first time.
Price: Overpriced for what we ordered. All of the above excluding tip was about $ 45.
Bottom line: This place has potential, but it isn’t there yet. I’d get my ramen fix elsewhere.

Tried their small bowl of ramen here and it’s nothing special, didn’t think it was extra flavorful or had exceptional ramen. But thesis purpose was to visit the origin of the ramen burger. Being the inventor of ramen burger, I was a little disappointed that their ramen burger didn’t live up to my expectation. It almost ruined my first experience being their their ramen «bun» was chewy and lack of flavor. It tasted like a clump of ramen that was overcooked and left on the counter for too long. Its like they just boiled it with salted water and shaped it, slap on some meat and be done with it. At least simmer the ramen in a broth to soak up the flavor, I really wish they had done that to heighten the flavor of the «bun»! The patty was oily so you see grease dripping through the ramen. The burger itself is tiny, it’s comparable to the size of McDonald cheeseburger.
I did give ramen burger a second chance elsewhere which made me believe that other restaurants might have taken the concept and developed a more delicious dish. I know it happens all the time, but I was really hoping the originator had the secret technique that no one had, I was wrong.

I’ve wanted to try the ramen burger for a while, and the one at Nombe wasn’t a bad one to try!
I like how there wasn’t too many noodles (to over power the patty), but I would have preferred if the noodles were chewier. However, would definitely recommend for the ramen burger novice like myself.
Bottomless mimosas were awesome, but too much orange juice to champagne in my opinion. However, if you get there early enough in the day that won’t be an issue ;)

Nombe is a cute hipster Japanese fusion place in the Mission. Looks like a diner from the outside. I definitely wanted to see what the hype is about to about the Ramen Burger but $ 16 bucks for a tiny burger was insane. The patty was a thin one, made with beef and pork belly, grilled all the way through for simplicity’s sake, but not really seared to a crust on the outside.
The sandwich was topped with lettuce, tomato, and homemade Japanese pickled cucumbers I got mine with Bleu Cheese. It was innovative and tasty not spectacular but I did enjoy it. Just not happy about the price and the size, 4 big bites and your done and wondering – duh was that it? The fries were good and the Sriracha ketchup was good!
Had the notable Bacon-​Wrapped Mochi. I like bacon, and I like mochi, but this dish just didn’t quite cut it for me. The mochi was deep fried before wrapped in bacon, resulting in too much fried food and consistency of mocha was gooey and kinda strange. Pass on this next time.
What stood out for me:
~kurobota pork belly, pork belly get in my belly! I don’t know exactly what they did to the meat before grilling it, but damn, it’s good. The outside is a little crispy, but the layers of fat and meat inside were so succulent.
~beet salad, well how can you screw up this one, but wish the portion size was bigger.
~ kara-​age chicken very simple presentation of cut up pieces of chicken that are battered and fried and topped with Japanese seasoning soo juicy.
Four stars because I liked the vibe, it is a good place to go take your friends have small bites and drinks and it is just plain fun!

My girlfriend and I were walking around the Mission on Sunday and walked past Nombe, so we decided to give it a try.
Nombe is a Japanese-​American fusion restaurant that is more American than Japanese…
Bacon wrapped Mochi — Surprisingly good. Recommended.
Petite tonkotsu ramen — I didn’t like the ginger in the ramen but at least the seasoned egg was perfectly cooked. The broth was a little too bland for my liking.
Hokkaido scallops — A little pricey, scallops were overcooked. I’d pass.
Chicken wings — Love it! Then again, you can’t really go wrong with fried chicken.
Prices are slightly on the higher side since it is a tapas place, but excellent service and passable food otherwise. More for chilling with friends and chatting than for actual enjoying of food.
Forgot to mention that the restaurant is pretty warm inside so definitely dont visit on a hot day!

Came here to try there ramen burger and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. The meat and flavors between the ramen «buns» were decent but the ramen component was incredibly underwhelming. I thought the ramen could’ve been a lot thicker to get more of that ramen taste. All I got from the ramen was a crunchy texture to an otherwise naked piece of meat. I also wished there was an option to order just the ramen burger without the fries and drink for less. I think paid $ 15 for the combo, and the portions were disappointingly small.
My friends ordered the oxtail stew which apparently doesn’t have much «stew» at all in there. It was four pieces of oxtail served over rice. I don’t think they hated it or anything but it definitely wasn’t what we expected when it came out. (I didn’t try any of it myself) Wouldn’t be completely opposed to giving this place another chance and trying some of their other dishes but definitely not in any rush to do so.

We had the pleasure of enjoying extended dine about town, so that was super cool! We also had the place to our selves, so the service was above reproach.
Why then only 4 stars you ask?
The ramen burger was okay… I guess it sounds better than it actually is. The Miso with bleu cheese is absolutely over-​powered by the bleu cheese… I ended up scraping some off — and I’m a huge fan of bleu cheese :(This is the primary reason for my rating.
The second knock was the recommended kobe beef roulade. Meh at best… the brussel sprouts were tasty!
So my gut wanted to give 3 stars, but I thought about it more — thus 4 and these are the things I liked:
Proper sake knowledge and pairing — bad A$$.
Killer pork belly skewers and other small plate items.
Apple pie dumplings — errr me gawd.
Bottom line, maybe skip the burger and go for more traditional Japanese house foods — drink sake.
**I do not think Sake bombs are an option.

Came here with a group of friends for Dine About Town. Nombe’s DAT menu was 6 courses, including a ramen burger which was an exciting prospect. For every course, you get to choose between two items. Menu items came in vegan versions as well, which was cool Here’s the rundown:
1) Edamame hummus with taro chips: super creamy hummus, full of flavor and great with the taro chips — 4 stars
2) Sashimi: thinly sliced salmon topped with guac-​type sauce– 4 stars
3) Pork Belly: two chunky pieces of crispy grilled pork belly; great flavor, just a bit too fatty for me — 3.5 stars
4) Karage: Run of the mill fried chicken topped with avocado sauce and diced radishes — 3 stars
5) Ramen Burger: got the meat (kobe and pork) patty, miso style (mushrooms and blue cheese); the patty tasted good but the ramen bun was super oily — 1.5 stars
6) Matcha and coconut panna cotta: decent macha and coconut flavor but the consistency was unlike any panna cotta I’ve every had — 2
The meal started out really good and just went down hill at course 4. This was the first time I had a ramen burger at a restaurant. The one other time was when I made it at home and it was delicious. For starters, it took forever to get our burgers and the end product was sub par. Most of us pretty much dissected our burgers and ate the insides and discarded the ramen buns. The final bill came out to ~$ 50 pp which I felt was not worth the meal we had.
Our waitress was really nice and I saw that she felt really bad that one of my friend’s ramen burger order was messed up. However, too many other awesome places in the city to come back here.

A «late» weekend brunch (2 ish?) is always pleasant here, as would be its oldies music diner setting which bring a smile to my face. To serve Japanese food within such walls does not seem odd to me; it is a different and homely way of business. Sort of like toned down Johnny Rocket’s, without the jukebox.
For food, I almost always go for the Kurobuta Okonomiyaki, and a blood orange mimosa. On certain occasions, the okonomiyaki pancake can be a wee bit battery, but it’s decent overall. Still flavorful.
If you get here before 3, when brunch closes, you can finish your meal at no rush!

Honestly, I came here because of a Travelzoo promotion. But I’m glad I did.
First off, we were 45 mins late for our reservation because of extremely bad traffic. But, I did call ahead and they accommodated our late arrival with no fuss.
The waitress/​host was very friendly and attentive. Our waiter was a little slow at the beginning (they were very busy), but more than made up for it the rest of the time.
We had the Beet Salad and the Japanese Salad. The beet salad was fresh and tasty with a hint of wasabi in the dressing. But the Japanese salad was to die for. I almost ordered another one! The playful interaction between the flavors and textures was a joy in my mouth.
For the second course, I had the chicken sampler, consist of chicken skin, Tsukune, chicken liver and chicken breast w/​scallion. They were all excellent and served with a sauce that enhanced and not overpower the skewers.
For the main course, I had the grilled Yellowtail Cheek. Perfectly grilled to the right crispiness on the outside and tenderness on the inside. Again the miso (?) glazed was spot on in flavor. My dining companion ordered the Hokkaido Totate (scallop), grilled and served with an heirloom tomato purée. The purée itself was was worth eating there! I had to restrain myself from licking the plate!
To finish off, I had the Green Tea Panna Cotta. The texture was firm (good difference) and it was not overly sweet. Quite enjoyable.
A very good experience. I will be back.

For izakaya, no.
For a ramen burger? Sure.
For a good time? Maybe not.
I came here for a ramen burger BEFORE it debuted at that street food festival. While the 3 (yes my skinny ass ate THREE of em) ramen burgers I had were good ok actually only 2 out of 3 were good, all my friends who tried it afterward were extremely disappointed. I’m actually embarrassed for Nombe.
So one day after work I hop on over to Nombe. This place has 2 entrances. Outside of the restaurant was a sign with ramen burger diners pointing right, sake class pointing left. Well where the hell am I going to go? Off the the right, right? One would assume, so I followed directions and stepped in. Thankfully one of my friends was already there so I scurried over and sat down. What followed after was a series of confusion. One of the employees decided to close one of the doors and then remove the sign. Periodically, he would open the door back and then close it again. He seemed to be annoyed that patrons were flooding in crowding around the doorway unsure of where to go.
MAKE. UP. YOUR. MIND. ABOUT YOUR DAMN SIGN AND DOORS. THAT WOULD HELP.
We ordered each kind of ramen burger.
The blue cheese w/​miso base sounded kind of sketchy but the blue cheese surprisingly worked with the miso and noodles. The blue cheese was actually melted into the crispy ramen noodles.
Soy base with cheddar and bacon was probably my favorite. Salty crunchy savory. That’s the way to go with a burger for me.
The third of the bunch and borderline disgusting was the tomato base w/​chicken liver. It sounded like it could be good, but the chicken liver is just a small sliver and it was deep fried to a burnt oblivion. «Tomato base» just tasted like a spoonful of canned tomato paste slathered on.
The flaws in these ramen burgers? Although the menu states 50% Wagyu 50% Nombe’s pork belly patty, the patties are on the drier side. This shouldn’t be happening with an ultra fatty combination of wagyu and pork belly.
Friends who tried the ramen burger after the food festival complained to me it was too greasy, ramen wasn’t crispy and the patty was too dry. Nombe, I’m embarrassed. What happened? Mine were ok. Maybe your quality control is slipping.
But back to my dining experience. We also ordered skewers just to see how their izakaya was. An order of chicken hearts, gizzards, and Brussels sprouts were placed. Not impressed. Hearts & gizzards definitely needed to be grilled longer and these should never need sauce. Simple grilling and salt is always the best way to go. Sadly, Nombe did not execute well. Brussels sprouts were good but nothing spectacular.
Waitress took an eternity to get us our bill. She said the bartender was working on it? When we finally got it, she came around with a cracked iPod or iPhone.
Nombe, step it up and get it together. I’m still going to drop by for a ramen burger every now and then but only when my schedule is entirely free, yeeeeesh.

It is a nice place. I tried the Ramen Burger, Suika Watermelon Cosmo, Vegetable Kushi combination. The Ramen burger was OK. It was better than what I was expecting. It was very juicy, and it was hard to eat it without making a mess. It had a nice and unique flavor. I could taste the Ramen noodles. The meat patty was very soft and tasty. The watermelon Cosmo was good. Typical girly drink, taste so could that you can easily get drunk drinking it. The vegetable Kushi was good. I especially like the eggplant nasu with sweet miso paste.
The customer service was OK. Food arrived quickly, if they made a mistake, they quickly corrected it. The ambience was OK.

Very disappointing meal I must say. Their ‘kaiseki’ dinner is nothing more than a gimmicky multi-​course meal. Not a real Japanese kaiseki in any aspects. Service was terrible. We had to constantly remind the waitstaff of dishes that were missing from our orders. Half way through the meal we waited over an hour for the next course. No apologies nor explanations given. When food finally arrived we realized they actually missed one course completely and had to bring out the missing dishes together with our desserts.
The mediocre food certainly didn’t help the experience. Their ramen burger is one innovative attempt that failed terribly. The ramen noodle ‘bun’ was soggy after soaking up all the grease. The texture was awful. Their ramen was very average and nothing to be excited about.
Ramen and burger for a ‘kaiseki’ meal. Yup.
Perhaps their izakaya is a better bet. Courses meal just wasn’t done right at Nombe.