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San Francisco Chronicle​

This hot Bay Area ramen spot had a 2-hour wait on opening day. Is it worth the hype?

Up until about a decade ago, I had mostly tried one kind of ramen: tonkotsu, with its thin, straight skeins and cloudy soup. Then Tsujita Artisan Noodle in Los Angeles introduced me to tsukemen, a Tokyo-born ramen where cold, thick noodles are served with a concentrated dipping broth. It was frequently named the best ramen restaurant in the region, with lines routinely snaking down the block, and it became my standard-bearer. Tsujita recently opened its first Bay Area outpost in West San Jose's Strawberry Park shopping plaza, a hot spot for Japanese food with several restaurants and the grocery store Mitsuwa Marketplace. On its grand opening weekend, the wait time was more than two hours. I haven't been to the Los Angeles restaurant in years, so I wondered if the new location would live up to my memory. It only took one bite to know the answer: yes. I'd put Tsujita in my top ramen spots in the Bay Area, especially since great tsukemen is in short supply here. It's a leading source for the ramen style, second only to Shutgetsu, which has locations in San Mateo and Fremont. On my dinner visit, I faced a line of nearly 50 people hugging the perimeter of a courtyard. I waited over a half hour before making it inside the snug shop awash in honey blonde wood. It was a packed house, with all 30 seats occupied by patrons noshing on jumbo chicken karaage or gleefully slurping down noodles. I ordered the deluxe tsukemen ($25.60). It came with two bowls: a cold one filled with a nest of yellow noodles, a lime wedge and a double helping of buttery braised pork slices; and another containing the warm dipping liquid. The latter was as potent as I remembered. A swirl of pork fat floated atop the murky brown broth, an intense distillation of richness, smokiness and umami with a fishy edge. How to eat tsukemen? Dunk the elongated noodles in the concentrated fluid and inhale them down the gullet. The lime provides flavor variance, a few drops over the noodles nicely mellows the reduced soup's intensity. Once you've reached the dregs, ask the staff to thin it out with complimentary chicken broth. While dipping ramen remains the draw, the tonkotsu, especially the spicy version ($18.95), is a wonderful alternative. The milky white pork broth is decadent, the noodles slightly firm and the heat level prickly but quick to dissipate. Tsujita debuted in 2003 in Tokyo before opening its first Los Angeles location in 2011. In the last decade, the operation has expanded to Texas, New Jersey and, now, San Jose. In its growth, the international ramen chain has maintained quality. While I think Tsujita is well worth the wait, line adverse patrons might want to wait a few weeks before visiting. There was one inconsequential detail that was absent on my visit: the pungent odor of long-simmered pork bones, which I associate with the initial Los Angeles location. I can't say I miss the scent, per se, but I affectionately view it as the perfume of Tsujita. Perhaps the smell is earned over time as it slowly settles into the walls. Tsujita Artisan Noodle. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 5-9 p.m Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 4330 Moorpark Ave., San Jose.