Ramen Yukino Ya

There's no shortage of good ramen in southern California.  I've tried most of the ones that hail from the land of the rising sun but I'm always on the lookout for good ramen that I've yet to try.

In comes Ramen Yukino Ya. Reviews on yelp were great and informed us that place is small and fills up quick. So of course I timed our arrival to correspond to the opening time. Also very helpful to know beforehand that it is cash only.

Restaurant is indeed small, probably sits less than 30 pax. Given that we weren't that hungry, we decided to order 1 bowl of spicy miso yukino ya ramen + bowl of stewed pork with rice and gyoza. We also got some hot tea to go with the food. I was rather disappointed that they charge $1 for each hot tea and that they used tea bags instead of loose tea leaves. I mean if I'm gonna be charged for something that is usually free at other restaurants, I would prefer if it was of better quality. 

Food came out pretty quickly. The stewed pork with rice ($2.75) was a small serving, more like a side dish. The pork was finely shredded and top with pickled ginger and green onions. The pork resembled chinese pork floss but was way more moist. Nothing really special but adds variety to a meal if you don't want to just eat ramen.

Next came the gyozas. 6 pieces for $5.50. It was pan fries very well and when you bite into it, it is still juicy inside. I would say the filling included chives (or the likes of it) and pork. Very tasty.

The star of the meal came soon. The red broth was enticing but didn't look oily. We added some garlic soy sauce they provided at the table.  You can't really taste the garlic but if you wanted a stronger flavor, ask for a garlic presser and add the minced garlic to your noodles. It didn't quite compare to Ippudo NY's black garlic oil, but hey, still a pretty good effort. I really enjoyed the spicy miso ramen. It had enough spice, texture of noodles was good and the broth was not very oily. If you get the yukino ya version, you get half an organic onsen egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, green onions, nori, and 2 thick pieces of chashu. To make it spicy you add $0.50 which made our bowl of ramen $8.75 in total. You can also add extra noodles for $1 more. Great value.

Verdict? Will definitely be back but will have ice water the next time round.

Ramen Yukino Ya 

18230 E Gale Ave

City of Industry, CA

626 581 8420

Hours: Tue - Sun 11:30am - 2:30pm & 5:30pm - 9pm