Kajiken
Abura soba, which is ramen with the broth taken out and the sauce turned up. Noodles get cut behind glass a few feet from your stool, and you mix the bowl hard for thirty seconds before the first bite.
Why go
Timothy Lu studied in Japan in 2011 and came home fixated on a Nagoya noodle chain. He cold-messaged the company on Facebook and persuaded it to open in California.1 He is now its first California franchisee, and this shop opened on 8 February 2023 as the chain's first door in the state.1 The shop cuts its thick wheat noodles fresh in a glass-walled room beside the kitchen. There are 43 seats and four of them face that glass.1 Toppings come on the side so you can shift the bowl as you go. Lu puts it this way: Every couple of bites, it's evolving.
1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Homura. The Chronicle calls for
the spicy pork Homura aburasoba or its intense richness that's highlighted by fish powder,
and rates the tantan,glorious noodles in a roasted sesame sauce,
astruly special.
2 - Avoid: a peak-hours walk-up. The Chronicle's advice is weekday lunch if the line worries you.2
What locals & experts say
- San Francisco Chronicle, on the room:
the best seat in the house is the bar near the kitchen, where you can watch someone convert spools of dough into the very noodles you're slurping up.
2 - MICHELIN Guide, on the condiment tray:
Tables are topped with a well-chosen selection of vinegar, hot sauces and powdered nori for adjusting to your liking.
3
Good to know
- Mix it. Staff are trained to tell you to combine everything
immediately and thoroughly,
for at least 30 seconds. Nothing goes soggy because there is no liquid.1 - Booking: none. The chain manages its own line at the door.3
- Which door. This is the San Mateo shop. The brand now also runs Elk Grove, Fullerton, Dublin and Seattle.4
Verdict
should-visit — Two Chronicle bylines describe this exact shop, two years apart, which is the strongest evidence behind any room in this town except the one with the star. Hernandez and Ho name specific bowls and say which ones to order, and the paper's own opening report explains the format, so nothing here is transplanted from a sibling branch. It stops short of the top rung because the format is a franchise import that has since gone to five American doors, and the thing being praised is a well-run version of a house style rather than one cook's own.