Tokyo Ramen

This is the best place to get Ramen in Eugene, the décor is what you are supposed to see in a Ramen shop. I do not care at all for the other ramen place down the street which is Eugen-​ified, but we will be coming back to this place frequently. We moved from a Japanese area in SoCal and were spoiled for choice and great ramen down there. While not the most amazing I’ve ever slurped, it is quite tasty and reminds us of some of the great bowls we have had in the past.

The ramen is marginal. A little heavy on he garlic. The non-​soup dishes are below average and the seasoning is not quite right. The pot stickers is basically garlic in a pot sticker wrapper with no other favors present when you eat it. This restaurant only serves as a quick and close filler for when Toshi’s is too busy or closed.

The ramen was so good, my four year old and I both loved it. Even better, though, was the service. Everyone there was awesome!

DLW and I wanted a weeknight out at a place we hadn’t been, and I was in a noodle kind of mood. We chose this place, and we were satisfied.
It’s crammed into a little strip mall across from the Safeway at 18^th and Pearl, easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. Parking is very tight, especially in front of the building. At busy times you may have to park at the Safeway or on the street. Nothing much to look at while you’re dining, yet they have outside tables.
They have a counter order system, like Toshi’s and so many other Eugene places. Rather than mixing and matching ingredients in standard broths like Toshi’s, they offer about 30 packages, including some seafood and chicken options. DLW had karaage, which came with nicely crisp fried chicken, and I had a shoyu version with pork. You can add corn, butter and extra meat for an upcharge, but we stuck to the basic offerings. Bubble teas were served with ice cubes instead of frozen, which I prefer, and boba were nicely fresh and chewy. Beer and sake are advertised, even though the Unilocal page says they don’t serve alcohol.
We certainly had plenty to eat, and we didn’t bust a gut trying to finish. Service was fine. It’s decent ramen, but I thought it was nothing special. Maybe the seafood offerings would be more interesting if I went again.

I don’t get all the hate
this place is nice, and it’s good to have two good ramen places in Eugene
it’s got a good range of choices, and prepare a rich, full bowl, with a lot of ingredients soaking with thick noodles
probably their miso-​based broth is better than their shoyu based one, but perhaps it’s just personal preference
I consider their product to be different enough from Toshi’s that there might be times when I want one and times that I want the other
the staff was nice, and brought out our bowls pretty fast
I will be back to try more options

For the obligatory comparison to Toshi’s… I/​we liked it a little better than Toshi’s, but I/​we didn’t have the exact same dishes we had there, so it’s hard to compare in a truly meaningful way. They certainly have a more extensive menu than Toshi’s, which I appreciated. We had the Jambon spicy seafood ramen and the Karaage Ramen with miso broth. We thought they were less salty than Toshi’s, which is a huge bonus to us. The seafood was plentiful and fresh and the broth was super tasty in the Jambon. The karaage (fried chicken) ramen was yummy and the miso broth was rich and tasty. The ramen noodles in both were perfectly cooked. We also had an order of gyoza, which were unlike any gyoza we’ve had before (and one of us worked in Japan a lot). They had too much garlic in them and little else (and I love garlic) and I would not order them again. The restaurant is nicely decorated and the staff were very friendly and attentive (especially after my friend spoke Japanese to the woman helping us!).

I never write a review on any restaurant before. I always check on Unilocal before trying a new restaurant. This why I never come here until today. I decided to try this place because it opened early than Toshi’s ramen. I like the environment and the service. I ordered simple yakisoba and French fries for my son and chicken karage curry for myself. Everything comes out pretty good. My son is very picky about food, but he finished the whole plate and kept saying yummy yummy. I also love their fried chicken, so tasty and crispy. I will go back there for sure.

This place started out really well and we were eating there often but then we got some rancid meat and haven’t been back since.

Everything I’ve had from this place has been fantastic! I got a cold ramen and my boyfriend the spicy jampon ramen, and both were super delicious! They seem really willing to change stuff up to your liking too. I was excited to find they’ll add an egg to your ramen if it doesn’t come with one. My boyfriend and I witnessed them catering to a particularly picky customer and they did it all with a smile. Service is quick and friendly. From the broth to the noodles, atmosphere, and service, I’m sold!

If you truly love Japanese ramen and are passionate about izakaya food, I suggest you stay away from this place.
If you like dark brown chicken karage that look like smashed hush puppies prepared by toddlers cooked in what seems to be motor oil (instead of golden crispy nuggets teeming with its own savory juices), this is your place.
If you like «chashu» pork that tastes like microwaved cardboard (instead of slow-​braised pork belly), this is your place.
If you like instant ramen broth that tastes simply like salt and MSG (instead of a soothing homemade soup painstakingly prepared to heal the soul after a long day at the office), you just might like this place.
Yes I do I know what I’m talking about. Nihon ni sondeimashita. If you don’t know what that means, welcome to Tokyo Ramen.

Since it seems to be obligatory to compare to Toshi’s, I’ll start by saying they’re pretty comparable but yeah I prefer Tokyo. Tokyo’s miso broth was richer. You get those fatty pools in the broth, that’s the good stuff. the noodles were fatter and less firm but that might be because we got it to go (ramen places, please keep noodles separate for to go orders). All in all they’re comparable but Tokyo takes the upper hand slightly. If I was gonna review a taken place based on gyoza maybe I’d go the other way but I’m not doing that.
Having a karaage option though… That’s a good move and it’s super delicious.
Still wondering why I can’t get an ajitama (egg) on ramen anywhere in town though?

One of my favorite places to get a good lunch in Eugene. The ramen is delicious and it’s decently priced. I also love their boba tea! Yum yum.

I think this place is great. I’m a snob when it comes to Asian food, and I honestly think is stacks up to Toshi’s at least when it comes to ramen. Give it a chance, you won’t be disappointed! I recommended the #7 Tokyo Ramen Miso.

Their ramen is the best. Come a little bit too salty for me but after that being taken care of. Their food is just awesome. Not to exaggerate, their food is the most authentic Japanese izakaya (traditionally a type store who serve simple but yummy food and drink to people who get off work late) type of food that I can found in Eugene so far. If you are into Japanese culture and want to get a taste of some Japanese food that’s other tha sushi, definitely recommended.

OMG! This place was great! I came on the recommendation of a friend. They were busy & you order at the counter. I just got their daily teriyaki special. Great! It arrived in a timely manner. There were a lot of asian people eating here. That’s a good thing. The chicken in my dish was cooked perfect. Not dried to a crisp. Lots of sautéed onions & ginger were added. A little side of steamed broccoli & some rice. It was exactly what I was looking for. I heard they do a curry soup? I’m a sucker for curry. I’ll have to come back! Not too expensive.

Two words: curry ramen.
Yes, yes, yes. It’s decent curry, even! And in service as the soup base for ramen noodles and other goodies. Their fried chicken is also quite good.
Service has always been fine, atmosphere is bright and welcoming, prices are Eugene-​OK. Don’t listen to the haters who pointlessly compare this place to Toshi’s.

Pleasantly surprised with my visit. Spicy bowl was delicious, hot sake tasty. Definitely would return!

I’m very fond of Tokyo Ramen because it reminds me of the types of small hole-​in-​the-​wall Asian restaurants that occupy Southside Berkeley’s Asian Ghetto. The food is always simple, cheap and hearty, and the variety is comforting– not too eclectic, but not too mundane.
At Tokyo Ramen, I enjoy:
–The burning hot and crisp chicken karaage sprinkled with white pepper and shichimi
–The savory curry ramen (with housemade, springy ramen noodles, and thick, stew-​like curried broth)
–And the ebi chahan (*perfect* eggy shrimp fried rice– exactly the kind of fried rice I dream about, each grain separate and oil-​slicked –but not greasy! – , and tossed quickly in a red hot wok, with plump, fresh shrimp, and a scattering of green onions).
These are all foods that effortlessly bring me back to my childhood.
As for the Tokyo vs. Toshi’s throwdown– I personally like that Tokyo Ramen offers eggs as a ramen add-​on. (Eggs make all the difference in terms of ramen enjoyability.)
If you visit, skip the selection of powdered boba drinks, but share an order of fried chicken & noodle soup with a friend. Add a soft-​boiled egg to coat your ramen noodles, and don’t skimp on the shichimi!

My second visit was disappointing at best. The broth tasted weaker. The karaage was mushy, like it had been sitting in soup a long time, and the coating had dissolved.
Worst of all was the gyoza. It was my first time trying it. The garlic taste overwhelmed everything, but it wasn’t even fresh garlic, it tasted like that cheap, bulk-​minced-​in-​oil kind. Nobody at my table could finish theirs. I made a face like WTF which the staff saw and kind of smiled about, rather than following up to see what was wrong.
Consistency is important to me when I frequent a restaurant. Toshi’s never let me down like this before, and their prices are far better. I’ll remember that next time I want to get my noodles on.

Tokyo is a just okay place to get your ramen on.
They offer the usual choices with the typical toppings, which I like (corn, bamboo shoots, seaweed, scallions, bean sprouts). The house-​made noodles are decent., and the house-​made broth, although rich, lacked flavor. The slices of pork loin in my bowl were cold. Please don’t pull the pork out the fridge and drop it in my hot soup.
It seems like it should be an authentic experience. All the items on the menu have Japanese names, which is not so good for us whiteys — «Hmmm… Should I order the Negikara or the Menma?» Annoying Japanese music plays throughout the meal. The exclusively-​Asian employees converse with the mostly-​Asian clientele in Japanese.
But not so much.
Bottom line: I only ate half my ramen and Toshi’s is much better.