Rai Rai Ramen

Great quality, authentic Japanese Ramen made fresh. Many options to choose from, they even have a vegetarian ramen, if you’re into that sort of thing. Regularly moderate priced for ramen, but you’re definitely getting what you pay for. If you like spicy food go with the «Hot & Spicy Beef Ramen» or the «Hot & Spicy Seafood Ramen.» Not to mention the staff was very courteous & service was prompt.

Definitely a must if you’re looking for something comforting after a long day at the beach!
Vegetarians: This place is extremely accommodating and makes a special vegetarian broth! The flavor in the veggie ramen was clean and fresh, yet it was still really satisfying.
Meat lovers: you honestly can’t go wrong.
If you’re ever on this side of the island, check it out!

We were surprised to see such high ratings for this place, and here’s why:
When we seek out Japanese ramen, we’re expecting 1) Japanese cooking style, 2) Japanese ambience and 3) damn good ramen (there is definitely a wrong way to cook ramen). While the ramen here was not unsatisfactory, this restaurant 1) serves ramen cooked in a Chinese style with Chinese broth and Shanghai baby bok choy (not a bad thing, just not what’s advertised) and 2) clearly isn’t Japanese in any way, other than the waving cat figurine displaying a few Japanese characters.
At risk of sounding plenty pretentious (I suppose it’s too late for that now), this place made us wonder whether its’ fans have ever tasted truly Japanese ramen???

We had been meaning to try this place for some time, and finally got to do it recently. We were not disappointed. We ordered a shoyu ramen-​chicken katsu curry combo and a spicy beef ramen. The katsu was well-​fried and a good portion; the shoyu ramen was solid. The spicy beef ramen was excellent — a good portion of beef (thinly sliced round steak, put in the broth raw, phở tai-​like) and wonderfully well-​seasoned broth.
Definitely a cut above the Ramen-​ya and Sumo Ramen level, and you pay a slight premium for that, but it’s worth it, in my opinion.
The service was friendly and attentive. The air conditioning was cool, so bring a sweatshirt if that’s your inclination. Parking is free in the tiny lot in front of the restaurant.
Note: contrary to some of the (older?) reviews here, Rai Rai /​does/​take credit cards.

In my home area of Northern California, if there was a ramen place like Rai Rai, there would be a line of people wrapping around the block waiting to get in. I have literally waited for hours in SF to get ramen that is half as good as this, and paid double!!!
Rai Rai is our go-​to after hiking lunch, and we love it. I’ve had just about everything on the menu, but truthfully the best thing is the Hakata ramen. The cloudy bone broth and crisp veggies are amazing, with the ginger and garlic on top, this is a no-​question best of the best. We can’t forget to mention the amazing red sauce on the table, I have no idea what it is, but it’s spicy, flavorful, and so good.
Other than the ramen options, the katsu curry is probably the best I’ve had on the island, with super fresh rice, the gyoza are tender and pan-​seared, and the yaki udon was a great option for those looking for something different than soup.
I’d easily pay more for the flavor and quality of these dishes, but the prices are super decent and I’ve never had to wait long to enjoy my ramen. Parking can be an issue, as well as pulling out of the parking onto the main street, but it’s totally worth it. We love rai rai and we’re so glad it’s on our side of the island!

I got a double yolk egg in my ramen so I will automatically say it was amazing. Only con is that if they are getting slammed then there isn’t that much parking but overall it was good. I’m not too particular with ramen like some other people but I did like the taste. It was better than most of the other places I have gone to since they put more time into developing their stock for the broth, which gives it a deeper flavor in my opinion. I would say give this place a try if you are in the area just to see how it is.

I stopped at Rai Rai Ramen during a recent visit to Oahu. The restaurant is clean and service is decent but the parking lot is small. I was there for lunch by myself and ordered the oxtail ramen. I was not disappointed — lots of meat on the oxtail and the broth was pretty tasty. I was so impressed that I returned for dinner and brought along some family members. The restaurant also has a punch card — buy ten ramen dishes, get the 11^th one free. Prices are reasonable.

Ordered the shoyu ramen, boyfriend ordered the miso ramen. Both were really good. But the customer service was pretty bad. Considering there was only 3 other tables seated, the wait was ridiculous. Waited at least 10 minutes to order. Food took about 10 minutes to come out. Then after finishing our meal, we were waiting a good 20 minutes to get our check. Quick meal? Not here.
Would only return if we really crave ramen & it’s really slow inside.

Another food adventure!
January 3, 2016
This is another first for me… not only my first time dining at this place but dining at a ramen restaurant ever! I really have to expand my food adventures but my niece found this restaurant in Unilocal!holy moly, look at all those different Unilocal stickers on their door! It must be good with a solid 4-​stars on their review ratings.
Came here hungry after spending time at Lanikai Beach in Kailua. The place is a cozy, tiny restaurant with casual dining, we occupied over half of the dining area… there were 16 of us in our party and we were able to all have a seat! yay! I guess we came at a good time as this restaurant can have a full house every night with long wait.
Checked out the menu and our group ordered Kim Chee for appetizers. They have an array of noodle food to choose from including a variety of seafood, vegetable and meat ramen. I had the House Special Ramen. The broth was savory and had a lot of flavor. Delicious and tasty meal but I also wanted to try some of their rice meals, they have about 7 rice combos to choose from including your choice of Shrimp OR Chicken Katsu Curry Rice, Kim Chee Fried Rice, Beef Curry Rice and Mabo Tofu Rice to name some. The soup was filling so another time for the rice! Meals range from $ 9.50-$ 12.00 a bowl.
Parking can be a challenge as there is not much of it. We parked on the side of the restaurant (we got lucky).

If you want some yummy ramen in Kailua this is the place to go. The broth is so delicious and not salty like other places. And the meat is so tender.
It’s a bit in the smaller side but the food is worth the wait!

Had an early dinner with the wife 430pm, so there were no lines and we were the first customers. Service was good but the ramen and Gyoza were the shinning stars. I got the kimchee Raman and my wife got the oxtail ramen. I know it’s not the traditional ramen but we heard great thing about the place so we decide just to try something different. BEST decision ever, kimchee ramen & Gyoza was on point. From the look on my wife’s face after her first bite of the oxtail ramen said it all. This place was awesome, food didn’t take that long to come out either. I would most definitely recommend this place to anyone in search of a good ramen joint.
I’m from Guam and I’ve been around to a lot of different ramen places and visited Japan a couple times and sampled the ramen out there too. So needless to say this place is one of my new faves on this island.
All and all it was a little pricey but for good ramen it was well worth it, a must if ur in Kailua. ;)

After noticing this place on my drive through Kailua (I hardly go to the windward side which explains why I never noticed it before) and checking out the reviews on Unilocal I decided to make a point to stop here when ever I happen to be in Kailua again. And boy am I glad I did.
I ordered the kim chee ramen, my dad had the oxtail ramen and my mom had the mapo tofu ramen. The employee was friendly and informed my mom and I that our dishes are more on the spicy side. My mom and I didn’t find the dishes so spicy. I have a somewhat high tolerance of spicy food but coming from my mom that her dish wasn’t spicy — that is saying a lot since my mom is really can’t handle spicy food all too well.
The dad finished up his oxtail ramen to the point that even the broth was all gone — that is a great sign as my dad LOVES oxtail soup.
The place is clean, the employee was friendly and this is a BYOB place (no corkage fee). The reason I didn’t give this place 5 stars was the parking situation — it’s located on one of the main roads with 5 stalls in front parallel to the road, which makes it hard to leave the parking lot (backing up on to the main is probmatic for me). But despite the parking situation I’ll be back.

The soup is seriously no joke. Best soup we have had since we moved to Kailua 4 months ago. Make sure to use their spicy sauce — but make sure it’s used in moderation!
They have soup that fits everyone. My significant other loves everything so we was able to. Get the house soup with extra spicy. Since I have a sensitive digestive system i was able to get the vegetable soup with no noodles (I’m gluten free) and it was great! Since it didn’t have noodles they just added double the amount of veggies. It was filling and phenomenal.

My husband and I go here almost once a week! The food is so good and the ladies who work there already know our orders when we come in. Always seems clean. This is the only food place i will miss when we move back to the mainland.

Rai Rai Ramen was delicious! I tried ramen once and did not like it, so I was nervous trying it again. I’m so glad I tried it. Rai Rai Ramen was delicious. Flavors were rich. Food was on point! Customer service was great too! The server was very sweet! I would definitely come back :)

I’ve tried pretty much everything on their menu and it’s all yummy. I think the only ramen that isn’t as good as the rest is their shoyu ramen? It’s just ok. Miso, curry, mapo tofu are all delicious! Chicken katsu is always cooked to perfection.

My boyfriend and I were in the area after a sunset hike at Makapuu ^_​_​^ we had to kill a lot of time because this place didn’t open until 11:00 AM LOL but it was kinda good that we were early (we came in at 10:55 AM) because literally 10 minutes later the place was packed and the small parking lot they had outside was filled O_​O yay for being early birds!
Their prices weren’t so bad and they had a lot to choose from: D He decided to get the house ramen while I got the miso ramen set which came with miso ramen (bigger than I thought O_​O), four pieces of gyoza (YUM), and white rice (you can substitute for fried rice, it’s about a dollar or two more but totally worth!) For once, he was jealous of my food order and that was a major accomplishment for me xD We both really liked this place (and he loves his ramen) too bad this place is too far from my town xP
Oh! The service was good: D well at least the guy lol we thought he was the owner and he looked so excited to take our order and that made us laugh xD if I’m ever in the area, I would love to come back here again ^_​_​_​_​^

Never a disappointment, except for the fact that they are closed on Tuesday’s hahahahaa! No matter what I order, it’s quick friendly service and the flavors are rich and on point! My top 2 picks are the curry ramen and chicken katsu curry… Don’t forget to get your stamp card, good for a year, for every bowl of ramen!

This is local style ramen; I prefer Japanese style, but it was still delicious. They offer VERY large portion sizes at the same price as other local ramen joints. I got the veggie ramen and was pleasantly surprised and impressed at the amount and quality of vegetables in it – it was basically a ramen salad (a good thing in my book). It was the first time I ever felt healthy eating ramen, haha!

My favorite ramen spot in Kailua! I highly recommend the oxtail ramen (I always add corn to it), the broth is rich but clean tasting and it always comes with at least 6 pieces of oxtail. Second bowl I would recommend is the hot and sour seafood ramen, this broth is super rich and thick (like hot and sour soup) — very unique and delicious!
We also always get a side order of the Gyoza for appetizer and they never disappoint!