Ramen boy and I had a ramen lunch date at Ramen Hiroshi in Walnut Creek while his dad played tennis nearby. Great timing since we got there when it opened at 11 am and we were starving. It’s a small shop but well arranged with tables and a bar to sit as well and luckily we didn’t have to wait as we were the first customers. The menu is limited to five types of ramen and a variety of appetizers. There were so many great appetizer choices that I would have tried them all but we agreed to share the gyozas. The menu described it as housemade pork dumplings with crispy thin crust served with spicy sauce. I wasn’t sure if this referred to the dumpling skin but surprisingly discovered that it was the thin crust skirt on the gyozas which they flipped over for you to gently break apart to discover the little pork dumpling gems beneath it. Score! These were delicious that ramen boy only shared one gyoza with me. I asked him if these gyozas were in the same league as the bite size Tenten gyozas we’d eat in Tokyo. I’d buy them uncooked and would attempt to pan fry them never accomplishing the same kind of thin crust. He thought these were the best he’s had in California. This was a good sign that the ramen to come would likely be just as tasty. We both ordered the Hiroshi Tonkotsu Ramen. It’s their house signature ramen named after the owner with a pork broth, 3 generous slice of the braised pork belly which had just the right amount of fat and a chock full of goodies like a marinated soft-boiled egg, lotus root, black mushroom, seasoned bamboo shoot, green onion and red ginger. No need to order any additional toppings for this ramen. The noodles were thin and firm the way I like it since mushy ramen noodles are the worst. The broth was rich in flavor but a tad too salty to me. Ramen boy ordered kaedama (extra noodles) on the side but for the first time couldn’t finish it. Tennis will likely bring us out this way again and I definitely would like to come back and try the tantanmen and some of the appetizers. Ramen Hiroshi is definitely a ramen contender in the East Bay.
Ramen Hiroshi
1633 Bonanza Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Tel: 925-942-0664
