I have eaten at Himawari twice now. The variety is good, and has sort of a "create-your-own ramen" feel going. You order a basic flavor (salt, soy sauce, miso, or spicy miso), and add condiments (green onions, seaweed, corn, etc.) Besides the ramen, they also have a few other noodles dishes, including "jar-jar men", a Korean noodle dish popular in Japan.
The food is quite good. The broth is lighter than Santa's powerhouse of a broth, and for the miso flavor, the broth had a notable sweetness to it. Those who think Santa's salt-flavor ramen is too salty will like this version, which tones it down a bit. The presentation is excellent, and the noodles themselves were decent.
I chatted with the owner. He operated a ramen shop in Japan before starting this restaurant with a partner. He plans to start advertising in the papers soon, but now he wants to get some word of mouth out. The place was empty this evening, but the first time I went for lunch, it had about 4 or 5 people in it.
I still think Santa is the best, but Himawari one probably is my next favorite. If I was in the mood for a subtler broth, I would choose Himawari over Santa, though. I think it may do well, it certainly is a little classier than Santa, and right in downtown instead of way down B Street.
In other ramen news, Ro-Zan Ramen will close down and become a Shabu Shabu place. That takes the number of downtown San Mateo Ramen shops down to 3.
Posted by ahyatt at May 5, 2004 06:38 AM