Hapa Ramen - San Francisco, CA

There's a lone ramen stand in the middle of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market - what do you do?  Go and eat there of course!  Well, it also helps that it's a cold mid morning day and the only other people sitting at the communal dining tables are huddled over a warm bowl of ramen.  Yeah, all I needed to see was that steaming bowl of ramen and it had me at "hello".  Mr Piglet and I are surrounded by so many food options at this market so we decide that we can each choose one meal item and move on....  Ha, like that's going to happen, but off we set to make a choice and I've made mine: ramen.

Hapa Ramen prides itself on the good stuff: organic ethical meats and veg from local farms, natural noodles and using some new and traditional cooking methods (who else uses sous vide on a food truck???).  The serve "nakanoramen" or noodles in season and their broth is a combination of tonkotsu pork bone broth and shoyu broth.  The smell coming from this tent is just amazing so I'm super excited.  I order their most popular ramen, take a seat at the now empty dining table (that is great for people watching) and wait for a nice bowl of noodle soup to warm me up...

Big Daddy Ramen Bowl - $12

Pork, 2-3 pieces fried chicken and a slow cooked egg

This is their most expensive daily option but they have daily specials that are also on the higher side.  We chose this ramen because it kinda gives you a taste of everything.  It looks and smells amazing and I dig right in.  The noodles are cooked nicely, the egg is delicious - they slow cook it for an hour to get that nice soft gooey texture that's perfect for ramen.  The pork was super tender but a little underflavoured and that's what the rest of the meal kind of continued on.  The fried chicken was also a bit on the bland side and would have been nicer if it wasn't in the ramen.  What's the point of putting fried chicken in soup? It just makes it soggy!  The broth was disappointing - too thin and there wasn't nearly enough seasoning, even with the extra seasoning on top.  And for those who say that it's good for being made in a tent, we've had better from Ramen Jinya, ramen also made outdoors.  For that price, I don't think I would order this one again.  Sorry Hapa!

Hapa Ramen has a nice idea: using and serving organic and local produce whilst specializing in a single dish and trying to perfect it.  I do appreciate the way they do business and we hope they continue doing what they do but we also hope they will also develop their flavours a little better.  (I know you SFers have a Ramen Santouka - go there for some amazing ramen!).  Unfortunately, for that price, we'd need just a little more but for those with milder palates, this might be the ramen for you though.  Take it as you like!

Oinks:

• Supporter of local farms and uses organic produce
• Fresh, made to order ramen nice for a cold day
• Cheaper ramen options available

Doinks:

• Cash only
• Limited operating hours and locations
• Ramen was just ok and our choice was on the expensive side