So this review is super delayed because I wasn't sure if I should review it since I had it as take-out and not in the restaurant, but I figured it's worth mentioning anyways. I got in late to San Mateo on Friday night and since Levi and Neera are new parents, take-out seemed to be the best option for dinner. Apparently the neighborhood that they live in is full of ramen places which I thought was interesting. I know that there are tons of Asians in the San Fran area but I was still surprised at how many ramen places there were in such a small block radius. We opted for Himawari mostly because they were one of the few ramen places that offered take-out. I actually was surprised that any ramen place did take out given the soupy broth base and difficulty in transporting all the ingredients but I was open to trying it out. I opted for the deluxe ramen ($10.50) and both Neera and Levi got the tan tan ramen ($8) and we also split an order of the fresh spring rolls ($4.50). The rest of the menu looked great but it seemed a bit excessive to order 2 entrees for dinner but there were other things on the menu that I would definitely check out at another time.
When we went to go pick up the order, the place was teeming with lots of Asian locals, which is always a great sign. I was curious as to how they would do take out ramen and they did exactly what I thought they were going to do which was to put the broth in one container and then the noodles and toppings in another container so that it doesn't get soggy. The deluxe miso came with steamed pork, egg, sliced pork, bamboo stems and green onions (I also ordered a side topping of bean sprouts for $1 extra) while the tan tan version came with spicy chili with ground pork. Even though it made sense to give us all the ingredients separately, it was challenging to put it all together in a bowl one has at home. Ramen bowls in restaurants are generally very large and deep to accommodate the all the ingredients, but rarely do most people have ramen style bowls at home. We had to kind of eat our meal piece meal by pouring half of the broth and noodles into the bowl at a time. I really enjoyed the broth of my deluxe ramen as it was nice and salty as a ramen should be but not to the point where I thought I was sucking on a salt lick. The egg was actually a bit undercooked, so it had almost a poached like texture which was fine with me because it gave the broth a bit of that yolky feel to it. The sliced pork was nice and tasty but I really liked the steamed pork better. The steamed pork was really just large hunks of pork belly and they were pretty heavy on the fat. Of course that's not for everyone, but I totally love to eat that stuff up. The noodles were slightly al dente but it didn't quite have the same fresh, right out of the boiling pot taste that you would get if you were eating at the restaurant. I didn't try the tan tan noodle but it definitely looked spicy as the broth was bright red. The spring rolls were your typical Vietnamese like spring rolls although it was a bit heavy on the veggies and not enough pork - but hey I got enough pork from my ramen.
All in all, for a soup based take out meal, it was a tasty experience. But the challenges of transporting the soup and the slightly out too long noodles still doesn't make take out ramen ideal. It's still much better to eat it fresh and pipping hot in the restaurant and if you live in the area, definitely give Himawari a shot. Total bill: $47
Photo Credit: Yelp
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