Traveling by car to San Francisco from Los Angeles can be exhausting. As we juggled between traffic and the slippery road conditions due to the rain, we eventually made a pit stop at San Mateo, CA. Luckily, Eric’s cousin lives there, so we made a visit to see her and the family (kids were adorable, I might add). Naturally, after we left the house, we decided to make another stop at a ramen joint in San Mateo. I mean, what's more appealing than a bowl of ramen on a rainy, 50 degrees night? Initially, we wanted to go to Ramen Dojo, but they were closed by the time we arrived. "On to plan B," we said, which was Ramen Parlor down the road.
One of the things that caught our attention right away was their large, vibrant glowing sign outside the joint. Another attention grabbing feature was their HUGE parking lot, a bonus especially in California! As we sat down, the interior of the place reminded us of a typical ramen establishment -- small and quaint with limited seating. Instead of ordering my usual tonkotsu ramen bowl, I was feeling a bit audacious. One of the ramens I decided to try was the Pork Tan Tan Men (red-chili oil). A little background information on the Pork Tan Tan Men. It is based on the traditional Chinese noodle dish from the Sichuan province known as Dan Dan noodles or Dan Dan Mien. The Japanese calls this noodle dish Pork Tan Tan Men. Characteristically, it comes with ground pork, large greens, and is known to be on the spicier side. Based on my first impressions looking down at the bowl, their version of the Pork Tan Tan Men highlighted all the key elements I mentioned above. As I took several sips of the broth, I noticed the spice immediately that usually is not present in a tonkotsu broth. The chasu (pork belly) was marinated and cooked well. I just wished it wasn’t so thin. I really enjoyed the vegetables included with the ramen -- shitake mushrooms, baby bok choy and bean sprouts (although I could've done without the bean sprouts). The two highlights of the bowl came down to the noodles and the half-boiled flavored egg. The noodles were cooked with the right consistency and balance as with the flavored egg which was not served cold! I was also impressed how quickly the bowl landed on our table after we ordered. For $11.95, the Pork Tan Tan Men will not break the bank but it is priced a tad higher compared to some of the other ramen joints on the West Coast. One recommendation I have is to be cautious on the level of spice you select from the menu. Their ‘mild spice' will send you fanning your mouth after your first sip of the broth! You have been warned!
Other notes: For the classic ramen, the broth was a medium pork broth, not too salty, good flavor profile. There is an option to get the broth mild, medium or extra spicy. Would suggest mild spicy if there is a preference for a kick to the broth because the medium spicy level already took the attention away from the flavor profile of the broth. Pork belly was excellently marinated and tender, but the reason for the lower rating is the slices were very, very thin. We would prefer to have the ramen without the spinach and bean sprouts. The soft egg was not cold which was a bonus. Priced at $10.75. Add extra pork belly for $2 (1 piece).