Reviews for Ramen Kowa in Palo Alto, CA

Nothing bad, just wasn’t good enough to justify the price. The tonkatsu was flavorful, but a little heavy and not enough meat.... The classic shoyu was lighter and also had thinner noodles. Service cadence felt rushed. Read more

Came here with my mom and absolutely loved everything about it! We were seated instantly and chose an outdoor table since the... day was so nice. It is located in downtown and the street was closed off which was great. I got the miso ramen and my mom gotthe shio ramen and both were very flavorful. I would also recommend the fries with their okonomi sauce it is so delicious. Sincewe are Japanese, we have been looking for an authentic Japanese ramen restaurant and this is our favorite we have tried. Thereeven was a lunch special where you could choose a ramen with a $5 side. The owner is originally from Japan and is so kind. Thisis our new comfort food spot and we will definitely be coming back very soon. Read more

I enjoyed eating the Tonkotsu Ramen at Ramen Kowa on California Ave. It was testing delicious!!!! Love It!!!?????? Also, the... Ambiance after renovation Is charming! The staff is friendly and professional. You should visite Ramen Kowa!!????RECOMMEND!!!???? Read more

The ramen was good enough, a bit salty nothing super special. Other than the broth everything else was fine. What stood out was... the karaage. Both the dry and the one with sauce were phenomenal. Read more

Came here because Zareen's was way too busy and was seated here very quickly. Good: The karaage here is amazing! It's super... juicy and tasty - probably the best I've had in the area. Bad: The shoyu ramen was pretty average - pretty salty and I didn'twant to drink the rest of the soup. I did enjoy it, but I don't think I wanted to eat more of it when I finished the noodles.It's pretty basic tasting and I wasn't that impressed. The wait times were pretty long as well so we took a while to get ourfood. Overall may come again to try the curries here but didn't like the ramen here. I'd definitely order the karaage againthough! Read more

The namesake portion of the restaurant should be ramen and the ramen here at least in takeout form is only so so. Travel time... from restaurant to home was only 15 minutes but the broth already mostly cooled down, could have used a much higher temperaturebroth. Flavor wise, seemed to be high in sodium and doesn’t offer the richness of a traditional pork bone broth. Portion sizeswere ok but the low broth temperature had follow on effects for the noodle texture not warming up. Next time, I would microwavethe broth before pouring in to the takeout soup bowl. However, the one standout that I was not expecting was the Karaagechicken. This thing is AMAZING, it is really a standout. The beautifully breaded crispy pieces of chicken, nice hit of lemonfreshly squeezed, juicy perfectly cooked chicken, finished with a creamy sauce that isn’t overpowering. Great great job! Theramen was only 3.5 stars for takeout but may give it another chance if you reheat the broth before serving. Karaage chicken was5 stars and a standout and I could eat that as an entree any day of the week. Averaged out, 4 stars seems fair. Read more

Great selection of base ramen soups with plenty of add-ons available. They have indoor seating with a large window as well as... outdoor seating. The food came out quickly and everyone really enjoyed their meal. Very filling portions and friendly staff. Read more

I came on a Saturday evening and had the tonkotsu ramen, katsu curry, soy garlic karaage, garlic edamame, and gyoza. The ramen... tasted bland as if it were from a package. The noodles and broth had an overly floury taste as if the noodles werent drained.The broth was weak with little flavor. Additionally, they could have improved presentation by ensuring that the veggies and suchwere slightly above the broth line in the bowl. I'm no chef, but they might be able to improve the taste by ensuring to chagethe water in which they cook the noodles (if they dont already). The katsu curry- the katsu portion was incredibly dry. Theouter crusting/texture had a burnt taste. Again, maybe they could have changed the oil if it wasnt fresh. The curry portion ofthe katsu tasted normal- nothing too special. The gyoza tasted like normal gyoza that youd get in a supermarket. The soy garlickaraage was pretty good, but super oily- after opening the piece of chicken, maybe 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil came out. I knowits a characteristic of the breading and chicken, but raising the oil temperature prior to tossing in the chicken could helpmitigate this issue. The soybeans had a nice garlic flavor, which I really enjoyed, but they were extremely overcooked. Thesoybeans were super mushy as they were cooked for waaay too long. If the soybeans werent overcooked and they were a dollarcheaper, i'd buy it again. I think that maybe i'd try some of their other ramen items before completely knocking this place offmy list of places to go. Based on other reviews, it seems to be a fairly good restaurant, so i'll give the place a second chancein a few months to see if theyve fixed these issues. Read more