Tsuta, the world’s first Michelin-starred ramen eatery, has officially opened an outpost at the Metreon in downtown San Francisco. Its reputation is legendary. On top of being the only ramen eatery in the world with a Michelin star, hundreds of people line up at 6 a.m. every day for a ticket to dine at the original establishment in Tokyo. Since this is Tsuta’s first location in the US, the Metreon outpost will surely attract long lines of ramen fanatics from all over the country.
The Tokyo location has only nine seats and serves just 150 bowls of soba daily. (The word “soba” here is not to be confused with the gray Japanese buckwheat noodles, as the word “soba” is often used in lieu of “noodles.”) While the restaurant doesn’t open until 11 a.m., tickets for the day usually run out by 8 a.m. Read this for an insight into the intense process of getting a seat. Fortunately, the SF location won’t be so exclusive. With 50 available seats, diners have the option of sitting at one of the tables or by the open kitchen, where they can watch their ramen get made.
“There are many delicious, noteworthy ramen shops in the Bay Area, so I felt that this was the natural choice for our first U.S. eatery,” says chef and owner Yuki Onishi. “I’m inspired by the local culinary talent and the energy of this city, and I am excited to introduce Tsuta to San Francisco.”
It definitely feels fitting for Tsuta to open its first US branch here, in a part of San Francisco that is seeing a ramen renaissance. The SF branch of competitor Ippudo is just around the corner, while the beloved tsukemen institution Mensho Tokyo is a 20-minute walk away. And beyond the city’s ramen restaurants, San Francisco is a city whose inhabitants love nothing more than waiting in line for the latest culinary fad. After all, who doesn’t remember the story of Flour + Water turning away the mighty Steve Jobs?
Unfortunately for me, while I do love eating and showing it off for the ’gram, I’m prone to hangriness. It doesn’t bode well in lines. So when the opportunity came for me to try Tsuta without the line — I had received an invite to Tsuta’s pre-launch media event — I couldn’t resist. I must slurp for the ’gram.
As I sat down, the first whiff of scent I got was that unmistakable bad and bougie smell: truffle oil. Friends, we’ve officially arrived at a Michelin-star institution. Two out of three ramen offerings include this highbrow ingredient, with its signature shoyu (soy-sauce-based) soba featuring a black-truffle sauce, and the shio (salt) soba, which includes a white-truffle oil in its chicken-seafood broth.
But did this bowl of noodles touch the depths of my soul in a way that the white fluffy Michelin man said it would?
My boyfriend and I opted for all three ramen options: the signature shoyu soba, shio soba, and miso soba. It’s also important to note that Tsuta’s broth isn’t very mainstream, at least not among the ramen chains in the Bay Area. Instead of the rich tonkotsu broth based on pork bones that most foodies here will be familiar with, Tsuta features a lighter shoyu broth in its ramen dishes. Chef Onishi claims that his shoyu concoction, paired with his special dashi stock made of chicken, vegetables, and seafood, brings out natural umami flavors.
But instead of a magical umami moment, all I tasted was a lighter broth that just didn’t feel as satisfying as the tonkotsu broth my palate knows and loves. I slurped away anyway — it wasn’t bad at all, and I was hungry. But did this bowl of noodles touch the depths of my soul in a way that the white fluffy Michelin man said it would? Not at all.
“I don’t know. I can never taste truffle,” my boyfriend replied with a full mouth, dribbling on the side.
I sighed. This is going all wrong. I’m supposed to feel like I’ve just slurped some life-changing, cure-all broth, right? As your resident basic foodie, my simple belief is that what the masses say is delicious should actually be just that: delicious. Instead, I’m slurpin’ and doubtin’ my whole belief system. Who’s in the wrong here? Lowly ol’ me, who may write about food from time to time or — oh — a bunch of the industry’s experts who actually do this for a living.
I mean, c’mon. It has truffle. “Am I just not classy enough to be able to appreciate this?” I asked my boyfriend, gobbling his noodles across the table. “I can’t taste any of the truffle.”
“I don’t know. I can never taste truffle,” he replied with a full mouth, dribbling on the side. Well, I thought, at least we’re a well-matched pair of unrefined eaters.
Our favorite dish of the night? The aburi niku, the side dish of charred fatty pork—small cubes of fat that just explode in your mouth. They’re a far cry from the subtle, exquisite tastes that Tsuta had promised I’d enjoy. I guess I just enjoy things that are obviously delicious.
If you’re a hopeless ramen-tic, Tsuta is definitely worth a try at least once. Props to Chef Onishi for giving shoyu ramen the representation it deserves in the Bay Area. Maybe we just don’t know yet how to love the shoyu ramen the way it deserves to be loved. Just remember that when you inevitably jump in line for Tsuta SF, it’s just another ramen chain — a perfectly acceptable one, just one that probably won’t change your life.
