Yotteko-ya

It was raining again last night, and I didn't feel in the mood to stay at home and cook.  Since there were so many ramen shops that I have been looking forward to trying, I decided to visit the next place on my list, Yotteko-ya.

Described as a Kyoto-style ramen shop, this place is fairly new to the island, opening within the last couple of months or so.  I had noticed this shop on my previous visits to the McCully Shopping Center and since I had never tried Kyoto-style ramen before, I made a note to come and visit.

Making my way inside via the shop's sliding door, I found it to be brightly lit and full of seating.  Just a couple of tables were occupied when I stopped by at about 8:30 pm.

There was an interesting graphic on the wall with lots of Japanese writing on it which I couldn't read.  This same graphic was also printed on smaller sheets of paper and placed under the plastic "table cloths".

Printed on the front cover of the menu is the following:

"Our homemade soup is simmered for over 10 hours with the choicest pork, the freshest chickens and 10 different vegetables and spices.  This meticulous process produces a uniquely thick collagen rich stock that will actually help prevent aging of the skin and joints.

So, please enjoy our soup to the last drop and look younger!"

Now, I'm not so sure about the claims of looking younger by having a bowl of ramen, but I was willing to try a bowl...for research, of course.  After looking over the menu, I decided on one of the combo sets, Set A (US$8.95).  This set came with a bowl of tonshio ramen (ramen in a Hawaiian salt based soup), 3 pieces gyoza, and a bowl of white rice!  If you're on Atkins, stay away!

First the ramen arrived.  It was garnished with homemade chashu, green onions, black fungus, and toasted white sesame seeds.  There was a slight film that had formed on the surface of the broth.  There was no doubt that this was caused by all of the animal proteins floating around in the broth.    Upon taking the first sip, I was overwhelmed by the flavor.  It was interesting and indescribable.  I had never tasted ramen like this before.  The broth was thick and rich, and although it was salt based, it wasn't salty at all.  Amazing.  The chashu had a wonderful flavor and was melt in the mouth tender.  I don't think I could have made a better choice.

Next up were the gyoza.  The gyoza skin was perfectly thin and the filling meaty.  The gyoza were cooked just the way I like 'em, slightly crunchy on the bottom, smooth and slightly chewy on top.  Yummy.

Am I happy that I came here?  Definitely.  Would I come here again?  Absolutely.  The next time I'm here, I'm planning on trying the house specialty, the kakuni ramen.  If you like a good ramen that has a distinctive flavor, this is one place you won't want to miss.

Yotteko-ya
McCully Shopping Center
1960 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 214
Telephone:  808.946.2900

Comments

[FatMan Seoul]

Looks gorgeous. Except maybe the soup looks a tad oily. But hey, who am I to talk about fat. Thumbs up!

[Reid]

Hi FatMan,

I wouldn't say that the soup was oily, but there was definitely something floating around in there. It actually felt like softened gelatin for some reason. I'm wondering if this is because the boiled the bones for so long. It was definitely delicious though.

[MrsTweety]

Too yummy..!! i'm gonna die.. thinking of it.. now..!!

[Reid]

Hi MrsTweety,

Nice to see you again. This was actually one of the best ramen places that I have been to thus far. It was yummy indeed! Hope to see you again!

[julia]

wow, they simmer the stock for 10 hours? I'm sure the soup tastes awesome! And the plump gyozas look so scrumptious! :)

[anthony]

Hey Great. Don't know about Kyoto ramen as a ramen genre. 10 hours sounds about right for a ramen broth. Yum

[Reid]

Hi Julia,

Thanks for stopping by the blog. The soup was definitely great as were the gyoza. I'm going to come back here again and try the house specialty.

Hi Anthony,

I had never heard of Kyoto-ramen either, and that's what made me interested in trying this. The broth was delicious and potent. The flavors were great and so difficult to describe. This was definitely up there in terms of ramen shops here in Hawaii.

[stef]

Hey Reid,

That ramen looks really scrumptious. I really love charsiu ramen! I really have to visit Hawaii :) It's a little closer than home. And there are all these cool places to eat at.

Also, some restaurants sell gyoza that are just empty, sort of deflated. I think yours were great looking. If only I could taste it :) I make my own potstickers and I always love to overfill them. Yum, nothing like plump potstickers.

[fish fish]

Err~~ Reid... I never heard a Kyoto Ramen too (my eyes big big when see the quote Kyoto Ramen in ur 1st pic, :P), even though I hv been in Kyoto for more than 3.5 years. The ramen in ur pics looks more like a tonkotsu (pork bone) based Hakata style ramen. But Kyoto city do hv a lot of good ramen, from all around Japan. :)

[Reid]

Hi Stef,

The ramen was so good! I could have eaten more if not for the limits of my stomach! =) Hawaii's good for eating as we have lots of different types of cuisines available, but I think you'd miss Malay and Indonesian food, not to mention the Hakka, Teochew and Hokkien dishes that we can't ever get here. The gyozas here were unbeatable. They were plump and stuffed with so much filling!

Hi fish fish,

I'm not so sure about the Kyoto ramen designation either, but I had never seen this type of ramen here, so I just assumed that it was something different. Most of the ramen shops in Hawaii serve Sapporo ramen. This ramen was different and especially good. The broth was really thick and tasty.

There is one ramen shop that I want to go to, it's called Menchanko Tei. Their specialty is hataka ramen.

[E-r-i-c]

Hey dude, thanks for reviewing this place! We went out for my friend's birthday last night, and he saw your review and suggested we try that place out. All three of us tried the Kakuni ramen. GREAT STUFF!!

Keep up the good work on the website!

[Reid]

Hi E-r-i-c,

Nice to see you again...and you're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the ramen at Yotteko-ya. It's actually some of the best that I've had yet. I have yet to try the kakuni ramen, but I'll take your word that it's good.

Thanks again!

[MBS]

Wowee! Ichiban ono! I went here last night with a friend from Japan. This was the BEST ramen I've ever tasted! You could taste the Hawaiian salt, yet the broth wasn't salty (my friend said it had something to do with the stock), an incredibly rich taste, and it wasn't particularly oily. I also tried the noodles "hard" which means "al dente"--chewy without being too soft. Oishii!

Their chahan and gyoza was also great, particularly the chahan. My friend told me they used sake in their chahan.

Supposedly there is another restaurant in Japan. They owners market mostly to Japanese tourists, but they don't market to the local community. According to my waitress, they don't know how to (the owners are from Japan).

This is a shame, because they weren't all that busy last night, although parking at McCully Shopping Center is woefully inadequate.

I'm hoping to get KHON or someone to profile this place. I honestly don't know where else in Hawaii to get ramen like this and I'd like to see this place succeed.

[Reid]

Hi MBS,

I'm glad you enjoyed it just as much as I did. In my opinion, it could probably be the best ramen shop that I've been to. I also had the noodles "Japanese" style and not local-style (it's a preference of mine) and loved their texture. It would be sad to see this place close, but I think the location is all wrong for them. They would do much better if they were on the ground level or perhaps in the Keeaumoku/Ala Moana area or somewhere in Waikiki. I've been back a couple of times since this post and have yet to try the kakuni ramen.

[MBS]

Reid:

I definitely agree that their location is completely wrong. They do need a place like Waiks or the Ala Moana area because of the foot traffic from all the businesses nearby. McCully is more of a "destination"--it isn't near anything, no foot traffic, and the parking is awful.

I did email KITV--they do that spot "on the menu", right? Hopefully they'll feature the place.

[Reid]

Hi MBS,

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[Georgia]

Ohhh you make me jealous. I lived in Kyoto fo a couple of years and really miss the Kansai style ramen. In Sydney there are plenty of Ramen stores but they tend to make Tokyo style ramen which is ok but not like this! Great post!

[ernie]

The gyoza and kim chee was quite good, and the ramen noodles themselves were done to perfection. The service was very congenial and efficient and I felt comfortable dining here. The broth however, seemed a little bland and the chashu was almost nonexistent. I'd go back though, and I probably will.