Kumako Ramen is a small neat eatery in San Jose’s Japantown, and after the drive from San Francisco to San Jose one day, my brother-in-law recommended we try this place. It’s a spare simple eatery with a straightforward menu and few frills.
We ate there. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law had shoyu ramen, my wife had miso ramen, and I had a spicy alternative called tan-tan ramen. My brother-in-law had the clam ramen, which had clams but had a heavy Italian component to the ramen he ate. We also had edamame and gyoza as appetizers. The gyoza were nicely grilled and especially good.
Shoyu ramen
Miso ramen
Tan-tan ramen
I liked the tan-tan ramen, the peppers and the ground pork added to the mix, the nicely regulated heat. There is very little staff in Kumako, just a waitress and two guys behind the counter but it works well, runs well, and I was grateful to be able to try this place.
Verdict: Inexpensive and good, this plate is a terrific little noodle house. Highly recommended.
Kumako Ramen
211 Jackson St
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 286-2111
Food Near Snellville 
December 3, 2009 at 5:42 pm
As if I didn’t need another reason to attempt making a journey to that area for a Le Mans race, the ramen eating bear would be enough for me (and ramen of course).
I’m not even kidding that I had to make sure San Jose was near Monterey.
December 3, 2009 at 8:50 pm
San Jose is actually the largest city in Northern California these days (ca 950k in population) and has one of the three remaining Chinatowns in the US.
There is a lot of good Japanese in the Bay area, and most of those restaurants have display cases outside, or photos on their menus, or both.
FnS.
December 12, 2009 at 11:11 am
Ooh, I was searching for ramen in San Jose and came across your post. Such delicious pictures! The broth doesn’t appear to be steaming hot though, was it? What is an Italian element in ramen, did they add different herbs and spices? Sounds intriguing!
December 12, 2009 at 11:46 am
The ramen broth was not delivered boiling hot, as the photos were taken fairly soon after delivery. My camera is optically image corrected though, and tends to minimize small amounts of steam in the photos it makes. I recall my food being hot, and hot enough for my tastes.
In terms of the crab ramen, you can click on and expand the menu photo above and it says “oregano” and “Italian spices.” My taste of it was something more Italian in character than Japanese, more like the broth in an Italian wedding soup than traditional ramen.
I enjoyed Kumako. It was an easy rival to the new ramen-ya in Atlanta, Umaido. And Umaido is a pretty serious ramen-ya.
FnS.