Hironori Craft Ramen San Diego

Come for the ramen - which is fantastic - but do NOT sleep on the rice bowls! Their chicken and pork bowls are delicious. For ramen, I love the tonkatsu broth and their “original” (thicker) noodles. I like that they bring you fruit-infused water to start the meal. And I love that it’s a “no-tip” establishment. Every check gets a small service charge and their employees get a decent wage. Service is always spectacular. (I don’t know if she’s a manager, but the young woman with the happy voice is a spectacular worker and absolutely delightful every time I’ve been there. If I owned a business in town, I would try my best to poach her. Haha!) Seriously, though: great ramen, great rice bowls, great crispy chicken, delicious spicy tuna crispy rice “toasts.” My only complaint is the “Cucumber and Crab Salad” (pictured.) While delicious, the “crab” is absolutely not real crab. It’s surimi. Which is fine IF THAT IS DISCLOSED. Because when a menu just simply says “crab,” it’s expected that it will be actual, real crab and nothing more. Surimi (“imitation crab”) is made from a paste of fish, sugar, starch, egg whites, artificial food coloring, and a bunch of other ingredients. That’s why food labeling laws require restaurants and manufacturers to clearly label the product as “krab” or “surimi” and NOT the single-ingredient food we know as whole crab. I don’t personally mind it, but it’s kind of off-putting to label a menu item as crab and receive imitation crab. For the price (which was pretty low!), I should have assumed it was imitation - or at least asked. My fault on that. Go! Use the “get in line” function on the Hiro Nori website before you head over cause it’s always busy - for good reason! :-)