My friends and my family were sometimes talking about that Dohatsuten changed ramen soup taste & how they ground meat cooked differently compared about 8-10 years ago. ( We're still love Yaki onigiri though! ) but especially disappointing to they've changed how they cook ground meat. maybe so that's why their dry curry with crispy rice things also tastes NOT good than before. I mean, It's like that happens when you put meat inside the pot when the pot isn't heat enough ALSO after when you put the meat in the pan, meat temperature isn't that much getting higher but anyway you start mixing. I understand that happens also when you cook bolognese sauce. You need to wait until the ground meat surface color changes like hamburger. When you put a tons of ground meat in the heated pot, most of people worried about to avoid getting burned the meat especially part of touching the bottom of the pot. Most of people start trying to mixing to cook ground meat cook evenly. This way of ground meat cooking is leaves 灰汁 (aku) flavor. Because if you start mixing before ingredients start blackening surface of the ingredients , that is not stir flying, it's almost like simmering. If you're stir-frying a huge amount of ground meat all at once, these problems are more likely to occur. It's important not to stir it frantically. If you see cloudy meat juices right at the start of stir-frying, it means the process is turning into more of a simmer than a stir-fry. Even if the meat juices become clear later. it's differences"stir-fly"process between Japanese way and Mexican way. Yes, I totally respect and love Mexican cooking style, but I think it's not matched to Japanese food. We love your restaurant from when you opened dohatsuten. After Covid we mostly getting your food from Uber eats or DoorDash because convenience for us We're still enjoying your food when we visit in Bay Area even we moved to other states now read more

7/25/26 Dohatsuten 799 San Antonio Rd Palo Alto, CA 94303 I went there just after opening for an early Saturday evening solo Ramen. It's on San Antonio close to East Charleston. There is parking on the LHS and in the back. There was one other party there and I was seated immediately. The interior is a clean table and chair with a counter and stool setup. They also have outdoor patio area tables with umbrellas. The menu has three sections; Cold and Hot Tapas, Ramen and Rice selections. I chose the Spicy Miso broth Dohatsuten Ramen. My noodles were served super fast, under 5 minutes, they must have all the ingredients prepped. My ramen had three kinds of pork; the standard Cha Su, ground and shredded. There was also cabbage and carrots along with the bean sprouts. Topped with half an egg and the broth moderately spicy for me. The noodles were very thin but still al dente. A very good unique Ramen. Service was excellent. A good value and very repeatable. read more

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Absolutely delicious food and stellar service. Li will make you feel like you're visiting her home: so much warmth and checking in multiple times to make sure we were enjoying our meal or if she could bring us anything else and Julian was on top of it, noticing when people needed more water or chopsticks. We sat outside since we had a pup and really enjoyed the patio ambience and music. As for the food, we got kimchi, wakame salad, tonkotsu broth with pork ramen, seaweed onigiri and chicken karaage. We also got an Arnold Palmer and lychee sake. Everything was absolutely delicious and my daughter, a quarter way through her ramen, was already planning the next visit with friends. read more

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I wrote my initial review back in 2017, and since then I've eaten here at least 30 times.. maybe more. I've honestly lost count. Still love the tonkotsu / Dohatsuten ramen. It's basically my favorite ramen across all the ramen spots I've been to in the Bay Area. I find it very hilarious to have a favorite ramen place whose name means furious :) read more

My love. A hole in a wall. Nothing fancy but always delicious meals. Service is on the slower side but servers are very friendly and nice. Always smiling. I love Asahi and Dohatsuten Shio Ramen. The pumpkin croquettes and sweet chicken are my kids favorite. I enjoy the nankotsu karaage. read more

Dohatsuten - Shoyu Dohatsuten ramen - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I absolutely love the Ramen and appetizers here. It's a smaller restaurant and the parking isn't always ideal since its very limited. However the food is phenomenal. I highly recommend getting Ramen here, the taro pork is my favorite. We also enjoy getting chicken karage and spicy edamame for appetizers. read more

Dohatsuten - Ramen and spicy edamame - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

There are not too many vegetarian menu. The one that I was thinking of having was "sold out", it was Baachan flavored rice and we were there at 6:30pm. I guess they didn't really make too much daily. So the other option I had was vegetable ramen or the hot stone rice. I ordered the veggie ramen and it was not bad. The others ordered curry flavored beef iron yakimeshi and dohatsuten ramen. Both said they are just okay. We sat outside, table is a bit weird, the last slat of the table was slanted so it was a bit awkward. It was worth trying. read more

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The service was very quick, in and out ramen restaurant. Bringing water to the table and taking our orders without having to wait too long. It's a very cozy, small establishment with limited parking. I got the Dohatsuten ramen and it was really delicious. The broth was very flavorful, not too salty the texture of the noodles was perfect. Use to work in the area and come here a lot for lunch back in the day and they still have the best Tonkatsu and Dohatsuten ramen broth! The elderly waitress should look for another profession because she is very rude but since I have been here many times before and I know the food is good, so I was able to look past it but not the party I was with, along with other patrons inside the restaurant that evening. read more

I've been here over 5 times within the past few years. It's not the best ramen I've had, but it does fulfill the ramen craving. The meat in the ramen and rice bowls tends to be dry almost every time I come, which is the main reason for my rating. My most recent time I got the chashu & takana on the cast iron skillet which had good crispy rice but the chashu was dry and stringy. I usually do the Asahi's chashu ramen with tonkotsu broth, but once I went with the taro pork ramen with tonkotsu broth since I wanted more fatty meat. It was pretty good and the noodles had an eggy taste which I liked. Meat is quite fatty if you're into it, and the non-fatty lean pieces were pretty tough to chew. Couldn't chew through some of the lean parts. Their chicken karaage is amazing though! I love the texture and batter. Pieces are huge too. We also tried the sweet soy-glazed tofu once, but found that we like their agedashi tofu more. They also forgot our half eggs in the ramen another time, but they gave us extra whole boiled eggs to take home when we mentioned it which was very kind of them! It also tends to get really stuffy and smoky inside. Parking lot is small and can be hard to come in/out when crowded. read more

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Fast and friendly service Family friendly environment Food was tasty and well priced for portion. The Dohatsuten Don was garlicky, spicy and delicious. read more

Dohatsuten - Dohatsuten Don - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I came at 6:30pm on a Wednesday and was sat down immediately. The service was very quick , bringing water to the table and taking our orders without having to wait too long. It's a very cozy establishment, feels like you're eating in someone's house. The karaage came out first and was THE BEST karaage I've had outside of Japan. Huge portions, lightly coated and perfectly fried. The chicken itself was flavorful and moist, I ended up asking for more mayo to dip because there can never be enough mayo. When the ramen came, I was also amazed at how large the bowl was...it could've fed two people easily! There were three types of pork in the ramen: sliced pork, ground pork and chunks of pork. The one aspect that I wasn't a big fan of is that there was a variety of boiled veggies, which I found a bit odd. The seasoned egg was good, looking back I would've added an additional egg. The broth was good, slightly spicy but it wasn't the usual tonkotsu broth that you find in Japan. The karaage was a 10/10, ramen 7/10. read more

Dohatsuten - Dohatsuten ramen- tonkotsu - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Really quick in and out ramen restaurant. I got the Dohatsuten Ramen and it was really delicious. The broth was very flavorful, not too salty and not too thick. I also really enjoyed the texture of the noodles. I left full, but not too full. The perfect amount for one serving. The only reason I gave it a 4 star was because it is exactly what I'd expect for the price, around $18 with tips and tax. If it was $15 or less on the menu, it would be a steal. read more

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I always get the Dohatsuten Ramen with Tonkotsu Pork broth. Super good! There's not much seating inside, so I'd recommend takeout if you're in a rush. read more

Dohatsuten - Dohatsuten Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Love this place! It is our go to spot when we stay at the AC Hotel Palo Alto when dropping off our son at college, and it is walking (or stumbling) distance away. We had to write this review because this is no 3.5 star place...it is excellent. I usually go after the Ramen and try to help down a pitcher of Sapporo but tonight I tried something different and I am glad I did! The small Donatsuten Don was the perfect size to combine with Kim Chee and a few gyoza. My lovely wife stuck with the Donhatsuten Ramen which was predictably delicious. It my choice let me try more! Great place and will keep coming! read more

Dohatsuten - Donhatsuten Don and Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

This is my go-to ramen spot in the area. I recently took my team here for lunch, including a couple of co-workers who haven't had ramen before. It was no surprise that they loved it! Everyone ordered a different one, but I always go for the pork w/ tonkutsu (sp?). The flavors are great, and work so well together. The broth... We also ordered some apps to share. The karage is crispy and light, and the chicken is perfectly cooked. The spicy edamame hit the spot, and the calamari is a favorite of a few folx on the team. We chose to sit outside on the picnic benches, where folx could grab some shade or sun, depending on their mood. The road is right there, but you don't even notice it while you're eating. The service is good, not great. They tend to run a bit more than they need to when they are busy and probably could learn something about treating the whole party as one table, and even treating their section as one table so they don't run back and forth for separate asks. read more

Dohatsuten - The best broth around! - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Love the food. My fave? The signature dish spicy Dohatsuten Ramen. Tried several sides- all excellent. Going tonight!

Disgusting! We ordered a tuna mayo rice ball and there is a living green maggot on the tuna. It was ordered for my 3 yo daughter, it's just so disgusting and dangerous, she could have got food poisoning from that! I told the waiter and she just replaced it , didn't even apologize. But of course I won't trust the replaced one either. And even worse, I am uncomfortable with all the other dishes now. I barely ate them and just left soon. For your own health , don't come to this restaurant read more

They don't honor their own gift cards, I can't give this place a good review because of this bait and switch.

The menu looked good and the pictures looked good so we decided to give it a try. We ordered the beef tongue for appetizer. I wish they cooked it maybe 30 seconds less because when tongue is overcooked it can be a bit chewy. Didn't care for the lemon or the onions but the dipping sauce was good. The ramen took quite a while to come out. The noodles were under cooked and were similar to the ones you'd get in instant noodle or reminded me of wonton egg noodles. Wasn't horrible but wasn't my favorite. I was surprised and not a fan of the large amount of cabbage and carrots they put in their ramen. Unusual and I ended up picking out a lot of it because eating it every bite was a bit much. We got one spicy miso but the broth tasted more like tan tan/peanut, we also tried the spicy seafood ramen special. I preferred that one more as it had a generous amount of clams, shrimp, and calamari. I'm not sure what chunk of something I ate but it was possibly butter. When we were still eating, the worker told us to pay the bill because it was "closing time". We were so close to being done and it wasn't closed yet so I didn't appreciate her rushing us like that. Would I come back? Probably not. But they do have a lot of options on the menu for people who enjoy other things. read more

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A giant bowl of ramen but not the best. Overall it's a lot of food, but not a lot of cohesive flavors. A very affordable spot if you are craving ramen. The atmosphere was very nice and the service was also very good! read more

Dohatsuten - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I was pretty happy with my experience here at Dohatsuten. Came here to meet up with a friend for lunch, they had plenty of outdoor seating when we arrived so we got to choose where we wanted to sit. The owner/manager offered to bring out a bowl of water for my dog which was a nice gesture. My friend and I decided to both get the Dohatsuten ramen. I ordered mine with tonkatsu broth and with an added poached egg. I thought the meal was delicious - the broth was savory and umami, the noodles were well cooked, there was a generous portion of meat, and the toppings all paired very well together. I ended up eating the whole thing and didn't even feel overly stuffed afterward. read more

Dohatsuten - House ramen - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I think it was just a normal ramen place not exceptional but not too bad. I got the spicy miso ramen with the chicken karaage. Service was good! read more

Dohatsuten - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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3.5 stars. Simple, flavorful, and satisfying! :) We waited behind two other parties, and although there were plenty of open tables both inside and outside, the kitchen seemed short-staffed and working hard. They were also handling a lot of takeout orders, so our wait was about 25 minutes. We ordered the Oyako Don, Miso Soup, and Pumpkin Croquettes. My favorite was definitely the croquettes. I'm a HUGE fan of stuffed savory pastries, and these were both savory and naturally sweet from the pumpkin. A perfect start to the meal. The miso soup had a strong miso flavor, which made it taste quite salty, and I felt the same about the Oyako Don with its chicken, egg, rice, and green onion mix. Overall, it was a bit salt-heavy and could have been even more delicious with a lighter hand on the salt. read more

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They give massive portions which is nice and the food was alright enough, it's just that nothing about thr food particularly amazed me.

After picking up my daughter, we decided to wait out traffic a bit and stop here, since I had been eyeing the place for some time. The Tan Shio was tasty and could have been what caused our stomachs to have issues the following days. I had the Tato pork ramen and it was bland and fatty tasting, the pork belly didn't look like pork belly. My daughter had the tsukemen and her chasu pork was the n the bland side even with the dipping broth. Service was scarce, dinner was just starting I guess. read more

Dohatsuten - Asahi Chasu and cold noodles - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

We wanted a hole in a wall place to have lunch while in this area. We looked up this place ahead of time and headed over here after our morning activity. Has their own lot and two men and women restroom located outside in their parking lot. Indoor and outdoor seating. We opted for indoor and the man who checked us in got us a high chair for our little one. Lamented menus and the decor is very outdated and homey. Service is a minimal which we are perfectly fine with. The food took a while to come out even though we arrived shortly after they opened at 11am and it wasn't overly busy. Yaki Onigiri $6.95 (2 pieces. Grilled rice balls, soy sauce & butter-flavored, no filling) Well done. All three of us were able to enjoy this. Came out pippin' hot! Dohatsuten Ramen $16.25 (Spicy garlic minced pork, shredded chili, chashu pork, stewed taro pork, cabbage, carrots, green onions, chives, bean sprouts, nori seaweed, half egg) - My husband's. He enjoyed it. Taro Pork Ramen $15.95 (simmered tender pork belly, green onions, bean sprouts, spicy bamboo shoots, nori seaweed, half egg*) + extra noodles. We both got ours with Tonkastu broth. Unfortunately, I felt like the broth was spicy. I don't like spicy and we came with our toddler in which I was sharing my noodles with. I can eat spicy but it doesn't make my dining experience enjoyable. My pork belly was soft and delicious. We won't be coming back unfortunately as I don't want to be surprised by a spicy broth. Price point is good. read more

Dohatsuten - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Dohatsuten is my favorite ramen and tapas place around here!! I'm sure they recognize me by now with all the times I go. My favorites are the Asahi's Chashu ramen and the Curry Flavored Beef Iron Yakemishi. The staff are always friendly and I've never had any complaints about the service. read more

So I think this is definitely a hidden gem among ramen spots in the area. They give HUGE portions, with really excellent flavoring. If it is your first time, be sure to go with the Dohatsusen, with your selection of broth. The spicy miso is legit, and they will top it off with the spicy minced pork that makes this place so unique. Oyako don is great as well, and they have a menu catered to kids (Yup, they will eat their vegetables for a chance at getting something from the gatcha machine!) If the indoor seating is too old school for you, then the outdoor seating is a nice option. Just know there might be winds. read more

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This place is great. I love the pork belly Raman. Edamame garlic peas. That's my go to.

Very small restaurant but still tasty food. It will feel a little cozy in the restaurant as there is only Limited seating. And although we Came when it was very busy (valentines day '!!) there was still such great customer service. 1 thing you should DEFINITELY ORDER is the CHICKEN KARAAGE!!! The price was worth every penny, such a great decent amount and amazingly big pieces. Not like other ramen restaurants with a 1-2 bite karaage. :) read more

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Spot for ramen and other small plates in a hidden area off of San Antonio. Food: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 2 Cost to worth it rating: 3 Opentableable: no reservations Return worthiness: wouldn't run back but might try other items on the menu if others wanted to go Highlights: - Pumpkin croquettes: my fave dish we had. Crispy katsu-like exterior with smooth and slightly sweet pumpkin inside. 5 stars - Variety of menu: cold and hot appetizer plates, several ramen broth options, rice bowls, and onigiris. - Big patio outside on the street that could be nice in warmer weather. Midlights: - Spicy miso signature ramen: thin meat cha shui and chunks of pork belly were good. Huge bowl. Broth was ok but didn't have much depth. 3 stars - Shrimp dumplings: not much flavor. Boiled and shrimp very minced. 2.5 stars Lowlights: - Atmosphere: low key, no frills, casual environment which is fine, but the environment wasn't so inviting to dine in. Was ok and there are so many Japanese ramen places around not sure if we'll be back. read more

I've been dining here for years but I think there has been a change because the menu changed and the food isn't as good as what it used to be so I'm not eating here anymore. It's pricey and the broth is bland. It's frankly the worst broth I've had in a while. I'm not eating here anymore. read more

Went for Lunch Food - 3/5. The yakimeshi was loaded with toppings with a healthy portion of chashu. Chashu had good sear and seasoning but was on the drier side. Kimchi had good flavor but was cut way too big, especially compared to the chashu, making for an uneven bite. Soybean sprouts were present to include a crunchy texture but because the kimchi was already there providing that, the textures just clashed; I would've preferred the sprouts to be cooked. Rice was fluffy with a nice crust but the hard texture got tiring due to the dryness of the pork. The concept sounded great but the execution fell short of expectations. Service - 4/5. Service was prompt and the food was delivered quickly. Value - 2/5. The chashu & kimchi rice bowl was $19 which is pretty standard in the area. Portion size is good, but the quality leaves much to be desired. Parking - Private Lot (Free) read more

Dohatsuten - Chashu & Kimchee - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

3/3.5 stars. Mom and I checked out Dohatsuten for the first time on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. I found them via Yelp search, but since it was the evening before Thanksgiving, I gave them a call to make sure that they were open. When the waitress answered the phone and I asked them if they were serving dinner that night, she replied, "Yes, we are open..." and immediately hung up. I tried to call back to find out what time they were closing, but my second ring was left unanswered. Upon arrival, Mom and I immediately recognized the restaurant which we have driven by so many times. Finally, we were about to try them out. The venue is like a small house that could probably host about seventy-five to eighty-five guests inside and possibly about forty more outside. There is a small parking lot for patrons and if you arrive sans reservations, the wait list is at the hostess podium for signing in. When we arrived, there was a family of four on the sign-in sheet before us. We probably waited between fifteen to twenty minutes to be seated. Not sure if they were short-staffed that night, but there were only two servers on the floor, so moving tables wasn't done in the most expeditious manner. In fact, our waitress, whom I speculate was the same person who answered the telephone when I called earlier, seemed overwhelmed by keeping up with everything. Her stress level didn't soothe until incoming traffic slowed down. As such, service was ok - not the best, but not the worst. We ordered a small hot sake to share and three food items: Pork Gyoza - Great flavour with a nice crisp. Asahi's Chashu Ramen with Tonkotsu Pork broth - Thumbs up from Mom. Vegetable Ramen with Tonkotsu Pork broth plus a Whole Soft Boiled Egg & Spicy Minced Pork - Good, but a little more variety in the veggies would have made for a better bowl. Perhaps trade the baby corn for spinach? The scoop of minced pork was also not much bigger than the Whole Soft Boiled Egg...and I would have loved a lot more broth. I usually like to order a curry dish with ramen, but after learning that Dohatsuten's Curry Don is served without curry sauce, I didn't order this Donburi. Our neighbours at the adjacent table told me that the Curry Don is a go-to/regular dish and is very tasty. I might need to try it if I return. Overall, B grade. read more

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Really great service! Everything we ordered was so good! The place felt warm and cozy and evening was so clean! read more

Dohatsuten - Chicken, pork dumplings, ramen - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Can't believe I've never reviewed this STAPLE restaurant! We love their ramen. Is it Nagi? No. Is it solid? YES. The kids ramen is perfect for a good eater. The Dohatsuten tonkatsu is delish, and my standard order for the last 10 years. That said, I recently tried the Iron Yakimeshi with mentai and takana (dried anchovy and cod roe) and my life has never been the same. I've probably had it 2-3 times a month ever since. It's insanely good, and craving-worthy! We always order the edamame, fried calamari, and yaki onigiri too. *text friends- are we crispy rice tonight? Yes, yes we are* read more

Delicious broth. Spicy miso is maybe a 5 medium level spice. Chewy noodles. Very flavorful. Nice breezy patio. Neighborhood gem. read more

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My cousin and I came here for lunch. We were seated quickly and they have a very nice outdoor patio with lots of tables. We ordered the agedashi tofu to start. It was good; it came with a lot of nice toppings along with the tofu itself. I wish there was a bit more. My cousin ordered the Asahi's Chasu Ramen with the pork broth. She said it was very delicious and the soft boiled egg was perfectly cooked. I ordered the clam and kimchee with the soy broth. It was quite good. Lots of noodles and veggies. There weren't that many clams so it wasn't too fishy and the kimchee was the perfect amount so it wasn't overwhelming. Overall, quite tasty! Our food came out very quickly and service was great. Will be back to try more of the appetizers - they had many hot and cold options. read more

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I have been meaning to try this place since forever but long lines and wait times usually deterred me from trying them before. However, they have been managing their delivery and curbside pick up pretty well since Covid, so I finally decided to try their takeout. I ordered Takochan Takoyaki for appetizer which is basically deep fried Octopus mixed with flour. For entree we ordered Curry flavored beef Iron Yakimeshi and Spicy clam Ramen. Food is absolutely awesome. It was flavorful and delicious. My personal favorite was the Tapas and would try more of those when I order next. Food was neatly packed. For the ramen, the broth was packed separately which was nice. It did become lukewarm by the time we got home, so needed a bit of re-heating. I would recommend dining in if you are planning to get Ramen. Portions are huge and prices are quite reasonably. It did look like only 2 people were running the place, so please be patient, the food is worth the wait. If you are looking for great quality Japanese food, look no further, this place won't disappoint you. read more

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Dohatsuten is 5 minutes away from my work and I wanted to try their food since Japanese cuisines are one of my favorites. I ordered takeout online hoping that it would've been done by the time I arrived but that was not the case. It took about an extra 25 minutes for my food to be finished even after waiting 30 minutes previously. It wasn't as busy when I came but shortly after it started to pick up. I could tell that the server was getting a little overwhelmed because she was the only one serving. Since they were understaffed and busy, I was okay with waiting. I was just a little irritated that they said my food was done but it wasn't. I ordered a small gyu don and added sprouts, green onions for an additional 0.50¢ and $1.00 for a poached egg. It was decent. Here's a short breakdown: Taste: 7.5/10 The meat was thinly sliced and flavorful. I also really enjoyed mixing the poached egg into my gyu don. I thought it was also really neat how they separated the poached egg into a different container so it wouldn't spill. Portion: 10/10 The portion size was more than enough for me. I actually ended up not finishing my food since I was so full after devouring half the box. Price: I paid $11 (including tax + tip). It's an awesome price for what you get. Would I recommend this place? To answer that: I'm not sure. But I would definitely come back and try more things. Ill settle to give them 3 stars since it wasn't the most amazing experience. Hoping to come back with a new experience to share with you all read more

Dohatsuten - Gyu don with bean sprouts, a poached egg and green onions - Ramen Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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