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    Bansho Ramen

    4.1 (196 reviews)
    ModerateRamen, Sushi Bars
    Open 11:30 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 3 months ago

    Order Bansho Ramen Takeout or Delivery

    Bansho Ramen Photos

    BANSHO RAMEN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups

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    Ban Show Raw Men. Its the right thing to do.
    Chad P.

    Aug 9 2025 3:30pm 3.4 stars After a short struggle to find parking, we walked the half a block to find Bansho tucked away in a corner- almost hidden from the street. The front doors are littered with adds and dirt. It looked a bit sketchy on the outside but we went inside anyway. Inside, the restaurant looks very pleasant. It has a comfortable and cozy look for a small 49 seat place. Mood music plays at a quiet level. There are several conversation starters for sure inside the restaurant like.. "What is that shrine with the green bananas on it for?" "Can you decipher the price of beer written on that chalkboard?" My favorite was "What is that treadmill doing in this restaurant?" We were seated and given menus. The waitress left and then came back after four or five minutes. I felt a little rushed to order as if the order taker assumed we had pre-prepped ourselves on their menu. We had to ask for more of a chance to look at the options. The two of us shared a bowl of Ramen, an order of California Rolls, a coke and later on we ordered Takoyaki-deep fried dough with I believe a piece of squid inside. Before the waitress left to give our first order to the chef, she said "Anything else?" I inferred she was suggesting our order was to small. Later I understood she might be warning me that that might be our last chance to order anything. It was hard for us to place that second order of Takoyaki. Once we were given our food, the waitress disappeared and never checked on us. To place another order, I had to keep the kitchen under surveillance, watching for someone to exit so we could jump up, run to the frond desk area and order. The food we did have was tasteful enough and the $41 seems fare. Negatives for Bansho. 1) The phones used by the front desk and in the kitchen are too loud, they ring for too long and destroy the ambience. Someone will one day invent a device that buzzes in your pocket instead of ringing loudly throughout the entire restaurant. Name it something catchy like "Cell Phone". 2) The Men's restroom was too dusty and the toilet seat was "spotty"- if you know what I mean. 3) Having someone check on you while you are eating and saying "Welcome In" when you get there and "Thank You For Your Business" when you leave would go a long way. I did see a sign that they are hiring so they might have been short staffed.

    Sasha C.

    The server was very nice, it doesn't seem like they have very much help but they are quick food is fresh and tastes great. I also loved the Decor, it's a cute little spot. I wasn't so impressed with the Ramen broth It seemed to be lacking some seasoning in comparison to other Ramen spots I've tried but nonetheless it's a nice flavor & fresh ingredients. I got chicken instead of pork. Also beware of the spice level, as it really is SPICY. I was coughing and sipping at the same time. Get a mild or medium spicy. - coming from a spicy food eater. They seem to have a lot of traffic but they are efficient. Street parking is a bit hard to find, beware of that. It's hard to see the restaurant at first, it's tucked around the street corner. You must try the soft shell crab, was a 10/10. Genmaicha was also very good.

    Bansho Ultimate Ramen
    Abbey B.

    A good mom and pop ramen shop with generous portions, flavorful broth, and chewy noodles. I got the Bansho ultimate ramen, medium spicy, and it came with more chashu than I've ever gotten in a Bay Area ramen bowl! The owners were friendly and the Sapporo was ice cold :)

    Steffany D.

    Terrible service. Sushi is good and the place is cute but I didn't have a good experience.

    bansho ultimate ramen + mayu + 4 orders of sake nigiri
    Rachel Z.

    food - both ramens we tried were really flavorful and the pork belly was incredibly tender and not overly fatty at all. the only downside was lack of broth as i've never experienced ramen where it was served with broth at half the level of the food inside. at least it tasted strong enough and maybe avoided any washed out flavor. the egg was perfectly cooked for the ramen and the crispy onion was a really great touch. the portion was very filling as well. - the nigiri was HUGE and although it's not the highest quality of fish but for the thickness and size, it's worth its cost for a quick salmon fix ($5 for 2 pieces) service - okay service, not very welcoming demeanors but we were also in and out quick so there were not many opportunities to interact with tbem

    Joyce L.

    A solid 2 to 2.5 stars restaurant. Rounding it up because it's a mom and pop shop and I hate to give a lower score. My suggestion is to come to this place for ramen only and skip all other items on their menu. The sauce they used on their rolls was wayyyy too sweet and overpowered the taste. Also, I questioned the quality and freshness of their sashimi. In terms of ramen, it was flavorful but it was on the oily side. I ordered their famous, recommended bansho ramen with pork belly and ground pork, so I guess that was expected.

    Inside vibe
    Priscilla A.

    I came here once & had to bring my husband bc he LOVES Ramen. We have tried many ramens spots & this place is by far our favorite. The broth is perfection. Service is great as well & the inside + bathrooms are super clean! If you're in the area you NEED to try.

    Appetizer menu
    Jeron W.

    We came to Bansho for lunch during their spring break so it was not a very busy day. The waitress seemed like she did not want to be there - I think she might have been the owner's daughter and/or it was spring break so I get that We ordered the karaage, Tonkotsu pork, and Bansho Ultimate. The karaage chicken was alright, I think the skin was a little soft but it was tasty. The Tonkotsu pork was the big disappointment. It didn't have any flavor or richness that is expected from tonkotsu ramen. Fortunately, the Bansho Ultimate was a little more flavorful. The thing is the competition in the area is stiff and there are a good number of ramen shops in the area. For the prices Bansho is charging, you expect a really tasty bowl of ramen, but I would probably end up going elsewhere in Berkeley

    2 Piece Sake Nigiri
    Jessica L.

    You should try the sake nigiri! It's only $5 and they have a generous portion size! It's slightly larger than average. I got the build your own because I wasn't too hungry and just needed something to satisfy myself. I added pork belly and corn. You have the option to choose your broth and the spicy level for the build your own.

    Onion Tonkotsu, Bansho Ultimate Ramen
    David D.

    The food was good! I recommend the Bansho ramen (8/10) Way more flavor than the regular tonkatsu (7/10) but the tonkatsu does come with deep fried pork on the side which was not too oily (8.5/10). The service was good. I think it's a mom and pop shop which was very cute! You can definitely taste flavors of the long hours that the broth has been cooking for. We also got the 49er roll which was not too bad as well (6.8/10). But the main highlight was the bansho ramen.

    Wakame Salad
    Jamee S.

    Great cheap eats in Berkeley! Onion Ramen - Flavorful broth. Comes with a side of pork tonkatsu. Seaweed Salad - fresh Agedashi Tofu - really good. Best one I've had so far. California Roll - it's was okay. Too much rice. Chicken Karaage - Crispy crunchy with a great dipping sauce Service was decent. Food came out fast. I like the small servings because it's just the perfect amount of food at good prices.

    Mayu

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    Delicious bowl of ramen on a rainy afternoon. The pork cutlet with the onion tonkatsu was so delicious. Yum!

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    1 year ago

    Good service ambiance all fantastic after The Big Game! . I would def. Drive back to Berkeley for this Ramen

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    Bansho Ramen Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Bansho Ramen

    Do you have an option for vegetarian ramen?

    Yes we do

    Do you have gluten free ramen?

    Sorry we don’t have

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    (320 reviews)

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    Brief summary: - Good portions - fills up more than its…read moreappearance - Liked the equal balance of the broth and noodles with protein - Close to Trader Joe's - Indoor seating Ramen is a dish that has started sprouting in Berkeley, and this is one of them .I decided to go there for dinner with the family before heading to the Trader Joe's across the street to stock up on groceries. We entered a few minutes before peak dinner times, so there were seats to choose and sit from. By the time we left, mostly all the seats were filled up, so I would suggest coming in early. I liked the naming for each of the ramen dishes, some I recognized the names from Hawai'i. For this round, we ordered 3 different types of ramen: the Kuni, Broke da Mouth, and the Miso Hungry. These orders also came around the same time. A notable elements I liked about the ramen was that the noodles were chewy and springy, and the broth was smooth and easy to drink. I also didn't have the urge to drink lots of water either, so the seasoning was perfect. The other element was that I got to enjoy the ramen's broth and noodles as the stars of the dish, and the proteins, like the pork were supporting roles. For me, what I enjoy ramen are the broth and noodles, so I'm happy that these are prominent in the dish, rather than me having other chow down a thick slab of pork. This restaurant hit the right marks for what a delicious ramen is for me, so I'll come back, and maybe try their other broths.

    I thought I had reviewed this place already, but Yelp doesn't seem to think so?…read more I had ramen with a black garlic broth. It was perfectly cooked, service was great, would definitely go back. Ambiance was Christmas music (meh).

    Tane Vegan Izakaya - Point Reyes

    Tane Vegan Izakaya

    (441 reviews)

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    Wow wow wow! I didn't think it could be done but this place has perfect vegan Japanese food! It's…read morehard to get in so make sure to make a reservation. Pacifica Roll (10/5 stars) - the best thing we ate, perfect creation of flavors that don't overwhelm each other, it's perfectly savory Poke Salad (5/5) - does it tastes like fish? No. But it's a great combination of textures, you have the chewy king oyster mushrooms and soft fried tofu, the crunch of the veggies and the cashew dressing is addicting Da Bao (5/5) - I didn't like the vegan spam alone (I personally like this other brand more) but here they paired it well with veggies and plum wine sauce that makes it work. The vegan spam here is too smokey for my tastes but together it's good. Roasted Garlic Miso Ramen (2/5) - Honestly, it was the only not good thing we had. The broth was neither garlicky or miso-y. It was very mushroomy. It was all one could taste. The spam did not fit with the ramen and was very jarring to taste in the ramen. Yuzu Matcha (5/5) - It's sour but not too sour. Like it wakes you up witout making your face pucker. Absolutely cannot wait to come back!

    First of all, I eat meat. And I love sushi. So I was like..,uh vegan sushi? But tbh it was good…read moreasf! I ordered the Ewa roll and Point Reyes and they were both really Flavorful and filling! I was like..there's no fish in this?! Word?! Idk how they did it but it tasted like seafood. It's a quiet little place without a lot of seating, so consider making a reservation!

    Marufuku Ramen - Oakland

    Marufuku Ramen - Oakland

    (2.2k reviews)

    $$

    Temescal, North Oakland

    If you enjoy Ramen.... this is the place for you. It's a wait for seating, but worth every minute…read more Service was warm and attentive. Special shoutout... to the guy handling the wait list at the door. What an engaging sweetheart. He handled the list, waiting people well..a smiling personality and very helpful... thank you . Food was exceptional... I had pork belly ramen which had great flavor. They also had chicken and beef based ramens. Also noteworthy the meat was fresh (taste the difference). Appetizers had gyoza... (nothing special)...and octopus (Amazing delicacy... I'm talking exceptional food). Flashing lychee drink Very good food...a nice treat. Thank you everyone S

    From a gluten-free standpoint, this was disappointing…read more My daughter loves this place. I have never been there because I can't eat gluten and assumed that like most other Ramen places, I couldn't eat there. But my daughter went to lunch with her friends and came home super excited to tell me that they have gluten-free options. so we made a plan and went there. We were about to sit down when I ask the server what the gluten-free options were and she told me that there were no gluten-free options. it turns out that they have gluten-free noodles listed on the menu (which is why my daughter thought they had gluten-free options) but None of their broths are gluten free. The server was really apologetic about the discrepancy. So we ended up going to another restaurant nearby and I didn't get a chance to eat there. My review is only on the gluten-free aspect. I hear good things otherwise.

    Ippuku - Sashimi combo: tuna, fatty tuna, sea urchins and ?

    Ippuku

    (1.5k reviews)

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    Walk-in at Ippuku in Berkeley came with a pretty long wait, and there is no online waitlist which…read moremakes planning difficult. We were seated around 7:30 (which is still prime dinner time imo) only to be told that many of the menu items had already sold out, which was disappointing. The items that were still available were good and we still had a nice time overall. FYI, the non-alcoholic beverage selection is quite limited. At this price point, the wait plus the number of sold out dishes makes us question whether we would come back.

    This place has been on my want to go list for a while, and I finally got to try it! We didn't make…read morea reservation and walked in instead. We waited for about 30 min and the restaurant texted us once the table was ready. We ordered quite a few dishes and started with Omakase gushi, which came with chicken breast, thigh with leek, heart, cartilage, and minced chicken. We also ordered the oden set, sasami, tori tataki, gyu-tan, enoki bacon, and buta bara. Evertyhing tasted pretty good, but the most impressive dish was sasami with umeboshi, which was inner bresat with umehad was the inner breast with umeboshi. It was my first time trying raw chicken, and it tasted really good. The chicken breast was really tender, with a tuna-like texture, and without any slimy or odd flavors. Ever since then, I've been telling my friends to try it. The Tori Tataki was seared chicken breast sashimi with ponzu, which tasted a bit plain compared to the sasami. So I would highly recommended to get theeir sasami!

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    Today I ordered the $5.99 Kake Udon + $1.99 Tamagoyaki as part of the "Eat Under $10 Tempura…read morePromo." The broth temperature was just right, perfect for slurping the soup. However, the tamagoyaki was lukewarm, like it had been sitting on the counter for a while. I wish it had been hot and a little crispy. Yesterday I was at Marugame Udon in San Francisco, so I could compare the Berkeley location versus the San Francisco location. The Berkeley broth tasted much better, and the temperature was just right. The bill came to $8.80 total, which really matches what Marugame advertises with the Eat Under $10 Tempura Promo. I will definitely come back for the Eat Under $10 deal, but next time I'll try a different tempura.

    Bansho Ramen - ramen - Updated May 2026

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