We found Ramen Oguraya in Sano while searching google maps. It was just down the street from the Izuruhara Benton Pond and Mitsumine Shrine. It had a ton of good reviews so we thought we’d give it a try.
The first thing we noticed was just how packed the parking lot was when we arrived. There were quite a few spots and almost all of them were filled. The parking lot also featured a parking spot designated for a full size bus. That says something in our opinion, that means that buses must stop by often enough to warrant there own parking space. The restaurant was definitely big enough to accommodate large parties & groups. The building had two separate wings, with dozens of tables.
Ramen Oguraya Menu
When we approached the front of the restaurant there was a podium with a waiting list on it. We snapped a quick picture of the menu to see what we wanted. The menu was quite simple. There was the standard ramen with hot and cold variants. In addition, adding chashu and a larger portion size were also available. Gyoza and a mix of different drinks rounded out the menu. When we put our name down, there were 20 groups of varying size ahead of us. We decided to go walk around a bit to kill some time. We were gone for 15 or so minutes. When we checked back on the list we were surprised to find that there were only 8 more groups ahead of us. Every couple of minutes the waiter would come out and call a couple of groups inside. In total we waited for only 25 minutes. The line moved really quickly. Once we got inside the restaurant we began to understand why.
The restaurant ran like a well oiled machine. We washed our hands after entering. We were then directed to our table. Shortly after sitting down a waitress came by and took our order. She inputted the order into her handheld device and quickly scurried off. Within a minute, another waitress came by with a tray full of gyoza plates and began passing them to there respective tables. A few minutes later, another waitress came with our ramen on a tray. She was in such a rush that the ramen broth had sloshed all over the tray.
Ramen Oguraya Food Review
The gyoza were very delicious. The filling was a mix of cabbage, garlic, and onions. The size was a bit larger than a standard gyoza. The bottom was pan-fried to a golden brown crisp. One of the most delicious non-meat gyoza we’ve had.
The ramen was good as well. The broth resembled Kitakata Ramen with its clear but flavorful appearance. We really enjoyed the chewiness of the crinkle noodles. There were thick and plentiful chashu slices. It had a tender texture and exhibited little resistance when we took a bite into it.
Final Thoughts
If your in the area or happen to be going to the Izuruhara Benton Pond or Mitsumine Shrine, then its definitely worth stopping by Ramen Oguraya in Sano. Don’t worry about a large crowd, because the line moves quickly.
Here is the link to their website.
We also stumbled upon the Sano Ramen Association which was a collection of 67 ramen shops in the greater Sano area. There website had a pretty cool interactive map with all the locations. We’ll definitely want to try some more when we come back.
More to Come…