Tokushima Ramen Do-henkotsu in San Jose, CA

4330 Moorpark Avenue
San Jose, CA
408.255.8244
M: Closed
T-F: 11:30 - 14:00 / 17:00 - 21:30
Sat: 11:30 - 15:00 / 16:00 - 21:00
Sun: 11:30 - 15:00 / 16:00 - 20:30

As I was looking for different ramen places around the area, I found this shop last December. It might have been around longer, but I didn't know about it.

Tokushima Ramen Dohenkotsu (徳島ラーメンどへんこつ) is in the same complex as the Mitsuwa market, so the traffic seems to be relatively high. It is "hidden" onto one corner, but it's not that difficult to find the place (right next to the PC Bang).

Tokushima is a prefecture in Shikoku (四国). It seems the owner is from the prefecture and the shop claims Tokushima ramen is different from others, and you can kind of see that. I can't tell the difference about the noodle itself, but the chaashuu is definitely different. It looks close to marinated thick slices of bacon.

I think the soup is a pork flavor (豚骨, tonkotsu, "pork bone") and they have only one flavor. They have two bowl sizes: medium and large. I think their large is about the same size as or a bit smaller to that of Ryowa.

As I mentioned in another post, it's interesting to note that in this shop, ramen is also called chuuka-soba (中華そば, "chinese noodle") and you can see the term all over the shop walls.

Beside ramen, they also have some stir-fries and stuff (a la Chinese). I haven't tried them though.

I like their ramen. Their flavor is much stronger and their soup has more body than Ryowa's, I think. However, they are pricier.

They have bars (for about 10?) and several tables (5 or 6). It's a bit small. They have a satellite TV showing Japanese broadcasts (whatever is on, usually) and a small collection of manga (with a tongue-in-cheek warning to return them to the shelf when done).