Maybe the loud slurping of ramen noodles isn’t best suited for a first date, but for every date after, Ramen Hub in Long Beach is the place to be.
Voted by Long Beach State students as the “Best Place to Take a Date,” Ramen Hub prides itself on its Hakata style ramen, sushi and most importantly its dining environment.
It’s loud inside the restaurant. The kind of loud where people are talking freely and clearly enjoying themselves. The clanging of dishes and barking of orders can be heard from the kitchen, but in a way that only adds to the ambience.
“I really like the environment here,” said Monica Hernandez, an assistant manager at Ramen Hub and third year computer science major at CSULB. “I feel like the customers that usually come in always come in with really good energy.”
Servers retrieve steaming bowls of ramen from the kitchen to a small table near the entrance so customers can watch as they use a blow torch to sear the toppings. This adds to the immersive experience and lively atmosphere that makes Ramen Hub so popular.
As important as a pleasant dining environment is, it would not mean anything if the food did not equal in quality. At Ramen Hub, that is certainly not the case.
“I mean, I drive all the way from Santa Ana, so yeah, I’d say the ramen is pretty good,” said Ivan Herrera, a business administration major at Orange Coast Community College and frequent customer.
Their tonkotsu pork broth, chashu pork and chicken are cooked over extended periods of time, creating a richness and flavor that pops.
“Usually we have that cooking overnight, just so the flavors can process and everything,” Hernandez said. “It’s the same thing with our chashu pork, same thing with our chicken.”
If the heaviness of the tonkotsu broth is too much, customers can choose from different flavored chicken broths, which generally have a lighter taste.
In addition, Ramen Hub offers a variety of sushi rolls with emphasis on the quality and freshness of the fish.
“They’re all cut rolls, so they’re all made fresh as well. Everything’s usually made fresh every day,” Hernandez said.
Since the restaurant is located so close to CSULB, it has become a popular place for students to enjoy sake bombs, a cheap and fun way to drink with friends that involves balancing a shot of sake over a glass of beer.
“We’ll see a lot of students from Cal State Long Beach, specifically fraternities, coming in groups of like 15-20 people,” Hernandez said. “They’ll sing a little song and be like ‘sake sake sake bomb!’ and then they’ll bang on the table and all of them kind of fall in and then you chug all of them.”
While no student discount is currently offered, that is something Ramen Hub is looking to change in the near future. With so many of its employees and customers being current CSULB students, the Cal State Long Beach community has become a staple at the restaurant
Hernandez explained that Ramen Hub hopes to attract even more CSULB students and further grow its ties to the university with the addition of a student discount.
