Shugetsu

Cuisine	Japanese
Price	$$ (16-30)
Rating	8/10
Last Visit	Sept. 20, 2024
Location	SFBA: Peninsula

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General Notes

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Excellent new tsukemen restaurant in San Mateo. They also offer ramen and abura soba, but I think they're most well known for their tsukemen. This is definitely one of my favorite tsukemen restaurants that I've had in the bay to date; it's a perfect balance of oil, salt, savory, and acidic. The broth also has a pretty distinctive smoky flavor, which I think does wonders for the flavor. They do a few things, and they do them really, really well. It's a fairly small restaurant and they can get pretty busy, so do expect a wait if you come during peak hours. Or, if you come by yourself you can probably get seated at the bar pretty quickly.

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Positives

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> You can choose the amount of noodles you want (regular, large, x-large, mega), and they're all the same price. I eat ... quite a lot and this is fantastic for me. Depending on how I'm feeling, usually the x-large is a good amount if I just order the tsukemen, or the large if we're ordering some other side dishes too.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Shugetsu Fried Chicken -- I found the batter to be a bit weird -- it kind of tasted like raw flour. Otherwise though, the chicken itself is pretty crispy and the sauce is excellent.
• ★★★★ Shugetsu Tsukemen -- noodles, cubed pork, bamboo shoot, green onion, + marinaded egg and 3pc pork slice. Broth is incredible -- wonderful balance of fat, salt, and acidity. The noodles have an excellent texture; good thickness and perfect level of chewiness.
• ★★★☆ Charcoal Grilled Pork Belly Rice Bowl -- The pork is well cooked, and has a lovely subtle smoky flavor to it. I do wish it were a touch more seasoned, but that's a minor nit. Marinaded egg is perfectly cooked and flavorful too.