Ringer Hut - San Jose

Good fast food version of a Japanese noodle house, especially on a cold, winter day. They offer decent Japanese entrees/bento boxes, but I go here mainly for their noodle soups.

I always thought Ringer Hut was supposed to be like a Japanese BK, instead it was like a Japanese Marie Calendar’s. The food isn’t bad and portions are good, but can be pricey. I had the Tonkatsu Curry rice plate. It was good, and stuffed me till past dinner time. Don’t think there are many other Japanese style cafe’s in the South Bay.

Their signature dish is Nagasaki-style Champon, and they do it well. Fresh, hand-made noodles and a rich pork broth, lots of tender fresh vegetables and meat and/or seafood. Great Gyoza and Fried Rice, and they also have decent Ramen.

Ringer Hut: the best place to get noodles that's not too light like pho and not to heavy like ramen; the Nagasaki Champon is goldilocks of noodles. The Miso Maro Champon, one of the items on their special menu changed my image of the their champon they served in the past. The tender ingredients such as squid and shrimp was great along with the hearty soup. The best part about Ringer Hut is the unique desserts you can't find anywhere else in the Bay Area. The Green Tea Heaven is my #1 favorite which I order everytime I eat here. It has green tea ice cream with frosted flakes, then it's topped with green tea mousse and whip cream with a scoop of azuki bean paste. What surprised me the most was the Eclair Fruits, just like its literal meaning in French, the Eclair Fruits will blow you away with its sweet mellow toppings and rich custard.

Was driving home from visiting a friend in the hospital, looking for some American food to eat when I passed Ringer Hut. I pulled a U turn and turned into the driveway, pulled out my phone and looked to my Yelp app to see what kind of “American” food they had. To my surprise, Ringer Hut is an Asian restaurant? What? Well I’m game, so I walked in. As soon as I walked in I was immediately greeted and sat at a booth. I told the server that this was my first time in and would like a recommendation on one of there Ramen soups. She asked me if I had any food allergies? “I thought to myself that that was very thoughtful” it caught me off guard, no one ever asked me that before, I said no. So she recommended the Chashu Ramen. 10 minuets after ordering, this beautiful bowl of ramen showed up on my table with fantastic tasting beef, perfectly cook noodles and a 1/2 an egg. I added some hot oil that just gave it that little extra something something “ if you know what I mean” After dinner I ordered there Green tea heaven. It comes in a wine glass and is layered with green tea ice cream on the bottom, special K “I think” cereal in the center, green tea pudding “or flan” on top with whip cream and some kind of ganache like substance on top “ in a ball” Can’t say I’ve ever had anything quite like it. It was lightly sweet creamy and crunchy all at the same time C: The service was really good, my only comment would be that table condiments bottles were oily and slightly grimy. Otherwise everything was really good. 4 stars.