Noodle In A Haystack

Some experiences are so unforgettable they become core memories before you’re even done with them. The day you locked eyes with your soon-to-be goldendoodle. The first time you visited the bison paddock. And dinner at Noodle In A Haystack. The ramen-inspired tasting menu ($195) at this pop-up-turned-restaurant in the Richmond won’t just change the way you look at noodles. It’s a 12-person supper club in the hands of a ridiculously likable couple—and there’s no other place like it in the city. 

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

The food—eight to 10 courses of understated perfection, for the record—isn’t all that charms you. Clint and Yoko, the husband and wife duo who run the place (and used to host the pop-up out of their home) are your emcees for the night. Approximately two minutes into dinner, you might find yourself deep in conversation about the couple’s Japan travels or their late dog Toto, all while knocking back uni-topped chawanmushi and saying nice things about the glassware. They’re experts at somehow gauging your Myers-Briggs type, so they’ll be as chatty or not-chatty as you want—in other words, introverts out there can relax. What’s also impressive is the fact that this is a bare-bones space with no gas, only outlets. So everything is prepared out of meticulously organized fridges, toaster ovens, and portable stoves that boil the noodles to order.

The meal itself is a patiently paced parade of Japanese-influenced dishes, like 16-hour pork belly karaage and twice-baked financiers topped with caviar and smoked soy crème fraîche. Throughout the night, the captive audience listens while the team monologues about the specially made noodles (created with pasta flour), how they smoke the paper-thin wagyu (in its own fat), or how many years they’ve been working on their original seafood-based tare recipe. It’s seven, and the effort shows.

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

Since this place is billed as a ramen-centric night, you’re probably wondering about the ramen. Surprise, it’s f*cking fantastic. You get two bowls: one cold or warm, and one hot with broth. They rotate out every few months and aren’t the run-of-the-mill (though also delicious) tonkotsu bowls you’re typically digging into in SF. They’re each jazzed up with thoughtful, complex flavor combinations that make any other noodle soups look like amateur hour. One night you’ll get an uni carbonara-esque version, mixed with house-cured salmon roe and a cured egg that spills over the noodles like liquid gold. The next visit, it’s ramen with tom yum and chicken paitan broth. The razor-thin noodles are boiled to that elusive Goldilocks firmness, staying surprisingly chewy as they sit in the umami-bomb soup. Go ahead, lick the bowl clean. 

While the menu here changes, you can always count on walking out a different person than you were two and a half hours ago, filled up with impeccably boiled noodles and a host of knowledge about broth-making methods. Even if you spend the next few decades chasing a similar meal with service this intimate, we’ll tell you right now that you won’t find it. But there’s no need. We’re lucky enough to have this place right here in SF.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

Extended Menu

There’s no written menu, so turn on your listening ears, scooch into the bar seat, and buckle up for the eight to 10 courses, which feel like the edible equivalent of a no-skips album—even down to the palate cleanser pickle course. Some dishes that you’ll be thinking about for a long, long time: the pork belly karaage the texture of a baked marshmallow, both of the two ramen courses with dimension-altering custom noodles, and the final dorayaki finisher, which is branded with an image of Toto.