Throughout my time in Eugene, I have had so much fun exploring different restaurants and enjoying the different local cuisines. If you know me, you know I’m always looking for new restaurant recommendations to explore. Without a doubt, the one restaurant I am consistently recommended to try is Toshi’s Ramen.
Toshi’s Ramen is an authentic Japanese ramen restaurant located on Pearl Street that serves up delicious bowls of ramen, gyoza and other Japanese dishes.
The restaurant is warm and welcoming, with a comforting atmosphere. The menu offers customers different steps to creating their own personal ramen bowl, as well as other items on the menu like Teriyaki chicken, stir fry and fried rice.
If it’s ramen you’re craving, you can start by picking out a broth. Customers can choose between Shoyu (soy sauce), Miso (vegetarian option) or Shio (salt).
After choosing a broth, customers move onto step two and pick out their ramen. Some of the popular ramen options are plain, green onion and bean sprouts; original, green onions, corn, bean sprouts and a slice of marinated pork; corn, original ramen with extra corn; butter, original ramen with butter; and cha-shu, original ramen with three extra pork slices.
I ordered the teriyaki chicken, and it was absolutely delicious. The teriyaki chicken is served with their homemade teriyaki sauce, spicy pickled cucumber and freshly made white rice.
The restaurant is cozy and casual, the perfect setting for a delicious lunch or dinner with friends.
Owner Toshi Ishibashi established Toshi’s Ramen in 1999 after training as a ramen apprentice at a Ramen-Ya, a traditional Japanese ramen restaurant in Japan. After training for two years, he and his family moved to Eugene and found the perfect place to open the ramen eatery of their dreams.
“I love that Toshi still works here in the kitchen. He works 13 hour days just like we do, and he’s been here since 1999,” Leif Schwartzwald, an employee at Toshi’s Ramen, said. “We’re a small family restaurant, very family-oriented here and I love that.”
Toshi’s Ramen is back in full swing after taking a brief hiatus during the pandemic.
“Toshi’s shut down to figure everything out and opened back up in the summertime. Now that things are opening back up we are much busier and we’re doing record numbers,” Schwartzwald said. “Toshi hasn’t been this busy since he opened in 1999.”
The restaurant was buzzing with customers enjoying their meals at their tables, and there was a constant stream of customers coming in to pick up their to-go orders. It was very apparent that Toshi’s was back in full swing.
“I had the original ramen with the miso and it was pretty good,” prospective UO student Celeste Nunez said. “I don’t really get ramen, but it was a good experience. They’re super friendly here.”
Quincy Wright, a student at Lane Community College, told me he ordered the Shoyu triple pork. “It was pretty good. I like the music they have going on. It’s a cute little vibe,” Wright said.
Toshi’s Ramen is the delicious result of a life-long dream and passion from Toshi Ishibashi that deserves to be recognized. After years of hard work and dedication, Toshi has perfected the amazing ramen recipe that he loves being able to share with others.
