Sponsored link
Saturday, March 15, 2025

Sponsored link

Best of the BayRamen Bae: Best of the Bay 2023 Editors' Pick

Ramen Bae: Best of the Bay 2023 Editors’ Pick

The local dehydrated topping company solves an age-old global problem: 'How can we jazz up these noodles?'

Thousands of readers voted in our Best of the Bay 2023 Readers Poll, honoring dozens of wonderful local businesses and cultural forces. Now it’s our editors’ and writers’ turn to highlight specific people and places we’ve been loving about the Bay Area. Join us to celebrate Best of the Bay and more at our 10th Annual 48 Hills Gala at Bissap Baobab on 10/26, and help keep this 49-year-old tradition alive.

We have certainly covered a lot of fledgling Bay Area snack companies here this year, but just one stands out to us for elegantly solving a worldwide problem: San Francisco’s Ramen Bae. The company makes dehydrated toppings to add to instant ramen, those packets and containers which typically come with too-few toppings and a generic vibe, no matter the product brand or country of origin. 

Ramen Bae currently offers two products for mail order, the Veggie Mix (cabbage, bean curd, carrot, broccoli, bok choy, corn, shiitake mushroom, white mushroom, tofu, green onion, and roasted garlic) and the Classic Seafood and Vegetables Mix (shrimp, squid, imitation crab, fish cake, bean curd, shiitake mushroom, corn, cabbage, carrot, and green onion)—a third Spicy Garlic version is listed as “coming soon” on the website, and future plans include dropping the Chicken Mix. They’re packaged in 14-ounce bags, which contain enough toppings for around 20 bowls of ramen, and are sold for between $24.99 and $25.99, respectively.

Just like the majority of instant noodles, these toppings rehydrate in three minutes when sprinkled on top of a soup vessel that’s been filled with boiling water. They also taste pretty good if you happen to snack on a few of them straight out of the bag (which isn’t explicitly recommended, but you know you wanna).

“I made it for the adult me and I made it for the kid me,” founder and food biz newbie Jonathan Lam said in a video that shows every aspect of this business that he learned how to do himself, including product research and development, importing FDA-approved ingredients from China, figuring out how to use Photoshop, and discovering how to manage a now-popular social media presence. “I know his eyes would have lit up if he had seen this in the grocery stores.”

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our FacebookTwitter, and Instagram

Sponsored link

Sponsored link

Featured

What’s on next at the Trump Center for the Performing Arts (besides more booing)?

Buckle up for wrestling matches, rare earth mineral mining, and an extrajudicial spin on 'Mack the Knife'

DJ FLOW’s Saturday night sets spin Bay Area hip-hop mixshow tradition

102.1 Jams' new radio star has serious talent—and local influences starting with 1980s Filipino mobile crews.

‘Emotions expand and figures distort’ in Robert Hightower’s unapologetic works

Richmond father and artist articulates police brutality and his own bipolar disorder through graphic motif.

More by this author

Good Taste: Where to get the Fillmore’s famous apples

The legendary concert venue has been handing out the shiny red fruit for free since day one. Here's the deep backstory.

Good Taste: Fab 4 iced coffees to weather the storm

John Lennon mocha, popcorn latte, more caffeinated drinks that are basically dessert—which is just what we need.

Good Taste: The spice must flow

Seasoning makes the difference in life and on the plate. Bay Area purveyors can help your dishes come to life.

You might also likeRELATED