Diners will be in heaven at Golden Pork ramen bar

If you’ve already been to Golden Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Bar, you know its ramen is addictive — rich with taste, affordably priced and easy to love in a cozy, colorful eatery.

If you haven’t visited this delightful ramen bar, happy hour gives you an additional incentive.

The experience

Golden Pork was the darling of dining adventurers when it opened in 2015, as the first U.S. eatery opened by Japanese restaurant operation Ikka Dining International. It remains popular, with a loyal clientele from its neighborhood and a stellar reputation.

Ikka brought a rewarding sensibility to the space, with pop art-meets-Japanese silk-screen decor and a communal central counter that adds an extra measure of friendliness to the dining experience.

The spot has a modest storefront, so it’s a treat to discover — because once inside, it’s so cheerfully, comfortably stylish.

Meanwhile, the quality of the food is likely to tempt you back again and again.

Happy hour is easy here — 5 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, with a short menu of dishes that offer about a dollar off the already affordable prices.

The food

Ramen heaven!

Tonkotsu ramen is ramen for those who want it in a concentrated format: opaque, almost creamy in texture, made by a lengthy reduction process to extract the protein, fat, collagen and other essential tastes of the pork and pork bones it is based on. Golden Pork’s tonkotsu ramen is blended in a very specific way by chef Masahiro Endo. It’s an attractive food for diners who believe in making the most of ingredients, as it minimizes waste, and requires little additional protein to be satisfying.

I love the Golden Pork Classic ramen ($10.95), distinguished by the pure “umami” (savoriness) of its broth, and have returned again and again to have it. It’s completed with thin slices of char siu, wood ear mushroom, sesame and nori. Can’t think of anything that’s missing here. It seems to me to be the essence of good ramen.

Though you really can’t improve on the classic version, there is also a Black Garlic Original ramen ($11.75), adding black garlic oil, fried garlic and chili to the original broth, and a Spicy Red Miso Dragon ramen ($11.95) with added pepper and minced pork.

I couldn’t eat this ramen every day, or even every week; the experience of eating it is just that complete. So Golden Pork offers many other choices from which you could fill your stomach, including happy-hour specials that can either round out a meal or complement drinks with friends.

During my happy-hour visit, I tried and loved the Grilled Char Siu Onion Special ($4.95), delicately flavored, and topped with thin slivers of onion, and the Chicken Karaage ($5.50), slightly crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. The Spicy Cucumber appetizer ($3.95) had the appeal of a sushi roll, made from a long, sliced Japanese cucumber and topped with red spice and fried garlic — it’s great to whet your appetite.

The drink

Asahi and Sapporo beers are offered on special for happy hour, but I chose to pair my ramen with sake. The midsized sake serving, $10 for 180 milliliters (about 6 ounces) of Shinpaku sake on my visit, is served in a rounded vessel holding ice in the center, keeping the sake ice-cold. With its slight tang of alcohol, the cold, well-balanced sake was a good complement to the soup’s warm, densely flavored broth.

Golden Pork’s sake selection is well thought out and inviting, offering sake from various regions of Japan. The restaurant includes a map pairing the labels with their points of origin; that encourages me to take a drinking “tour.”

During happy hour, a 90 ml serving is $5. Outside of the happy hour special, a small serving of sake is about $6 to $9; a midsized serving is $11 to $17.

Shochu drinks and other options are also available.

The verdict

It’s easy to get distracted by Honolulu’s currently vibrant dining scene, but excellent ramen is a lasting attraction. Golden Pork Tonkotsu Ramen Bar offers beautiful broth, a varied menu of other small plates and a well-chosen selection of sake — all at a very good price. It’s one of my top recommendations for happy hour.