A popular abura soba restaurant from Japan just expanded to the South Bay’s most hyped food mall: Westfield Valley Fair.
Kajiken, which specializes in brothless ramen with springy house-made noodles and customizable toppings, already operates two Bay Area locations in San Mateo and Dublin, with more throughout California and the rest of the U.S. Timothy Lu opened the first California location in San Mateo in 2023 to massive lines, and still draws crowds outside on the weekends; it landed on the Chronicle’s 2025 Top 100 list and earned Michelin recognition.
Lu launched Kajiken’s newest location at 11 a.m. Friday, and its early diners claimed one of the restaurant’s 40-odd seats with only a short wait, sitting at tables under an array of white paper lanterns or at one-person booths to the side.
The Valley Fair restaurant serves the same menu as the one in San Mateo, where the noodles are made, Lu said. Abura soba bowls come in eight signature options, topped with chashu, spicy minced pork, ground chicken, Wagyu roast beef, fried tofu, plant-based pork or barbecue eel. They sell for between $16.50 and $26.95, though diners can add more mix-ins, too. Sauce pools on the bottom of each bowl, waiting to be mixed so that it coats each noodle in a thin, luscious layer…