Kokoro State College: Home
Our signature dish, tonkatsu ramen, is made from the freshest pork belly, marinated soft-boiled egg, nori, scallion, corn, and mushrooms.
Hungry Chemist
Recently visited this restaurant near the downtown Dunkin and had a great experience. The place is small but cozy, and the staff are really friendly. We ordered ramen with vegetable broth and spicy noodles, along with shrimp and crab fries. The portion sizes were huge for two people, so I’d recommend ordering just one dish first and then getting another if you’re still hungry. The fries were especially delicious—the sauce was amazing, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly. Would definitely recommend checking it out!
… moreKerri Korus
2nd time ordering and best food in State College!! I got steak and shrimp ramen with double meat to have leftovers, it is just as good second day! Shrimp and crab fries are phenomenal! Save a little bit of ramen juice for the fries heated up and wow! Great, friendly service! Could order there every day! Thank you so much!!!
… moreMateo
I’ve been to many ramen shops around the U.S and this has to be a top shop for me. Noodles were amazing, meat… AMAZING. Very friendly people, if they were to open a shop around the Philly area, I’d visit every week and recommend it to all my co-workers and everyone i know. I’d drive 3 hours for this again.
… moreMolly Tobias
My boyfriend & I listened to our friend’s suggestion & stopped by here for dinner one night. We were NOT disappointed. I prefer spicy dishes, and am usually let down, but not here! Food was quick and delicious. I believe the owner came out to speak with us a little bit about the dishes we had ordered, I really appreciated the hospitality & overall quality of service. 10/10 will visit again.
… moreSandy Orozco
Food was absolutely delicious, the sushi rolls are big and filling. Their drinks are delicious too, everything was great. Service was amazing too we were really happy we stopped to eat here!
… moreRodney C
Fantastic restaraunt!
Some of the best food I’ve eaten in State College in a very long time! The gentleman running the place that day was awesome! Friendly conversation. Prompt service. Even a delicious Iced Coffee to end the experience. Only bad thing was we were traveling and couldn’t take the left overs with us.
… moreChelsea Best
We walked in first thing on a Saturday getting lunch on a road trip and were greeted warmly with a complimentary appetizer on the table! The broth is fantastic, the crunchy chili oil is perfection and we loved the crispy tofu in the vegan curry ramen and miso ramen. We were gifted some veggie spring rolls and delicious cheesecake bites for our friends. Amazing hospitality, almost too generous, very lovely, thank you.
… moreAmanda Englert
Talk about a hidden gem and state college… this was by far the best Ramen I’ve ever had… the owner. James was so welcoming, friendly, and even gave us some complementary cucumber salad, and even gave us some cheesecake bites at the end… we had the spicy Beef Ramen bowl… He really was the most nicest guy he was super helpful and even did less spicy in mine because I am a sissy lol…
… moreRyan Ingram
This is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at in my life. Everything in every aspect was top notch, 10/10. Having been a chef, I’m incredibly picky about the quality of food so was a bit skeptical when I saw a Japanese restaurant with Poutine; however I was deadset on giving it a shot.
I found myself in state college on 3/8 for a wrestling tournament with my son. We both visited the establishment on a Saturday night and were treated to an array of delicious items. We ordered the following: Salmon Nagiri, Poutine, Shrimp/Beef Ramen, Beef Ramen, Soup Dumplings, Mango Lemonade and Strawberry Boba. Every single item was amazing. Easily the best Poutine I’ve ever had (including the time I lived in Canada), and crazy good soup dumplings that weren’t overloaded with filler. The broth had the perfect amount of spice and seasoning.
The owner was incredibly friendly and spent time at our table talking about business, family and food. He generously gave us mini-cheesecakes (and some to take home to my wife), deep fried pork dumplings with a multitude of sauces (very spicy but very good) and the shock of the restaurant; literally melt in your mouth brisket.
I was speechless at the quality of this food, and baffled at how it all worked. A japanese restaurant serving canadian poutine and texas brisket….CRAZY!
I give my fullest recommendation to this place and implore anyone curious to give it a shot. With 100% certainty, I will make the 2 hour drive to eat here again!
Fantastic!!!
… moreSherry Sullivan
We stopped by Kokoro during a day out with friends, not really sure what to expect—just hoping for some good ramen. What we got was way more than that. From the moment we walked in, the owner (wish we’d caught his name!) made us feel completely welcome and taken care of.
We all ordered different ramen—pork, beef, chicken, mushroom—and every single one was amazing. The broth was rich and flavorful, honestly some of the best we’ve had. We added some egg rolls and sushi, which were great, and then the owner surprised us with shrimp tempura and dumplings—just because. That kind of hospitality isn’t something you forget.
We’re still talking about how good everything was. And while we were sitting there enjoying our food, we saw a constant stream of people picking up takeout—clearly this place is no secret. We’re from Cleveland, but Kokoro is absolutely on our list for the next time we’re back in State College. Highly recommend it if you’re in the area and craving something really good.
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