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I have been torn about writing a review on this place. While I am happy that there is an actual ramen place in town, my experience has me confused and not wanting to go back. This review is only for the ramen and the actual restaurant. We did not try any of their “not ramen” items. The location is tops. Right in the box factory with parking, bike parking and easy access if you are staying in the area. The restaurant itself is pretty cool with decent seating and a garage door to open in the good weather making it feel bigger. You order at the counter and then sit down. I like this style of service as it always seems to go faster and more questions can be answered. We have lived in Bend for a short time and we are impressed with the amount of ethnic restaurants that are here, even with very low diversity. Being a chef that wants to create these ethnic cuisines, needs training and mentorship. So for the things that didn’t make me too happy. We will start with the price. If you are going to charge $13.50 for a bowl of ramen, I will probably compare you to big city ramen. Even if you do take that away, the ramen still missed the mark. I don’t mind paying that price if I am blown away, but unfortunately I was not here. Is the pricing for tourists or to make up for the high rent rate? Maybe some of the ingredients are of better quality? I am not sure. [For reference: Our favorite spot in LA is in prime location on Sawtelle and their bowls of ramen are around $10, one of their broths takes 60 hours to make.] Tonkotsu ramen is made from pork. It should come out flavorful and almost milky/creamy and thick. The broth for their tonkotsu came out watery, way too salty and lacking flavor of a pork based ramen. While Shoyo, shio and miso can take less time, Tonkotsu can go for hours, sometimes days. That is where you get the thickness from. I hope to give this place another shot many months down the road. I was just so excited about this place coming to Bend, that I want to try and give it another chance. I want to support more ethnic restaurants coming here.

Pok’e Noodle – Menu with Prices – 9090 Destiny USA Dr #9748, Syracuse

I wasn’t expecting to have my lunch today in Destiny USA, but the original ramen location I had picked didn’t open until later in the day… and after checking my Yelp app, I noticed the listing for Poke Noodle. I didn’t have the poke itself, since I went for the ramen, so I can’t give an opinion on the poke. The folks ahead of me in line at Poke Noodle ordered a poke bowl and it looked quite delicious. Perhaps an update to this review will be needed later AFTER I’ve tried the poke too. Anyway! The ramen special of the day was tonkotsu, which is a variation of ramen I always love to try when visiting a new spot… but one which I’m also very picky about, especially with regards to the flavor/quality of the broth. As I’ve noted in other reviews for ramen spots, the goal with tonkotsu broth is to have the kind of flavor that only really comes from slow-cooking the pork (bone-in) in broth for a long, Long, LONG time. After all that slow-cooking, you should find little, teeny droplets of collagen/drippings that come from that pork/pork bone broth having been cooking away for hours and hours and hours. For tonkotsu, this is where all the delicious flavor comes from. *drool* The tonkotsu broth here at Poke Noodle did have a couple little droplets of fat in it, and the broth did have some good flavor. I don’t think the pork was cooked in the broth for hours and hours, but there does seem like it was given some time… because while I’ve had better broth, I’ve also had MUCH worse. It’s not the kind of broth or ramen that I’ll specifically crave again, but I won’t turn down a return visit here for ramen if/when in Destiny USA either. Side note: I *DO* appreciate that they included corn AND toasted sesame seeds as toppings for the tonkotsu ramen. I really enjoy the texture they both provided, and my favorite ramen dishes always seem to have corn in them. In terms of overall service and price, I would say that the service is fine… nothing exceptional, but the staff here is certainly nice. Price for the ramen was in the expected range (I usually assume about $10-$12 for a ramen bowl – and the tonkotsu ramen special was $10.99). TL;DR Middle of the road ramen experience – so really, it boils down to convenience. If in Destiny USA again? I won’t pass up trying Poke Noodle again.

Hanabi Ramen Menu with Prices 3024 Wilson Blvd, Arlington

This was the Japanese ramen experience I was looking for in the DMV area. Hanabi specializes in Hakata Tonkotsu ramen and is located in a quieter area of DC and within a crosswalks walking distance to the metro station. Ramen in this area is generally subpar, and I’m not fond of paying the price for a increasingly subpar experience at the expanding LA ramen chain that is getting popular in this area.. many local places here are fusion or claim they’re authentic while they aren’t owned by Japanese, and it’s quite noticeable by taste. Hanabi is different though. They have a selection of full donburi sets, seasonal udon, and you can choose between tonkotsu, chicken ramen with karaage, tsukemen, and miso. Their focus is tonkotsu though, and you can specify between their base ramen ($8, not many toppings), tonkotsu (~$12, basic toppings,) tonkotsu negi (~$12ish?, basic + 3x more scallion,) and chashu ($13-ish, more pork slices.) Toppings are customizable. I ordered tonkotsu negi and the broth was perfectly emulsified and flavorful. My boyfriend’s regular tonkotsu not much different (besides the negi) and both came with a dash of black garlic oil. You can ask for extra garlic, and homemade chili flake is supplied at the table (very delicious by the way.) We came on a early Saturday evening and was warmly greeted by the owner who came up to check on us occasionally with the classic “ã??ã??ã?ï¼?”. While my boyfriend is of Japanese descent, and I’m just a cuisine fiend, we’re happy with our experience. (??ã??ã?ã?ã?ã??ã??!) He treated us to Pocky afterwards and told us a bit of his origins with ramen which was pretty sweet. I enjoyed the interaction, along with the food, which means a well deserved 5-star from me!

Shoku Ramen Bar – Menu with Prices – 1221 Alhambra Blvd Suite 107, Sacramento

I suggested and bookmarked this new ramen spot after coming across it on Yelp while ever searching for gems to eat at in the 916. My fam trusted me. So off we went. It is near my wife’s work UC DAVIS on Folsom Blvd. This shop is nearby on Alhambra. Ok they have their own lot. Funny they have signs barring Kru, Star Ginger etc from parking in their spots. Parking is at a premium downtown. Sad but true. I got a black garlic ramen $8.99 and asked for extra spicy. Damn. I coughed and choked on the ripping ass hot heat. Nice. The broth I could taste was good. Better than Natomas Fins and Koshi. Not as good as Ryujin and Raijin. Those are the Sac top standards for ramen and ramen broth. But this place is killer! Decent portion and good stuff in the bowl. My daughter got the tofu ramen $6.50 and a breaded pork sammy. She liked both. This kid likes ramen at home, away, anywhere. Lol. She liked the sando. I tried it and it was ok. But can’t beat the $5 tag. Wife got the Tonkotsi ramen $8.99 and liked it. They also have apps and udon too. Plain ramen is just $5! Good for meatless lovers. Just a note that you get 2 pieces of pork in the black garlic and tonkotsu. They were yummy and the egg was def the porn variety and was cooked perfectly. Conclusion: My ass is coming back here as often as I can. Drawback? It is downtown. Traffic is always messy. At least parking is not street so no gouging by the gentrifying Sac downtown due to councilmembers and the city trying to turn Sac into SF and Bay Area #2.

Otsuka Ramen & Bar – Menu with Prices – 10949 Magnolia Ave, Riverside

Great Ramen Joint in Riverside! So despite many warning reviews that I read both here and on Google, I decided to try the ramen here myself. I’m an avid ramen eater so I figured I’d have a good feel for the ramen. So first thing’s first, the actual restaurant location is pretty cool. It has a very modern, cool feel to it. Once you go inside, you’ll see the “ramen” lanterns and their bowls on display. I was seated right away and handed a menu. It seemed like most of their offerings were tonkotsu based, so now I just needed to pick which one I wanted. I opted for the Ultimate white tonkotsu and also ordered some “vegetable gyoza”. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of vegetable substitutes, but these were pretty good! Once I recieved my ramen, I decided to ask the waitress about the smell that some reviewers had noticed. She said that it had to do with the type of bamboo they were ordering. If you’re unfamiliar with bamboo, it does have a strong scent to it, depending on how it’s braised. She said that after reading some of the reviews, they decided to change the type they were ordering and that fixed the smell. It did seem to work because I was expecting to smell it when I stepped in the door, and I didn’t. Anyway, onto the ramen! I always taste the soup first and despite what I had read it was really good! There were little oil bubbles and fatty fragments in the soup, which is always a good sign if you’re looking for flavor. I really enjoyed the noodles! They were chewy and cooked very well. The chashu may have been my favorite part. The flavor was very good and it was a little on the sweet side. The egg was perfectly flavored and cooked. The pieces of narutomaki were bigger than the ones I’m used to buying at the supermarket or getting at other ramen restaurants. Oh! Something I don’t normally see being used as a topping for ramen was tempura. There was a good sized shrimp tempura in my bowl and I went for it right away once I noticed it. I would suggest to eat that as soon as you get your bowl so your tempura doesn’t get soggy. Overall, I had a pretty good experience here at Otsuka ramen. I took a peek to see how they were making the chashu and it was pretty cool to see them torch it! Next time I come, I’m going to go for the black garlic tonkotsu, since I’m a big fan of that flavor!

Soho Ramen & Sake Bar – Menu with Prices – 41257 Margarita Rd suite B101, Temecula

Stopped by for an early lunch with the family. The location is a little hard to find, being on the periphery of the Temecula mall and with a small sign that’s hard to see due to overhangs from nearby businesses. I was hesitant to try it given how badly the Food Lab location is rated, but was charging in the parking structure 5mins away so figured, why not. We were a few minutes early but the owner (I think, from photos of Dwayne Ciang at Soho Ramen in the Riverside Food Lab) was kind enough to seat us while doing final prep and took our order. The interior is sparely decorated except for the elegant bar. The menu was a reasonable size…larger than I want for a ramen place but with more variety for the non-ramen-aficionados. We ordered takoyaki and chicken karaage appetiziers, and tonkotsu ramen and bulgogi beef bowl for mains. Food came fairly quickly and presentation was decent. The takoyaki was good, with a crispy shell and gooey interior. The karaage was mediocre, with a mix of too small pieces that were over fried and bigger pieces that were undercooked to the point of having uncooked batter inside. (I later told the owner about this just for feedback and turned down his kind offer to comp us the dish, so hopefully this will improve.) The tonkotsu ramen was a fairly small portion, especially for the price (well, Temecula adjusted). The broth was reasonably thick but, unfortunately, I didn’t notice the black garlic oil automatically came with it, which I dislike because it covers the taste of the broth and makes it hard to tell if it’s actually any good or not. The noodles were the wavy kind, not the straight kind usually suited for tonkotsu, but the texture was decent with a tiny bit of chew. The ‘aburi prime’ pork belly was quite tasty and well-sized slices and definitely the highlight. The soft-boiled egg was a whole one and done nicely. The bulgogi bowl wasn’t a bowl at all. Instead, it was some veggie heavy bulgogi and a mound of rice with a fried egg on top. The egg was good but the bulgogi was quite mediocre and we didn’t end up finishing it. Overall, it was fine but there’s a lot of ramen competition in Temecula these days. Still have yet to try Jake’s to make the comparison…

Izakaya Naruto – Menu with Prices – 1216 3rd Ave, Chula Vista

(This review is solely based on the RAMEN) Never. Cheating. On. My. Favorite. Ramen. Spot. Again. Believe me, I hate to be this person, but TRUST the negative reviews here. I gave this spot a chance on a whim. I was nearby and didn’t want to drive to my favorite ramen spot in Kearny Mesa. This place has pretty good reviews so I thought, hey, how bad can it be? The parking lot is a nightmare as most others mention, so don’t count on a smooth parking experience. It is tucked away into a small shopping center with a dimly lit sign and an apartment complex peaking from the buildings side. The wait was average – for 2 we didn’t wait long. Right away I noticed the extremely odd music choice! (What’s with ramen restaurants and completely ruining the ambiance?) The waitress shook me from my trance and reminded me that I was in fact in a restaurant and not in some weird fever-dream… She was pleasant so I will give a star for the service! Pretty quickly ordered our drinks and food after that. I kept it simple and ordered their ‘Soup-picy’ ramen which actually did come with a disclosure that it was “very very tangy”. This was VERY tangy broth. I also noticed they did not offer tonkotsu broth… only chicken. The ramen bowl was very appealing! Huge bowl, toppings were neatly placed and the soup was still hot. I was more than happy to dig in. On first bite my hopes and dreams were shattered. I mean really…. this “ramen” is unlike any other I’ve tasted before. I am beginning to wonder if this was more of a concept restaurant because it was a massive let down. It almost tasted exactly like vinegar and top ramen broth. Definitely not the Japanese ramen flavor I’m crazy about. (I have been to multiple ramen spots in Japan before you guys accuse me of being petty!) My mom was paying so I didn’t make a fuss about it. I actually did finish my noodles but chose to leave the broth behind. I had also added pork char siu (my FAVORITE usually) which was somewhere around $3.50 on top of the steep $11 price for what it was. The char siu was even more disappointing! Oddly tangy and sour just like the soup. I actually had to force myself to finish the pieces – keeping in mind they were quite a bit extra! And if anything, here’s my TL;DR: This place does not taste like the better spots in San Diego. The options are severely limited, the broth and meat are sour and you’re spending SO much more than you would for a tastier bowl elsewhere! Can’t speak for their sushi though. Take the time to drive to Kearny Mesa and stop at Tajima Izakaya. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Ampersand Asian Supper Club – Menu with Prices – 940 N High St, Columbus

It was only a matter of time before I came here. I am the Ramen King (Self Proclaimed LOL). I love ramen so much, I once had a dream I was taking a bath in ramen ? …. Well let me get to the review before it gets too weird lol. I heard of Ampersand through my brother, he told me of a new place that just came up in the short. So I decided I had to go give it a test. Walking in, I really liked the interior. I’m a huge fan of natural light. Everything was well lit with big windows. This place also had a traditional Japanese look, with a very modern flair, clean and sleek. And who doesn’t like that? I also like the fact that they had one of those tables that sits low to the floor, like in traditional Japanese places. But I wish they had more than one. Next time ill wait for the table to open! Now when it was time to order I got the Tonkotsu Ramen. One of the basic and classic Ramen bowls you could get. So I normally use this as a baseline on how good a place is. When I got it, the presentation was done really well. It looked and smelled awesome. Now the first rule for me is to taste the broth first, this tells me a lot about how good the bowl is. If the broth is just ok, then the ramen won’t stand out. But the broth was actually pretty good. Nice depth to the flavor. Rich sort of flavor. The noodles had a nice bite, egg was good. But as I was eating my bowl and got about halfway through I noticed something alarming!! They forgot to put my PORK IN THERE! As you can see in the picture attached to this review. There was no pork included. I had to go back up to the counter and ask for my pork. It’s almost as if the guy didn’t believe me because he went to my table and looked at my ramen (that was already half eaten, so he probably really didn’t believe me ), but he got my pork really quickly. And let me tell you. When I added that pork with the nice char on it, into the rest of my ramen. It added a whole new depth of flavor that complemented the broth so well. I really REALLY wish I was given my pork from the beginning. Overall the ramen was pretty good. Having the pork from the start would have boosted it, but since I didnt I can only go off of what I had. The ramen also wasn’t very traditional, in a sense. It’s hard to explain. But this is a fusian place, so not everything will be “traditional”. But it was good nonetheless. Overall I will or sure come back: 1. To try the low table 2. To get the ramen again but with the pork in it from the start lol It’s not a traditional Japanese place. But that’s fine. They are doing their own thing which i like. It helps them build identity and their own brand. I’ll update this review upon further visits, I really want to try more on the menu. PS. Their free Tea is really good. Its has a weird sweet type of flavor thats different. Give it a try.

Kiwami Ramen Sushi – Menu with Prices – 10262 Causeway Blvd, Tampa

Daughter, 3 year old granddaughter and I visited on Thursday to try their Ramen as we are all 3 HUGE fans of Ramen and have heard good things about this spot. We also love sushi and would like to try their sushi sometime but this visit was all about the Ramen and Saki! WARNING: They have no children’s menu at all and are not nice about trying to accommodate for a child. We asked if we could please just purchase a side of pork broth for her and were told no, I was like you have no children’s menu and I can’t even purchase her a bowl of broth and was told no, server did suggest white rice for her and I was like no she doesn’t want to eat plain white rice and she just smiled, shrugged her shoulders and said sorry. Weirdest thing I have ever seen. Atmosphere: It’s in a nice new very attractive plaza. Daughter and I found the interior very nice, clean and cute. Service: Sever was minimally friendly and seemed aggravated by any questions we asked and was very unfamiliar with the menu, specials and anything else we asked of her. Please read more about the customer service under my review of their Shoyu Ramen below. Shoyu Ramen: We ordered this as it was the only Ramen available for lunch special price of $10, menu did not indicate that it was chicken broth. When we tasted it we were shocked as it tasted like a very salty, strong beef broth…unpleasant. I let our server know that we did not like it at all and pointed out the fact that the menu did not indicate it was chicken broth (although it did not taste like any chicken broth we have ever tasted and even my granddaughter wouldn’t eat it) and that we did not like it so could we please trade it for Tonkotsu and that even though it was more we were happy to pay the difference. To our surprise we were rudely told no, when I informed the server that we would not eat this she indicated rudely that we still had to pay for it….at this point I was getting aggravated and said fine I’m a Yelp Elite so I hope you enjoy my review and then the servers attitude did a complete 360 and she was so sweet, friendly etc and was happy to exchange the Ramen. Although I’m glad I got to exchange so sad that when they didn’t know I was a Yelper they were going to have such horrible customer service. Tonkotsu Ramen: This is what we traded for, it was amazing! The broth had an amazing Umami flavor that we all just LOVED! The pork was good but we like it a little more seared but it was still smokey and yummy. Will go back for this alone. Saki flight: Daughter got a ski flight that had Pineapple, Apple and Peach! Apple was the best, would definitely get that! Would not get the Pineapple or Peach, it was ok but the Apple was fabulous.

Hakata Ikkousha Ramen – Menu with Prices – 21605 S Western Ave J, Torrance

Service (5/5): Great service, no complaints here! Food (5/5): BEST RAMEN IN TORRANCE! I don’t remember what the ramen name was exactly I think it was the Black Fire? It’s a mixture of the black garlic tonkotsu and god fire broths SOOOOO AAAAMMAAZZZZIINNNGG!!!!! Very rarely do you ever see ramen that mixes both broths and I absolutely love it. The garlic isn’t overpowering and you can definitely taste the spiciness coming through and I got level 1. It’s great how you can choose how strong you want the broth, the level of hardness of your noodle, and what toppings are added. I also have to hype up their meat. It’s tender and not fatty at all. Ambiance (5/5): The walls display their accolades and how many restaurants are distributed around the globe. I love how the back of the menu has a little manga of how to properly eat their ramen. I also went at a time that wasn’t busy but because of the size I can imagine how it can get crowded with a long waiting time. Price (4/5): I paid $17 for my ramen. It personally think it’s expensive but it was so good I’d say you’re paying for its quality.

Hakata Ikkousha – Menu with Prices – 3033 Bristol St, Costa Mesa

I’ve been to a good amount of ramen shops and I even work at a ramen shop, but I feel like Ikkousha is my all-time favorite. I love how their thick broth coats the thin noodles, and their egg is seasoned lightly and cooked well so that there’s a soft, runny yolk. The meat is quite thin and sparse, but I think it works with their ramen since thicker meat would make the dish feel too heavy. They also make their own noodles which is pretty cool! My go-to is the godfire level four. I don’t know any other place that makes a tasty spicy tonkotsu ramen that’s actually spicy. If you’re not sure about the spice level, I’d start with level two to gauge how much spice you want. Sometimes I want the black tonkotsu but still want godfire, so I get the black devil since it’s a mix of both! It’s not on the menu though, so you have to ask for it. The fried chicken and gyoza are both great appetizers too! The chicken is crispy and juicy and the gyoza comes with a yuzu chili sauce that is the perfect condiment for it. Sometimes I don’t even have to pay for it because they have a stamp card that gives you free food!! Parking in this lot can be atrocious during peak lunch and dinner hours. They do offer valet if you’re into that, but you can park in the nearby neighborhood too.

El Coyote Ramen Bar – Menu with Prices – 1 W Victory Dr, Savannah

First ramen only bar in Savannah. I was really excited when I first heard about it because there are no dedicated ramen places in the area. Finally I got to try it on a Sunday late afternoon. The place is tiny but they have outdoor patio seating available. They have everything pre-made so basically they just need to put the bowl ingredients together. For the same reason, the service is fast and the people working are friendly. You can create your own bowl but I decided to get their speciality bowl – Chicken Shoyu. It was good, I liked how my broth tasted but there wasn’t enough broth in the bowl. I also got a side of Kimchi, which I decided to put in my bowl and it added more flavor to the broth. My friend got the Pork Tonkotsu but I liked mine better. The tonkotsu broth was lacking flavor. Overall, this place is average but they definitely have the potential to be better.

Yuu Izakaya – Menu with Prices – 1599 Regent Ave W, Winnipeg

I happened to see this restaurant when I was driving and was starving. I was very hesitant, but I’m glad I came here to eat. I ordered the tonkotsu ramen and some shrimp tempura. The service was very good, and the restaurant was very clean. The pork belly was delicious and the broth was good. It wasn’t too salty or too bland, which tends to happen alot with this dish. The shrimp tempura was good, but the sauce was a little bit on the sweet side. This is normally the case in Canada as restaurants have to overcompensate with sweetness due to the lack of salt. A shame really, but if you are Canadian you are already used to that. I would highly recommend everyone to try this restaurant if you want to eat some Japanese food.