Taro's Ramen — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Absolute disappointment!

My wife & I love good Ramen, & in a quest to find the best Ramen aroumd Brisbane, we enjoy trying Ramen joints we've not been to before. Having read positive reviews online, yesterday we chose to have lunch at Taro's in Ascot.

I pitty those who have given this place glowing 3-5 star reviews, as they have apparently never experienced truely great Ramen.

I ordered the medium sized Hellfire Tonkatsu, with extra Chashu, egg & Shallots, totaling $23.60.

The broth was beyond bland, closely bordering flavourless, & the noodles were a little under cooked. A standard serve (of any size) includes only 1 slice of Chashu, which was not the melt-in-your mouth pork belly that falls apart in the broth that one expects in Ramen, but rather more like a salty ham, not at all tender by comparison.

Additional Chashu (if you can call it that) was $1.80 per slice, other available toppings were limited (no corn), $1 for only half an extra egg (Ajitsuke Tamago), & Kaedama (extra noodle) was not free, but $2.50 per serve!

Also, I suspect that the Tonkatsu broth may have had something added to enhance the creaminess (perhaps dairy), for while it was unusually creamy in colour & appearance, it lacked the rich creamy texture & flavour of traditional long slow cooked Tonkatsu, & left me feeling phlegmy afterwards.

My wife ordered the Shoyu, which was surprisingly not even Tonkatsu based, but rather chicken, vegetable & seafood based. It smelled awful & tasted equally as bad, my wife unable to even finish the broth (& she can demolish a good Ramen with Kaedama as well as I can). The curly noodles in the Shoyu were akin to the fat instant noodles one can find at Costco.

My wife was disappointed with the lack of Takana on the menu, which I only found out upon paying after the meal, was available for free (along with free water) at a condiments table located inside by the register, a fact which is not advertised anywhere, so newcomers such as ourselves would not know of it's existence if dining in the main dining area outside.

We shared a side order of sweet chilli Karage chicken, & while this was far from terrible, it was certainly not the best I've had, though at $9.20 for 5 pieces, very possibly the most expensive I've encountered.

The portion sizes are small, given the higher than average prices. Instead of the traditional low-but-wide Ramen bowls, here the Ramen is served in taller narrower bowls, making it more difficult to eat.

Cleanliness of the eating area was sub par, with the clear vinyl curtains enclosing the outdoor eating area mouldy in places, & the arm supporting the ordering tablet was clearly grimey. While we were there, tables were not wiped down between customers.

Overall, our experience here was thoroughly unenjoyable, & we both left still feeling hungry after having spent $50. At least the experience was not a complete loss, as we have discovered a strong contender for Brisbane's worst Ramen joint! (Although I have read that the Ascot is the best of Taro's 4 locations, so it's scary to think how bad the others must be).

Admittedly, our Benchmark for best quality Ramen is Genkotsu Ramen at Toowong, which is a tough yardstick to...

My partner and I have been coming here for years and the quality of the ramen is excellent. The tonkotsu broth has a deep, creamy flavour and the noodles are hand made. My partner and I either order the Works or the Charsiu Sampler on top as the base toppings are too little for us. However, the Ipads they have at each table make it easy and quick to order. The staff have always been friendly and polite. Unfortunately, our visit last night at the Ascot branch left a sour taste in our mouths. This was our first visit after they reopened. It was a cold night and we decided to have something warm for dinner. We arrived at 6pm and saw a lot of people waiting outside - we knew it would be busy and were happy to wait so we put our names down on the waiting list. However, after waiting for about 45 minutes, most people would have given up and left to go elsewhere, but since we knew the quality of the food (and there were no other decent ramen places on the Northside of Brisbane) we decided to stay (I mean, we've already waited this long, it would be a waste to leave empty handed). A few groups either left or opted for takeaway as they couldn't wait any longer. Finally after waiting more than an hour, our names were called and we were seated. We ordered and the food came quickly (within 15 minutes) and we dug in and ate within 20 minutes as we were starving at this point. Waiting more than an hour to be seated is unacceptable. I think part of the reason was people were overstaying their allocated 60 minute time limit. There were many groups of people who were there eating when we arrived and were still there after we were seated (more than an hour). There was one table that was just standing at their table chatting (not sure what they were waiting for but they finished eating long ago) for about 20 minutes and a few other tables had people just sitting at their table with their clearly empty plates. I understand people want to socialise and have a good meal with friends and family, but please respect the time limit allocated so others don't have to wait more than an hour to get seated. I know this wasn't Taro's Ramen's fault, but maybe your staff can enforce the time limit better? Until this gets better, my partner and I will be travelling to a...

I don't want to leave a bad review of taros but the food has changed so I feel I should say something in the hopes that Taro will see these reviews (I'm not the only one) and make changes. I've been going to taros for 6 years now, I rarely go these days but there was a time where I would go twice a week and it always made me happy and felt special.

I went today and got my usual red tonkatsu but was disappointed. I believe the portion size is smaller although it's hard to tell because they've also changed their bowls, it used to be 2 pieces of chashu now its only one although it is thicker then it used to be I prefer 2 slices and I found the flavour used to be better but that could be related to the flavour of the broth. There also used to be a whole egg now its half, the broth today was no where near what it used to be the flavour was so weak i could only pick up a hint of its former glory, the noodles seemed firmer than usual although the bowl i was served was barely hot (it was warm and stayed warm but ramen should be served hot) and if it was hotter the noddles would have softened more in the broth.

Taros used to be a place I would look forward to visiting all week, it was like a slice of Japan that I could visit any time I wanted where the ramen was oishi! And the staff would say arigato gozaimasu! after paying and I would return my thanks back at them with a smile but honestly after today I don't even want to go back, its lost whatever it was that made it special to me and the ramen isn't what it used to be.

Taro I know you wouldn't have been proud of the ramen I was served today so please bring Taros back to its former...