Yoku Ono Ramen & Sake Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

Pricey , Ramen soup has just salty flavour, Not comfortable seating. Overall was Disappointed experience. My rating based on value, taste, ambience, facility, service. The score will be as follows; Value for money 1/5 : Despite the small japanese restaurant situated on the lane , not on main street. The setting price of a bowl of Ramen is $20 up so it must be very good Ramen but for me , it likes eating instant noodle at home. The noodle in Ramen looks and tastes the same as Shin ,a brand of Korean instant noodle. Disappointed with the quality of ingredients provided compared to charging price. Portion of the dish also small, 4 pieces of Gyoza costs $11 , and the taste like a microwave Gyoza you can find at Coles. (Pricey) Taste 2/5 : Very standard (so-so, plain) Ramen with salty soup. Not the best Ramen you can find in Melbourne or around. Their dessert tastes better than Ramen but again comes with small portion and high price. Ambience 2/5 : Crowded at peak time so it can lacks of ventilation and increase the temperature inside. Even I would want to enjoy the vibe but really fell uncomfortable cause the i feel no air coming through and hot. Not sure how they adjust/or turn on aircon since i feel like no air at all inside. 4 Facility 1/5 : Not a good seating. Very very small table and uncomfortable small chairs. One blogging toilet upstair but many customers waiting to use it. I waited to use toilet but the person before me said the toilet is clogging not sure if you want to use it. So I did not use it and we all decided to leave for toilet at home instead. Service 2/5 : Staffs are friendly but so many things are running out. We asked for tap beer (written on menu) ,they said sorry we dont have tap beer so we had to order bottle beer instead. We asked for Matcha cheesecake (written.on menu) , they said sorry we dont have it again so we had to order some.other dessert. Despite this experince, i think the restaurant lacks of good management. If they know they are famous or busy they should try to manage the inventory or stocks. Try not to fail customers by having things that written.on Menus though. Overall experience is just 2/5 after all these scores. It is just really another so-so restaurant with a bit of failed experience for me. I am taking times to.write all this review because just curious that this place can be overrated so when you visit just do not...

I was really excited to try this place after seeing the photos on Rednote—I genuinely believed it would be authentic. Unfortunately, I found the soup quite bland. I ordered the sesame ramen and the yoku ono ramen; while the portion sizes were reasonable, the flavour just didn’t deliver for either dish. At $27, it felt overpriced, especially considering I’ve had better ramen at a lower cost.

What really brought the experience down, though, was the service. We had a reservation for 12pm, which is also when the restaurant opens. I arrived on time but couldn’t open the door. There were already two people waiting outside, who told me to hang on for a few more minutes. Later, we noticed the waitress at the reception, clearly aware of us but not making any effort to acknowledge or assist. When we called the restaurant to check if we could come in, she answered the phone with a noticeably impatient tone—strike one.

When we finally entered, she dismissed us with an eye-roll, claiming we couldn’t sit without a reservation—even though we had one. Strike two. There are many polite ways to handle such situations, but her attitude made the whole experience unpleasant. On a positive note, the kitchen staff seemed friendly, which is a shame since the front-of-house service didn’t reflect that at all.

Overall, the food was underwhelming and overpriced, and the service from the waitress was extremely disappointing. I won’t...

Yoku Ono is one of the best ramen places for lunch/dinner date 🥰‼️ When we got in, we instantly loved the moody lighting, thoughtful decors, and the seating placements (especially on the upper level!)

We got: 🍹Whisky Something Something - This is for people who likes citrusy-sweet drink 🍋 the matcha wasn’t too overpowering so we could still taste the other ingredients

🍸Raichi Dream - This will forever be one of my favorite drinks that I’d love to replicate! The lychee, apple juice & yuzu worked soo well together 😋

🐟 Salmon Rice Paper Rolls - Such a unique take on rice paper rolls with salmon sashimi and other japanese ingredients! Not only delicious, the plating was so pretty as well 😍

🍜 Miso Broth & Yoku Ono Chicken Ramen - Both broths tasted pretty similar, rich and flavorful. The miso was of course more miso forward and the Yoku Ono broth was a tad creamier. The ingredients were cooked to perfection, the noodles got that slurp consistency iykyk 😉, the chicken was so soft and the egg was spot on!

All of the dishes were incredible and we could see ourselves combing back in the future ✨ The staff was also so friendly and they had great recommendations! Overall, we really enjoyed our visit, what a gem 💎 in the alleyway of Chapel St and we recommend you to...