Umamido Vooruit — Restaurant in Ghent

We ordered the following dishes: Edamame: decent quantity for a starter dish; nothing much to add as it's straight forward Japanese fried chicken bao bun: The bun lacked the delicate fluffiness I had anticipated, and the texture felt dense and slightly undercooked. The filling helped to redeem it a little. Overall it is not bad but it can be improved. Miso Tonkotsu Ramen: The broth lacked the depth and richness expected of a tonkotsu-based dish, leaving the overall experience rather lackluster. There was not enough broth but it's also hot outside so that was a negative thing that served a positive purpose. The noodles were well-cooked and the toppings were generous. The pork was very good and it gives that melt-in-your mouth feel. The one thing I disliked the most was the addition of pickled ginger. Normally it add a nice, refreshing twist but given the quantity they put plus the fact that the broth itself lacked flavor (especially given that they boast it having been cooked for 12 hours), it was overpowering and in the end it's all you can taste so I advice anyone ordering to put it aside or eat only the quantity you want per spoonful. Pork & Kimchi Mazemen: My friend said it was not bad but her comment was that it was dry. Normally Mazemen lacks broth but there's still some sauce but hers was dry in the end and they also served her food not warm/hot enough but only room temp. Cold Yuzu Hiyashi Chuka: Tomatoes are not typically used in a noodle dish especially not cold noodles and so it made the dish feel more like a pasta/noodle salad than actual cold noodles. The sauce was good though and it's something we would still recommend you to order just maybe ask them to take out the tomatoes.

(-) We ordered at 19h30 and we did not get our food until 50 minutes later. This is too long of a wait for any restaurant. There were 4 people in the kitchen and the restaurant itself isn't big so it's really disappointing to have been made to wait this long especially for food that is subpar. When we went to pay and the waiter asked if everything was good, I honestly answered and mentioned the wait time is too long. To which he responded without empathy and simply justified it saying "It's a Friday" then I said I understand but 50 mins is still way too long and he just said "well it's a friday lots of people" without a hint of remorse or even just a simple acknowledgement.

Did not bother taking pictures of the other dishes given how long we waited we were just starving by the...

It's solid ramen, not more and not less. Let me start with the positive: I had the shoyu chin tan. The broth's saltiness was good, but was definitely missing some umami and was a bit too sweet for my taste (maybe because of the aroma oil, which I believe might be spring onion-based). The chicken chashu was delicious, tender, juicy. The 1/2 egg was perfectly (soft-) boiled and marinated - the marination was not too overpowering, which I liked.

However, one of the most important components - the noodles - were a bit disappointing. They had a very a "crumbly" texture and were not as springy as they should be for ramen. I understand that homemade noodles might be a bit of a hassle, but paying 2.80€ for an extra portion of pre-packed ramen noodles (which was also really small) seems a bit outrageous to me. The amount of noodles you get in your bowl without an extra portion is too small for 16.80€ to begin with. All in all, compared to other ramen places I've been to in Europe, I think this place is a bit too pricey for what you get.

The service was very...

Ordered the Mazemen Tofu, which arrived extremely cold (not like it became cold on the 10 minute road, more like it had never been warm). Aside from the fact that I also never received the Kombucha I ordered, the food was absolutely disgusting. The noodles were slathered in a ridiculous amount of oil that pooled at the bottom of the dish and still coats my lips at the time of writing this review, and yet somehow still stuck together in a nearly inseparable clump, the mushrooms were slimy and ice cold, as if added straight from a can, the black garlic (that I paid 1.50€ extra for) was ONE SLICE of black garlic hidden among the other cold, slimy, oily, unidentifiable ingredients, and the 3€ add-on pork slices (one and a half slices) were also cold. All in all an absolutely disgusting pile of cold oily mush, that would have sent me straight to the toilet for several hours if i had somehow managed to eat it all. Will never order here again, and honestly, this place now owes me 23€. Update 1.5h later: It DID eventually make me vomit! So definitely...