Nikkei Ramen-ya — Restaurant in Courtenay

Not going to lie... this was the worst experience I have ever had at this restaurant. We had made a reservation for Valentines to guarantee that we get an actual table so that way we didn't have to share seating with other people. When we got there the restaurant was absolutely packed to the brim, no one was at the front kiosk to help us with said reservation. We stood there for about 5 or so minutes, no one saw us at all, so we thought to hell with it and we ordered from the kiosk. There was no table set aside for us, we had to sit at a filthy counter that was covered in dirty dishes. We had a worker rudely start cleaning the table space in front of us with no warning at all. We waited at the counter for probably 20 or so minutes before we took an actual table that was filthy from another group that had just left, at this point we still hadn't seen our food. We waited at this table for another 35 minutes before we got our food. I went to the bathroom in this period and noticed a table reservation sign... sitting in the BACK of the restaurant on a station where one of the employees was working on takeout orders. I was mad. We had made a reservation, and were totally ignored. I understand that Valentines is a busy night, loads of people go out to eat. This was just flat out disrespectful. The staff didn't check in with us, nor did they even look at us. Bowls were going out to people that had arrived after us. We had to get up and ask when we were going to get our food, and had TO WAIT to ask someone because no one wanted to look up from what they were doing. I am extremely disappointed with this experience, as someone who has been coming to Nikkei Ramen-Ya since they have opened, I never would have expected this kind of service. I know how it all works, and that normally service is limited... but the service was null. There was people struggling to get Kaedamas, there was even people struggling to ask staff how long they had to wait. I normally love this place, and I was so excited to show my partner how awesome this place is... but I will not be coming back after this. I felt so disrespected, ignored and forgotten about. The fact that we had made a reservation and were completely ignored and/or forgotten about is crazy to me. I know this place is better than this. I have seen better service, and more care from employees. This was...

It was our first time here and even though it is an hour drive from Nanaimo we are really excited to visit and try their ramen!

What we liked about Nikkei: ✅️Delicious ramen! ✅️Easy kiosk ordering system ✅️Quaint traditional ramen shop vibes

We ordered Hokkaido Miso Ramen (comes with a curly type of noodles) and Tonkotsu Shoyu Gyokai Ramen (comes with thin straight noodles) both with Ajitama. The noodles are firm and perfectly cooked. Ramen noodles that are made from scratch are definitely the best. The broth is thick & rich which I liked! The thin tender slices of that chasu, kanpeki. The ajitama was on point! I did my poke test lol, cut it in the mid with my chopsticks, and then poof! There she goes, that soft-boiled marinated, center oozing with goodness tamago.

What we disliked about Nikkei: ❎️Loud background music ❎️Small serving for the price point ❎️Not a family-friendly restaurant

We expected that it was a family-friendly place as we'd seen on a google review and watched a small clip of a baby eating on a HC with a table attachment so we went with our 18-month-old. They do have high-chairs (I believe, those are ikea ANTILOP) BUT the problem is that they don't have the table attachment (I asked) and the HC is too short to fit on their tall tables. They all have bar tables and stools. So both of us (to all parents you know the drill lol, time is running and we need to start eating that bowl of hot ramen and most importantly avoid any impending tantrum) just SLURP and GO. So in the end, we concluded that maybe the table attachment we saw was brought by a customer, and if only our toddler was seated properly, all of us would've enjoyed eating that bowl of ramen more and not...

Slightly disappointing, but still okay!

Firstly, I didn't enjoy the service and atmospher much. The restaurant feels like it treats its staff very well, but doesn't focus as much on its customers, which I respect, as the workers need to be there for dozens of hours each week, and each customer will be there for about an hour ish per visit. The result of this is impersonal Kiosk ordering (which I didn't appreciate, it confused me and there were no staff around to help), and the kitchen staff were chatting about hobbies in the open-style kitchen, it was nice to hear stress-free and comfortable kitchen, but also was a bit awkward listening to a personal conversation while we fumbled with the kiosks.

There is also a mandatory fixed fee (basically a fixed tip instead of a optional gratuity tip), I was mixed on this, I wish the extra fee was added to them menu price so I knew how much I would be paying, it's also awkward as even if I wanted to I couldn't give a tip. I appreciate that the restaurant is looking after thier staff, and claims the free is to 'ensure living wage', why not just pay them for thier time? Instead of manitory tips, reliant on how many customers you get through the doors each day?

The food was fine! Large portions but I did find it a bit overpriced, especially with the 'extra fee'.

Feels like a restaurant trying to maximize staff comfort and profits, but it just is an awkward experience for the customer, at least for me and my party.

Also...with the table salt there was MGS?? I didn't think that was allowed to have table-side MGS? Maybe it's allowed in BC, I've just never seen that...