Crafty Ramen — Restaurant in Guelph

I feel a sense of loss. This was my favourite restaurant for YEARS, I’ve been going here since the beginning of highschool, and have been coming here consistently since then. I’m done college now, for reference. Me and my boyfriend went here again to celebrate.

So. A few things to mention. We walk in, (Saturday, April 19th), and it just stinks of cologne, like absolutely rancid and even for someone who isn’t sensitive to perfume, it make my nostrils sting like crazy. It lingered the whole time, even when the restaurant was empty. But I looked past that.

We got our bowls, and today was actually the day you could come in, get a ramen, and get a free egg. I’ll start off by saying that the eggs were freezing cold. Like super cold (today I got the free egg plus a paid egg). It was so gross honestly, I always get the marinated egg and it’s so warm and gooey. But yeah. They were just extremely cold today. So cold that I couldn’t heat it up in my soup because it also made my soup cold. also asked for extra bok choy like I usually do. I got the tiniest sliver. I literally got nothing. Again, I always ask for extra bok choy and I get an appropriate amount for what I pay for. Not today.

It’s also worth mentioning that the bowl of ramen I got was so diluted, had no flavour, and had so much less broth and noodles in it. Very significant detail.

As me and my boyfriend were eating, one of the employees (who is starting their break I believe) sits directly behind us (the store is empty, and she sits as close as humanly possible to us, less than half a meter away).

She begins a phone call and puts the person on speaker. It’s just so loud and she’s sitting directly behind us. For the duration of the time she’s sitting there (which was for the majority of the time we were there eating, up until we had left) she is coughing like crazy, like obscenely loudly and she was coughing with her mouth open, hacking and practically choking. It was phlegmy and wet, coughing right behind us. Which was no less than uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Quick edit: there are always a cup of chopsticks on the two tables in the back of the restaurant which is where we had sat. As the woman was on the phone, she was fiddling with them, taking them out of the cup and rolling them between her hands. She just put them right back in the cup after that. She had touched every single one of the chopsticks (more than just touched?), and would repeat every so often, seemingly mindlessly.

At that point i get up to leave, I go downstairs to the washroom just wanting to rinse my hands, and the staff are blasting music and shouting. It also stunk. They turned it off once i went down.. but what is going on here??

We just left. It sucks because we’ve been going here forever. The staff changed, the food changed, the atmosphere sucked. I don’t want this to be the last time I ever go here, but the other reviews here only echo mine. Just overall a unfulfilling and...

Lukewarm smiles serving Lukewarm Ramen.

I don't know why this place has such rave reviews. It's awful :(

We came here on a Thursday in the late afternoon. There were no other customers inside. I ordered the Northern Warmer and my wife ordered the Spicy Chicken Negi. The girl took our order and we sat at the empty counter and watched as our Ramen was slowly made infront of us. The bearded chef on the other side of the counter made our Ramen right in front of us, and didn't make eye contact, smile or acknowledge our presence in any way. As I watched our Ramen being finished the first red flag appeared as it didn't appear to be steaming hot at all.

The food was brought around the counter to us. It was then I noticed that these $17+ bowls of lukewarm Ramen didn't even include an egg...that's an extra cost.

My Northern warmer had a decent flavor but wasn't what I was expecting. The description of a Sapporo Miso Ramen with Corn and Butter was very inviting but what I got was very meh. The Butter turned out to be in the shape of little Robots which is a neat idea, but it only looked neat as the taste was just blah. The Corn was fried with some other veggies. Noodles were soft and over cooked and the Ramen itself wasn't hot.

My wifes' Shio negi ramen was bland and had no flavor, and the chicken breast was rubbery and dry. Shio Ramen is a difficult thing to get right as it's a fine balance between bland and too much, but this was just bland and flavorless. Also the noodles were overcooked and too soft, and the Ramen itself wasn't hot.

This was probably the 2nd worst Ramen I've had in my life, and my wife who is from Japan said it was the worst Ramen she's ever had. When we left our bowls were still half finished. It was that bad.

I would have to say the worst thing about this place is they have a Tampopo poster on the wall. There was a ladder leaning infront of it but I noticed it eventually. Tampopo is an old cult classic Japanese film about a struggling Ramen shop owner and her journey to craft the perfect bowl of Ramen. There is a scene in that very film where the chef is explained how her Ramen wasn't being served hot enough...and here I am staring at this movie poster, thinking of this exact scene, while I slurp my bland lukewarm Ramen when I should be blowing on it first because Ramen should be served hot.

Someone should take down that poster. Also, for $17+ include an egg in your...

I had just moved to Guelph from Toronto and wanted to have some ramen. I purchased the spicy meat lover 2.0 and had it delivered. I live down the street, approximately a 2 minute walk to the restaurant and it came hot and ready to be served. The dish was not spicy at all and was rather quite sour, acidic and earthy. The toppings included (meat, marinated egg and mushrooms) were all extremely sweet when I took a bite. The noodles were also overcooked and broke down into the texture of baby food after a bite or two. The different meats were extremely chewy, sweet and dry.

I tried to give the food a chance and each bite was a different combination of the toppings, broth and noodles. However, after 5 bites I had to stop as this was the worst dish and ramen I have ever eaten. I pride myself in not wasting food as I am a food lover but I had to throw it out. I thought I would give this business a try due to the reviews and limited food options in Guelph but never again. This experience has left me never wanting to eat out in the city again for ‘local’ food (I put quotation marks as this is a franchised business).

I went back to the restaurant last evening to ask for a recommendation of a popular dish. I did want to give the place another chance. Except, since I woke up this morning, I have had the worst food poisoning experience of my life thus far. I can still taste the sweet but sour broth as the food poisoning takes its course and I genuinely will never go back.

The food was atrocious to the extent that I have posted on social media about my experience to friends and family about the meal (last night). Surprisingly, many people have responded to the post agreeing that it is the most disgusting ramen they’ve ever had. Luckily, I was one of few that got blessed with the aftermath of food poisoning.

Please, if you genuinely like ramen and have had good quality Japanese food, save your time, palette and digestive system. I’m still recovering and currently sitting by my loo as I type this review (and I NEVER review food locations unless it’s bad, fortunately this was my first time...