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 Ramen. Yeesh!