Koichi Ramen — Restaurant in Ottawa

On Saturday night, I visited Koichi with my boyfriend for the first time because my friend had told me that they offer gluten free options and I have a sensitivity! I was very excited to check them out! We get there at 8:35pm and was told that the wait time for dine-in was 45 minutes and last call was at 9:30pm so most likely won’t get seated. We opted to order take out and was told to come back in 20 minutes to pick up (which if you’re doing the math, pick up time is around 9:00). We leave, and then come back and half the restaurant was empty with plenty of seating (they said last call was 9:30 and they close at 10:00). We asked if we can dine-in and the waitress seemed reluctant. They didn’t bother to plate our food and just handed us our food in the take out containers, didn’t bring us utensils or ask if we’d like anything else. We watched them turn away many people even though there were available seating! It had become very clear to us that they don’t want to do their jobs and just focusing on clearing the restaurant out as soon as possible. On the poor service alone, I would never go back.

Now for the food, I ordered the chicken wings as an appetizer and they were burnt. They tasted burnt and lacked any flavour. I appreciate that they offer gluten free options! However, I ordered the shoyu chicken, with spice level of medium. I’m someone who can tolerate a bit of heat but it was way spicer than a medium level, and there were only 3 slices of chicken! The meal was mediocre at best and I probably ate 1/3 of the bowl.

I left feeling very disappointed and dissatisfied with my whole experience and would not recommend or be returning. If it wasn’t for the fact that the other well known and favoured ramen spot didn’t offer gluten free options, I’d still be going there. This is...

Service: From the time we were seated to the time we got our ramen was 50 minutes. (My appetizer took 55 minutes to come). The waitress explained that this lengthy wait was due to staffing issues in the kitchen, but I wish they would've told us before we sat down so that I could've decided if I wanted to wait for so long. (My son was extremely hungry, understandably so).

We ordered before the table next to us, yet that table got all their appetizers first and I only got my appetizer 15 minutes afterwards. (I ordered tofu, which the table next to us also ordered).

Environment: The seating area is very crowded, which made the long wait for food even more unpleasant.

Food: ramen was ok but less tasty than other ramen places (broth was not memorable, tastes similar to instant noodle broth). The toppings were good (veggies, seaweed etc). The tofu could've been better with some sauce, which is how it is served from other Japanese restaurants I've been to.

Conclusion:

I realize the staff members are all working hard/trying their best, but the end result is that the meal took way too long, and I wouldn't want to repeat this type of experience again.

I recommend going to Sansotei for consistently speedy service and way better tasting food. The seating areas in Sansotei (both the Bank and Merivale locations) are way more comfortable and the service is consistently speedy.

I normally give very positive ratings and I had high hopes for Koichi. If I ever return and have a better experience, I'll modify...

Food wasn’t too bad, just regular ramen. The wasabi dip for the karaage was pretty good.

The service, however, was less than mediocre. We’re only allowed to wait in the vestibule between the two doors which is a very tight spacing. I went inside to check in with the server just to be told to wait outside and they take ppl from front to back of line (even though I was only asking for a table for 1 person).

I got inside and they mistakenly thought I was a table for four (of course, they never asked me before placing me to a table).

I informed them I was the only one eating and offered to switch tables which they said oh it’s ok maybe later you’re fine for now, two minutes later, a new group came in and I was told to move around. (If my food was already served and there was another group waiting, would they have moved me in the middle of my meal?)

The ramen took 20+ mins to get served and the server placed it across from me on the very corner of the table, as if she was just setting it there to temporarily tend to something else, and didn’t even bother to tell me that that was my food. I had to shift my plates around on the table to get the ramen placed in front of me.

I also ordered a beer and they forgot about it.

They would disappear together at once to the back at times and there’d be no servers at all on the floor. The space is only 10 ish tables + takeout/food delivery services + the line, I’d think it can definitely be better managed without people waiting around scratching...