Menzou Ramen 麵蔵 — Restaurant in Surrey

Our visit started off well but ended in a deeply disappointing and upsetting way, especially since we drove all the way from Vancouver to try this place. The ramen itself was decent — the broth was rich and flavorful, the chashu was tender, and the overall quality was great. The waitress who served us seemed attentive and even recommended a few menu items, which we appreciated.

Unfortunately, things went seriously wrong after we paid. As we were leaving, the same waitress ran after us outside the restaurant and accused us of not paying. This was shocking and incredibly humiliating. We had paid just moments earlier, with another staff member bringing the card machine to our table. Clearly, there was a lack of communication between the staff, but that does not justify confronting and accusing customers in such a public and disrespectful manner.

After making the effort to drive such a long way, being treated like this left us feeling embarrassed and disrespected. This kind of incident is completely unacceptable, and I hope the restaurant takes steps to improve their staff communication and professionalism. This experience has made us hesitant to return despite the...

Broth was flat, boring, and the lame menu was sad. For 15 bucks fill the bowl with broth please. Not worth the 2 year wait at all. No friendly welcome at a brand new restaurant? No friendly thank you when I left? They dropped the ball at Menzou. No one asked me how my food was, I was the only person there. No pop is fine, but at least help me find a drink you do offer. The ramen was as flat as the service. Not sure why they had servers at all. $1 charge for cilantro $1 for bean sprouts should mean fresh and more then a spoonfull, you shouldn't charge one penny for cliantro or bean sprouts. Unless you can back it up with great ramen. Which they do not. If they got rid of the tip option and servers all together and didn't nickle and dime the locals then maybe they would be okay for lunch if you happen to be at Morgan Crossing anyway. Don't drive here to try it, not worth a trip. Menzou, train your servers to ask "is this your first time here?" then follow up,  "can I help you make a selction?" then follow up "how is eveything tasting?" Say "thank you". This neighbourhood will forgive anyone if they are trying, if they don't try we won't...

This place is the ultimate contrast: incredible food and the worst, practically non existent service. The food is as good as any downtown niche ramen place, the portions are generous and kitchen is quick.

The service is absurdly bad, and the ordering process is bizarre: they have a single physical menu, one, and do not have a working mobile data signal inside. If you want to order you scan the QR code, enter your mobile number (!?) to get on WiFi, then scan another QR code to order from the kitchen directly. Based on the number of subsequent spam calls we've gotten, more than once before even LEAVING THE RESTAURANT, it's pretty clear the owners have intentionally created this system to generate a small amount of extra revenue from overseas call centers. It's absurd.

Or, you can squeeze between the crowd of unmanaged people at the entry/lineup/pickup/food delivery pseudo-queue and order from the one printed menu in known existence, which is 14 inches from the front door. If they'll acknowledge you.

But believe it or not, the food is worth it. Just barely. At least tipping is absolutely not necessary. Just write out your order...