Butao (Central) — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Tried Butao Ramen in Central on a friend’s recommendation, expecting a queue but found it quiet-a warning sign. No energetic greeting, awkward sliding entrance, and no working toilets set the tone. Staff seemed disengaged, just ushering us to seats.

Despite being a Japanese-style chain known for customisation, my order for thick noodles and no garlic topping was ignored; I got a generic bowl with thin noodles and fried garlic, same as my friend. When I raised it, staff tried to hand my bowl to another friend with a different soup base, checked the system, but still didn’t acknowledge the mistake. The broth was only slightly above lukewarm-not the steaming hot you’d expect.

For Central, it’s cheap and the pork was generous, but overall it was more cheap and fast than cheerful. Even a cha chaan teng feels warmer. Disappointing, especially from a chain that claims Japanese authenticity and...

tried butao ramen again after couples of yeara. The soup base is still the best in town but not as tasty as before. I felt less pork bones used. The standard portion ramen has less vegetables than before. Maybe due to price rise. The service is much worsr than before. Missing order placed, wrong order delivered, many topup items not available. Last but not least, the whole bottle of sauce dropped on the floor and staff just picked it up and continue to use without any intention to clean or replace it. Don't mention the manner in serving customer.

One more thing. No toilet service...

Had the special edition! It was 黑醋王—Black Vinegar soup base 🖤 The broth had a lot of vinegar in it, and was topped with a scoop of tomato paste which made it really tangy! It was acceptable for me as i like both vinegar (especially love vinegar flavor chips😍) and tomato !

But I didn’t quite like the cream cheese on top. It made it really heavy and .. it just doesn’t match imo

The broth was quite thick and it was more like a sauce than a soup!😳

It’s also good that this store offers many options for you to customize your own bowl of ramen 🍜! I chose less cooked noodle and I really like...