Hage Ramen — Restaurant in Berlin

I first have to say that this is the best Japanese ramen place in Berlin that I've tried so far. But not top notch level on an international level. I'm not comparing it to the ramen restaurants in Japan. I'm only comparing it to major cities like London or smaller ones like Warsaw.

Hence the 4 star. I think the current rating is overrated in this sense but fair enough when compared to those for other ramen places in Berlin.

Here, the ramens are properly made with good consistency of noodles and legitimately prepared eggs. If I add my personal wish, the stark temperature difference of the soup should be rectified. It seems cold toppings like sweetcorn and wakame were placed on top of hot broth/noodles so that part of the soup was almost cold/lukewarm while other side was piping hot.

But overall it is a satisfactory ramen. However, such attention to detail didn't seem to have been paid to other side dishes and drinks menu. Karaage was underwhelming and the Yuzu soda was mediocre at best with very uncontrolled roughly crushed ice. My ice chunks were 3 times bigger than my friend's - very un-Japanese. I also didn't like colourful metal straw which doesn't appear very hygienic as you don't know how clean it is inside.

But if I have to recommend one ramen restaurant in Berlin to a friend today, this would be the place with one caveat - I haven't tried all other ramen...

FOOD & DRINKS They offer ramen for vegans, vegetarians and meat lovers. I ordered the Torikotsu ramen which is basically a Tonkotsu style soup base but with chicken instead of pork. The ramen was nice. The pieces of chicken chashu were soft, juicy and had a super nice char on the outside. You were able to taste the smokiness. Because I arrived about an hour before they were going to close, the soup might not be as fresh as it could be. Soup had a slight funk but was tasty.

SERVICE Staff was very friendly and nice.

ATMOSPHERE This is what put the restaurant on my list. When I saw the pictures of this place online, I really wanted to make a stop here. It is so different compared to other ramen restaurants. You could almost come to the assumption that this restaurant was created by anime/manga fans. The cute paintings on the wall, the naruto stools and the gachapon at the front are a nice touch but when I was actually standing inside I felt like the room itself felt lost, cold and old. The interior design would benefit from some uplift. Stay cute but also modern.

RATING The ramen was good. The highlight was the cashu but it would probably have been best if they would have sent me away with an apology. I am not really complaining because sometimes you are happy to still be offered some food late at night. Overall I think they can still improve in...

The prices here are completely outrageous when compared to the quantity of ingredients. I ordered a tan tan ramen with mushroom toppings + Ebi Fry appetizer (2 pieces) and it cost me almost €19!!!!! The price of Ebi Fry was not on the menu so I assumed it would be somewhere around 3-4€, NOT almost 6€!!!! How can ONE piece of tiny shrimp cost €3?!?!?! I was so shocked at the price, I had to check with the waitress to make sure she charged me the right item. While the broth and noodles were decent, the quantity of ingredients were laughable: a small spoonful of ground meat and corn, a couple of small slices of mushroom, and 2 small boy chok. I left the restaurant still hungry. Ugh.. I should've just made instant noodles at home instead and it would have been more satisfying. I understand that times are tough for businesses especially now with Corona, and I try to support them as much as possible, but I don't like feeling cheated out of my money for mediocre food. I won't be coming back! It really is too bad as I live close by and thought I had found a great Ramen place worth coming back...