Hako Ramen Kreuzberg — Restaurant in Berlin

I'll start with the good. The ramen was really delicious, with a great savory broth and good ingredients... BUT, the noodles were undercooked.

I was there in the middle of the afternoon and it was very quiet, so no excuse for the hygiene problems. My table was sticky, and the napkins were not replenished. I saw the cook behind the counter do something that is not sanitary.

The service was polite but curt. The two employees were more interested in having fun than paying attention to the clients. Then a young woman walked in either high or hysterical, and proceeded to laugh as though hyperventilating for the next 15 minutes. Yes, she was an employee.

The other table had an issue and the waiter was nowhere to be found (perhaps he was inhaling whatever the waitress was sniffing). The cook eventually rang the bell to summons him.

Perhaps you'll have a better experience than I did. But I recommend going to the covered market (Marheineke Markthalle) just up the street where there is a wide choice of really good foods to choose from, and comfortable counters by the window to enjoy them. Some food stores have their own seating. Looked very nice and I wish that I didn't spend my money in Hako and gave it to someone...

This was a hard one to rate... The fried chicken was easily a 5/5, but the ramen was closer to 3.5. Germans must be much like Norwegians in that "spicy" means "about as hot as black pepper". The pork was absolutely delicious: so succulent, so tender, and so clearly high quality. Had it been the food alone, I'd leave 4 stars here, especially when the beautiful atmosphere is so strongly in their favor.

Unfortunately, when I spend 50 eur at a restaurant, I expect to sit there just about as long as I want to, and certainly for longer than 45 minutes. There was a sudden rainstorm that sent every single patron sitting outside back inside. I totally understand how this would overwhelm the staff, but how could you ask somebody to leave a minute after leaving a tip, and not least when there's still broth in the bowl? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt here because I'm sure that something like this would never happen on a normal day, but it was just too rude not to mention! Especially when being asked in German, then "actually never mind" when asked to repeat the absurd...

Ordered the VEGAN kinoko Ramen and it came with half an EGG... they should ask before putting an egg into something vegan! Gave it to my friend and the food taste wise was alright, but I assume for a true vegan this would be an issue. The broth was pretty good actually. I asked for hot sauce multiple times, different staff and they all said they would bring it but never did. Seemed like they didn't really understand what I was asking for. The restaurant was really busy and packed, I'm guessing that's why we didn't receive the best service? I feel like there was a language barrier (English+German). If the staff would have communicated better (ask if vegan Ramen should come with egg, serve hot sauce) it would have been a much better experience cause the food itself...