Takumi NINE 2 — Restaurant in Berlin

Summary: very good ramen with friendly service and ok price for value in a bit a rundown interior setting, fast food style; 5 stars for the tantanmen, 4 for the rest

Best dish: so far tantanmen (I would opt for the one without the fried chicken, just diced chicken). I went to takumi two days in a row to taste two different options. I know the chain from Düsseldorf/Köln

Dishes (- negative / = ok / + positive): tantanmen with fired chicken: very savory broth with perfect tanginess (not too spicy); nice bite of the noddles; they could add a bit more diced chicken I had the tantanmen with the fried chicken, which I don’t recommend. Event though I ordered it on the side so that it doesn’t get mushy from the soup, it was still mushy and not a pleasure. = noukou tori shio ramen: white broth soup, which was good, but less savory. I prefer the intense flavor of the tantanmen. Again too little diced chicken. = gyoza with chicken: ok but nothing special, not very well-rounded seasoning; a better sauce mix would be nice

Service: friendly service = sometimes a bit disorganized

Price: = ok price for value. I think the tantanmen with the fried chicken is too expensive for the quality

Atmosphere: = fast food style; seating on stools and benches a bit rundown and bit dirty

My rating system - I focus on the food first and foremost. I aim to be truthful and try not to be biased by friendly service or other circumstances. 5: excellent - I am rigorous in handing out 5 ratings 4*: good 3*: ok 2*:...

I love ramen. This place was... boring and overpriced. The service and atmosphere were fine, though.

Vegetarian and vegan options are plentiful on their menu, but I got one with fried chicken. The broth was bland--not just the lack of spiciness (the waiter kindly warned me that even the dishes marked "hot" were merely German-grade hot, and sold me a sidedish of chili sauce for more money than I expected) but it desperately lacked depth and richness. The delicately crispy breading on the chicken went mushy quickly: would have been better as a side dish, but in a bowl of soup the texture was wasted. There was also a surprisingly high surcharge for many of the things I'm used to seeing standard or inexpensive (which, if included, might have lent a little more depth to the broth): mushrooms, egg, nori, more vegetables...

The other big shock was the tea: in the finest German-restaurant tradition of pricing tap water higher than gasoline, rather than a pot of loose-leaf tea they brought me one little cup with a tea bag in it! For a place with such high prices, I don't understand why they would skimp so badly on something so basic. Germans would, but not Japanese!

In summary: underwhelming, and...

It looks like they have vegetarian and vegan ramen options on the menu, and the waiter does say that the ramen is "completely vegetarian", "no meat", but then it came with 2 pieces of chicken meat that clearly was real chicken. I don't understand how that is completely vegetarian. We aren't vegetarian customers but I think that would be really misleading for those who are. Customer service staff is actually kind and friendly, but they failed to tell me what's actually expected in the ramen.

The soup / broth however, tasted very vegetarian, with not even a hint of pork ribs that other Japanese ramen places normally use. It was very bland. Thankfully we ordered a spicy miso version that tasted better, probably because of the bit of spicy oil.

I totally recommend the gyozas though. This ramen chef totally knows how to fry great gyozas.

Atmosphere-wise, they have anime drawings on the wall and Japanese songs playing in the background which easily turns the place Japanesey, and chopsticks. And some small flies flying around too.

Overall, I think it's a tourist trap that somehow earned a high review. I've been to better ramen restaurants within Berlin so I don't think...