MOMO Ramen — Restaurant in Hamburg

Quintessence:

MOMO is a restaurant with a comparatively small menu. The quality of the dishes ranged from very good to good. The dishes we ordered had very few flaws. For example I thought their soup was a little too salty. Some of the dishes were very well seasoned (e.g. their MOMO Buns with Chashu) and one of their dishes that we ordered wasn't as flavourful/well seasoned (Gyoza). The staff has a very good teamwork. We never had to wait for long to place our orders or to get our drinks or food. The atmosphere inside of the restaurant is nice. They had a very good visual concept for the whole restaurant.

In detail:

My friends and I went to Momo on a Sunday evening. Every group was assigned to a table. They suggested my two friends and I sit at a table where usually two people are meant to be seated. They got us a stool, but somehow they got another stool for the table next to us and put it right behind our stool so two people would have had to sit back to back, each one touching the other person's back. In addidtion the waiter/waitress would not have been able to walk through that aisle. Luckily the other stool was removed and placed somewhere else, I guess.

So we got the menu and it felt like our waitress was a little bit impatient trying to make us place our order asap. I get the point that they want to assign their guests to their tables as efficiently as possible so that everybody can have a seat and get something to eat, and leave asap so that new guests get a table as well. But that day I felt like they could have been more relaxed and given us a table where usually four people would fit. There were no customers waiting in a queue once the restaurant was open.

We chose to have the "Gyoza" (dumplings with chicken and cabbage) and the "MOMO Buns" (two Baozi buns sliced in halves, filled with peanuts, coriander, some kind of sauce, "Chashu", chicken or tofu) as an entree and the "Miso Ramen", the "Spicy Miso Ramen" and the "Tonkotsu" as main course. In addition we ordered twice their "MOMO made Ice Tea" with Oolong tea and another one with Jasmine tea.

The "MOMO made Ice Tea" was a regular iced tea made with lemon juice (I guess) using an Oolong tea or Jasmine tea instead of a black tea. It was nonetheless tasty and really refreshing.

Our "Gyoza" could have been a bit more crispy on the bottom. Three of them weren't as brown as the other two. The Gyoza were not so well seasoned. They could have used more spices or other ingredients (e.g. garlic chives (韭菜) or ginger).

Our "MOMO Buns" were flavourful and well seasoned. I especially liked the one with Chashu. I appreciated them actually using coriander as an ingredient instead of just using it as a garnish. Both our buns were not as soft. We had quite some trouble biting through one of our buns because the dough was just too hard. In addition I thought the amount of sauce they put into the bun was a bit too much to not make a mess when you eat it.

Our "Miso Ramen", "Spicy Miso Ramen" and "Tonkotsu" - as supposed - were very hot when they were served. The noodles had a very good texture and the broth was very flavourful. In my opinion the broth was a little too salty though. The Chashu was good in its texture and it was juicy. The presentation was nice but not as nice as on their instagram account.

There were quite a few different kind of waitresses and waiters. On the one hand there was our waitress who did only take our orders and cleared our table. On the other hand there was this very young, very attentive, very diligent waiter who served us our beverages and food.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant was nice. They have solid wooden tables (I might be a bit too pedantic, but our solid wooden table had a few cracks and there was a little dirt between those cracks), they have very good looking art on their walls. Even their toilet has Japanese newspapers used as wallpaper. So they definitely had a visual concept for their restaurant, which I...

I grew up eating Japanese food my whole life, as I have family from Japan in Asahikawa city and Hamanaka. I had been missing ramen for a long time, as I haven't been back to Japan since 2017. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed with the quality here at MOMO. Maybe I caught them at a bad time, or ordered the bad things on the menu, because I wasn't served authentic ramen or Japanese food.

For an appetizer I ordered the momo buns for 8 euros. It mimicked Chinese gun bao, which is traditionally served with pork. I ordered mine with pork but was served chicken instead. I was worried I got the wrong order with another table (especially if it was a table who was muslim because they cannot eat pork). I told the kind waiter quickly however he assured me it was pork, but then retracted saying it was chicken (very confusing). The mantou (buns) were old because they were very dry and crumbled in your hands. Normally they should be steamed fresh before serving so that they are soft and warm :)

Then menu itself was quite confusing because it had food from all different parts of asia. From kimchi (Korean) to szechuan pepper (Chinese), I recommend trying Japanese spices like Sansho Japanese Pepper (!). They had no green tea! only chinese teas available

I ordered the shoyu ramen with pork. It was strange because ramen is typically served with pork broth not chicken. The soup itself was not balanced - it was overly salty so I could not finish. I took it home and tried fixing it with better soup. The noodles used were wrongly overcooked - they reminded me more of chinese stirfry noodles.

Overall the ramen reminded me of instant chinese noodle soup, maybe try incorporate more Japanese flavors so it is more authentic. I understand that Japan is on the other side of the world, so that's why a lot of people here in Germany think that the food is good. I don't think the people here are well educated about proper Japanese cuisine yet so they do not know...

My husband and I are Ramen Crazy Couple. So crazy that out of desperation, we sometime cook the 16 ~ 24 hour broth at home. We found MoMo totally by accident and wasn't expecting much as we have been disappointed before in OTHER places.... However, we were Very Happily Surprised how GOOD MoMo Ramen is...!😮

Pro : Toppings in a bowl of Ramen is quite subjective, but a good Ramen starts with an excellent broth, and elegant noodles.... And MoMo delivers both. Extremely delicious Tonkotsu broth and Super Perfect Tantanmen are my favourites. Having lived in Japan and China for many years, I guarantee anyone, MoMo offers one of the MOST SATISFYING "Noodle Soups"(and more) outside of Japan and China. .... There is also quint little bar with very creative Sake Cocktails to boot. If you are a Sake lover like me or just want to try different Sake, MoMo offers three different Sake adventure menu. To top it all, MoMo has friendly staff (fluent in English for my benefit) and very accommodating. Eg: We arrived Hamburg and desperate for MoMO Ramen. We try to reserve a table on-line, but was fully booked out. Our craving got the better of us and we dropped by unannounced. Out of desperation, I did the out-of-town-tourist act. A Very Friendly Staff said "you got one hour"... and one hour was all we need 😋 ... We were 4 days in Hamburg, and visited 3 times to MoMo 😁

Con : Maybe to some customer, the place may feel small and crowded. But if anyone has been to Japan and eaten at an individual Ramen shop(not chain), MoMo Hamburg is a large luxurious place. The place can get quite warm, so wear accordingly. But who cares when the food taste so GOOD 🤣

FYI : Reserving a Table is...