Houkiya Ramen — Restaurant in Sagamihara

My family and I stopped here one time and agreed to never go back. We struggled trying to use google translate to figure out what ramen to choose from the machine dispenser as everything was in Japanese. Okay, that’s a given, we’re in Japan- but the owner just stood there with a sour expression across his face, as if it was disrespectful that couldn’t read the language. He didn’t even try to help us, eventually we get our tickets and give it to him, his shop is set up as a “U” shape and we went to sit at the very end, only for him to say we couldn’t- mind you the ramen place was empty and we had to sit at the front (where the curve is) a little stunned, but we laughed it off. He proceeds to cook and gives us our ramen bowl. That has to be the most saltiest ramen I’ve ever had for living in Japan for almost 5 years. It was just not good. There was no flavor, just a big bowl of sodium and clogged arteries. And for the chef to be disrespectful? I had a feeling he didn’t like foreigners because that was the vibe he was giving off in the very beginning. But anyone planning to eat here I wouldn’t even waste your time. Poor customer service and the quality of the...

I love this ramen and wanna share this with people from other countries so am writing in Eng. This ramen contains much UMAMI typical to ramen. Amazingly delicious. Atomospher there is nostalgic. But there is a caution. Ramens here is, generally speaking, too thick. So it’s better to order USUME(less thick: pronouncing w-sue-me(of met)) by saying it directly to the owner. Plus, sadly, English menu is not available seemingly so learn two words in advance besides USUME. Salt flavor is SHIO(pronouncing shi oh). Soy source flavor is SHOUYU(pronouncing show-you). Basic Ramen is 700yen...

Delicious! I had the salt ramen as I read it was the specialty. The soup was really tasty, of course it’s a bit salty ;) but it’s not heavy. I had the charshu topping and it was tasty and soft. The fat was a little rubbery which I don’t like but it wasn’t too bad. The 牛すじ that comes as standard was a good addition. The noodles were a bit softer than I usually like otherwise I’d give it a 4 star. Next time I’m gonna...