Ramen Hayashi — Restaurant in Tokyo

I have NEVER written a one star review but felt so angry after my lunch here that I had to write a review straight away.

The ramen is average, soup is on the salty side and pork lean and chewy and quite expensive at 1100 yen but I can understand some of that may be due to personal taste and I wouldn’t leave a bad review just because the food wasn’t my favourite.

The part that left a nasty taste in my mouth was the owner/Hayashi-san. He is the RUDEST person I have encountered in Japan. First, the guy next to me paused briefly during eating (for maybe 30-60 secs) to rest, digest, whatever. The owner leaned over the counter and tried to take his bowl away before he had even finished.

Then, I briefly looked at my phone to read an article for maybe a minute, my phone was flat on the table while I was still eating with both hands. He came over and yelled at me and angrily gestured to me to leave, making a phone gesture and pointing at the door.

Even if you don’t want people using phones in your restaurant (which is fine - your business your rules, and customers can choose whether to patronise your restaurant), at least put up a sign so people are aware. Or you can ask nicely rather than yelling like I’m some sort of criminal rather than a paying customer.

We were only there for 20 mins, it’s not like we were loitering and holding up other customers.

Extremely inhospitable and NOT worth the time. I’m sad that my second last meal in Tokyo was spent...

I arrived at 12 on the dot on a rainy weekday, and much to my surprise there was no line - in fact I was one of 5 people (tourist couple and two salarymen).

After reading the reviews I was very excited to finally try, with a picture before I began to scarf it down. The soup itself was too strong, as it was more salty than expected. Ramen texture was good, and the yuzu was a nice addition to the flavor to balance out the extreme salty undertones of the soup that lingered throughout and post the meal. I drank a lot of water to counter this, with the hopes of getting another drink at a combini since their drink menu was limited.

However, the core of the experience and reflection of my score was due to the service. The chef, a gruff older man, immediately asked me when I picked up my phone in the middle of the meal (with a solid amount of ramen left) if I was finished. When I responded “not yet”, he shook his head and proceeded to point outside. I was very confused given there was no line. Yes, the seats were all taken at this point, but the 4 ahead of me were not finished nor had left yet, which made me wonder if he had a no phone/electronics policy. I looked around and there was no sign…

When in Japan, I expect a level of service unrivaled by any other. Even as a whole in the wall, I did not expect the comments nor looks that were served. The ramen itself isn’t good enough to return, but I certainly won’t be coming back given the...

This place is the real deal! They are only open for lunch, and they just serve ramen until they run out of soup, at which point they close. Most of the customers seem like locals.

It seems like there is always a line out the door, but it moves pretty quickly. I was 10th or so and got seated in about 10 minutes.

It's a small place, just counter seating and it's a bit cramped. Please don't come with big luggage or something.

You need to order from the ticket machine, but it's got English and there aren't many configurations to choose from (soup+noodles, soup+noodles+egg, soup+noodles+egg+pork). The machine only takes coins, 1000 and 2000 yen notes. No cards. I came with only bigger bills and realized too late about the restriction. As I was about to sheepishly leave (rather than attempt to use Google translate to ask for help) one of the staff rushed up with a purse to make change for me ♥️

Their broth contains anchovies and presumably pork and other things, and they likely can't change it, so be aware if you have allergies or dietary...