Yamasan Ramen House — Restaurant in Mexico City

For context, this is the first Japanese restaurant / food I've eaten in CDMX, so please consider that when reading my review. It is entirely possible for example that this is the best katsu curry (tonkatsu curry i.e. カツカレ) in the city. I'm writing this review in a fairly critical way, mainly to help any other person specifically looking for "normal" Japanese katsu curry.

That said, I'd probably give the curry / pork combo a combined 3.5/5 stars, but I'm bumping my overall rating up to 4/5 stars because the price was very fair and my spouses ramen was pretty good (too salty though, probably another 3.5 stars), and the portion of pork in the meal was very good.

My main issue was the curry itself - the curry felt homemade, which could be a good thing, but it just didn't have the taste I've come to expect. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was almost too savory or pungent / deep in flavor, vs sweet and a bit acidic. The tonkatsu itself was very good (4.5/5 probably), but be aware at least my portion was very thick. I'd almost say "amazing", sort of like a higher end katsu restaurant, except it was perhaps not entirely what I was expecting with the curry. If you're reading this and want a nice tonkatsu though, I'd give this place a try at least.

My other issue (again, this is a pretty critical review I realize) was the rice wasn't super great in my opinion. Again, perhaps it's great for the city, or great for the price point, I unfortunately can't say yet (so again, grain of salt!), but it felt overcooked /...

This place is very mediocre and not worth the price. I was craving ramen and settled on this place even though other ramen spots nearby have higher ratings. I should have listened. We were greeted at the door by the most unenthused hostess who seemed to have an attitude about my daughter’s stroller. Then, when we sat down, no one stopped by to take our order for a long time. However, the next table that sat was immediately greeted by a waitress and some snacks (we never got any snacks). My ramen was very bland and when I asked if it was spicy, the waitress said no but they could give me spices on the side. My daughter’s egg fried rice had no real taste to it. The kicker is when I got the bill, they charged me 40 pesos for the spices - which no one mentioned there would be an extra charge (on top of an already high bill). The only positive I’ll give is that my waitress really worked with me and my novice Spanish and was friendly enough. However, I recommend going somewhere else in the area for ramen. This place is...

Good: Friendly, welcoming staff. Plenty of seating, and it seems like they can modify the tables to accommodate a larger party. The gyoza was good (just slightly undercooked, but still good). We both had the Naruto Miso Ramen, and we ordered it without any high expectations, but we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The noodles were cooked properly and the soup base was excellent. We really enjoyed it. The price was reasonable. (For the ladies, they have coat/purse hangers on the wall, and they also provide a portable, table height rack to hang your purses, which my wife noticed. Minor yet convenient details make a difference.)

Bad: Nothing we could think of.

The restaurant is located in a block full of Japanese restaurants, which we labeled as "Little Japan", so make sure you check the sign before walking in. We'd definitely...