Fuku Ramen — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Admittedly, I was skeptical and wary of Fuku Ramen in the beginning because of the generated hype from food vloggers and influencers. But after a 2 month wait and after having a bowl of their ramen, I must say that they deserve all the attention and praise that they have been getting.

Their “Shio Chintan Ramen” is clearly a cut above most ramen bowls served in the restaurants that I have tried here in the Netherlands. In my opinion, they have managed to balance the texture and flavor of the ramen’s different components really well. For one, the broth packed quite a punch as fat globules intensified the ramen's meaty flavor without making it greasy. The noodles were cooked just right, which made it a joy to chew on. And the pork slices that came with my order? Tender, moist, and flavorful. I thoroughly enjoyed the ramen bowl that I was served.

The staff were very friendly and courteous; they patiently explained to my girlfriend and I how things worked in the menu after we got settled in our seats. We were one of the very first customers that afternoon (i.e. they opened at 1 PM and we had a reservation at that time exactly) and based on what we saw and experienced, the ambiance of the restaurant was rather cozy.

What could have made things better? As is always the case with great restaurants, the (minor) gripes that will pop up are almost always with the food’s price and quantity. Although the ramen here is objectively more expensive than most, my opinion is that quality of the dish justifies the price. The same goes for the quantity; adding a small heap of noodles to the bowl would have made me too full to appreciate the ramen. However, a little more broth would have been welcome and much appreciated.

Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant. I will be coming back again to try their other offerings. It will be quite a while though because the restaurant is almost always fully booked but to those who want to try Fuku Ramen, persevere on (i.e. sign up for their waitlist) and you shall be rewarded with seats...

Below Average food.

I was willing to get over all that until a lady (and I use that term loosely) arrived and proceeded to have an argument with the staff about to being to accommodate her and her driver at table. ( according to the restaurant’s reply she just informed them that her driver will wait outside like she’s the queen of england) Then she was placed next to me at the bar (the only place that was available to sit at the restaurant, yet the restaurant’s reply says that they could have moved me somewhere else) she continued to have a conversation on the phone right next to my ear the whole time, in arabic, and it was a very negative conversation.

The staff should have to told her to wrap the phone call up, she literally spoke on the phone for over 30 mins. The staff just stood there dazed and confused waiting for the subpar food to be released to the crowd. They should literally implement a no phone policy.

The waitress who was literally clueless even asked me how my experience was at the end of the meal.

I was on vacation and if you are considering trying this place while you are on vacation don’t it will be an utter waste of time.

They are literally clueless when it comes to customer service of the standard they are trying to portray.

The design of the place is cute though.

(The restaurant’s reply is such a slap in the face and is riddled with stuff that doesn’t make sense. The place was full where would you have moved me? Why would she feel the need to inform you that her driver will wait outside? Word of advice next time call the customer whose evening was ruined and apologize, I would have been willing to remove my review had you done that. But you playing the blame game is just childish. According to you I should have told the staff that the lady next to me is rude and for them to do something about it. Like we are in Kindergarten. Good luck staying in business with this kind of attitude and...

There's ramen, and there's ramen, and then there's Fuku Ramen.

The dinner came highly recommended, so my expectations were high, and I'm happy to say I was not disappointed at all.

For the dinner menu, it comes with a few little bites, and then the ramen as the main, together with a palate cleanser and a dessert.

All the little bites were really little, just enough to leave you wanting more but also happy that you didn't get more because then you can continue dreaming about the tiny taste bombs that made delicious explosions of flavour in your mouth.

I was curious about the ramen because I've always had it as a dish on its own, and wondered if it might be too heavy. But this shoyu ramen was the most exquisite bowl of ramen I've ever had. Flavourful broth, the meat, I don't know what they did with the meat but it was thinly sliced (why did no one ever think of that before??) and so tender and fragrant. I usually am not a big fan of the meats in ramen because they're always too chunky and heavy, but I was careful this time to ration out the meat so that I could have it with every bite of noodles. And speaking of the noodles (handmade, apparently) - I felt like I was downing mouthfuls of silk and just couldn't, wouldn't stop till I had a itny pool of soup and just one bite of noodles left. And parted with that last bite most tenderly. Apologies, I do get very emotional when I meet good food :)

The staff were also incredibly friendly and warm, and always introduced the dishes very clearly. Extra mention to one of them (in the midst of my selfish enjoyment I unfortunately didn't get her name :( ) who always folded our napkins whenever we went to the bathroom. Not super necessary but it made us feel so well-attended to.

Pregnant at the moment so I didn't get to enjoy the sakes, but they have quite an extensive list and I will definitely be back for some of that!

In short, the rave...