Ramen Kagura Ópera — Restaurant in Madrid

Serious letdown. Tried to go here for lunch the other day, but just missed it. Asked if it was possible to have lunch just before closing time and was then asked "for how many", replied just one and was then told it wasn't possible. What was in the air was the had there been more people they might have extended service. Anyway, I tried to go again because reviews had this as the highest rated ramen place in Madrid. After waiting for 10m, which isn't unusual at ramen bars, I was seated by the counter by the wall but there were plenty of spots so I could have been seated much earlier if servers had noted or asked people in line. Inside, it took more than 10m to have my order taken.

Now the food. The bowl of shio tonkotsu looked fine but immediately something stood out, a lemon wedge inside the broth - a first for me. The two thickish pieces of pork looked nicely charred but had lots of fat on it, way too much. The soft boiled egg was on the overcooked side and tasted just like a fully boiled egg. There were lots of noodles, I didn't realize that 400g took up that much space, but that's not a complaint. However, the noodles are on the thicker side and taste a little dry but okay. The broth was fine and only the broth around the lemon wedge tasted slightly acidic. Maybe someone likes adding the lemon juice, but not me. After not finishing half the bowl, I wanted to pay by the counter where two staff members were talking for more than a minute just ignoring me instead of allowing me to pay.

In conclusion, inefficient seating, long service wait, way too much fat on the pork belly and thick and dry noodles made the experience very poor. Maybe I was spoiled by having had ICHIRAN ramen in Hong Kong last week, but this was very very...

Very good value for money. For €10 you eat like a king, two courses, dessert and drink. The japanese chef knows what he is doing. The food is not fatty at all, including the karaage (fried chicken). The amount of food you get in the daily prearranged meal is okay, not much. The waiters are very helpful and attentive, in less than 30 seconds you will have whatever you have asked for. I got good food recommendations from them. Desserts are not housemade, weakest link of the menu. No healthy options, just ice cream or cakes. The prearranged daily meals offer ten options for the first course, eight options for the second course and four options for dessert. The restaurant is located in town centre. It is not easy to get there by car, just use public transport, the best in the world here in Madrid. Not many car park spaces nearby. They serve Japanese beer in the bar. No tapas here, it is a Japanese restaurant. Small plates can be ordered. It is a medium size place, fifty five people can be eating at the same time. Toilets are in a very good condition, recently refurbished. No outdoor seating for smokers. It rarely rains in Madrid but even for those unusual occasions a canvas keeps you dry. The lunch shift starts at 12.30, very early for Spanish standards, and finishes at 4pm. The kitchen closes at 3.30pm. €3 in the bar for one cañas of Japanese beer. No breakfasts...

I had been craving good ramen since I moved to Madrid and decided to give this place a try since I had heard good things about it. Such a disappointment. I like the idea of walk in without a reservation and I understand that that may involve some wait time. I am happy to wait for a good meal. We waited for 1hour and the ramen we were served wasn’t worth that wait or even a 5 min wait. Since we were with our 2 daughters we were thrown in the back area where they put all the families. I understand this may be convenient for them but 12 year old kids and babies are not the same kind of customer. You basically get a poorer experience for going to eat out with your kids. It was so loud we couldn’t even have a conversation. Moving on to the ramen itself I ordered the tonkotsu shio and it was totally flavorless. My husband ordered the soy one and at least it tasted like soy, but no other flavors present. I asked for a couple of bowls for my kids to share their plate and they came with hot water from the dishwasher. They’re so busy they didn’t even take the time to make sure the bowls were clean and dry. The only good thing I can say is the gyozas were correct and the meal was cheap. So sorry to leave this review because I had great expectations but I’m afraid I won’t be...