Senpai Ramen — Restaurant in Aguadilla

Before I get to the food I will say I can appreciate the design of the restaurant, it capture the typical hole in the wall mom & pop shop I would usually find in LA. The servers were friendly and very attentive.

Appetizer $9.25 Veggie Dumplings - texture of the dumplings was a bit tough and a little too gummy, not much flavor, they were bathed in a ginger garlic sauce which was a bit overpowering, and garnished with green onions and julene beets

Main dish $17.25 Signature Shio - First off the broth, to be honest it was plain and tasted more like oil than anything else, I asked for Sriracha or hot sauce, they only had chili flakes and chili oil... The chili flakes seemed to be dried Chile California, Chile Pasilla (like the chilies used to make enchilada sauce) so it was more of a smokey flavor, I added a bit of the flakes to the broth to see if it would add some flavor, it did. Onto the chicken, although it was soft and juicy it was also very very bland, I had to cover it in chili flakes to give it some flavor... The other condiments in the ramen were green onion, bamboo shoots and woodear, not bad. They do charge for any other toppings you'd like to add which to be honest they don't really have much, just boiled egg which typically comes with any ramen dish in traditional ramen shops. And finally the noodles, they were pretty good actually, they had a silky texture. Overall I'd rate the dish a 5/10.

Just realized when the check came that they charged me $1.99 for the "chili flakes" and "chili oil". Absolutely not coming back never have I ever paid for chili of any kind at a ramen shop. Especially not when the chili is not even spicy... I've had ramen from many different places in Los Angeles and none of them were ever more than $15 for a fully loaded ramen with multiple veggies, 2 kinds of protein and broth that actually had flavor. This is a pretty overpriced, and underwhelming place for ramen but since there aren't really ramen shops here the average person who's never had ramen probably thinks this place is great. To each their own. Would not come...

They force a 18% tip on groups of 6 or bigger (which is illegal btw). I always tip, but being forced to doesn't feel too good. The food is good but way too acidic (across the board) for my taste. It could be great for people with other taste palletes. The outside seating of the establishment really leaves things to be desired. Like for example, the chairs are dinky, uncomfortable and the tables are uncomfortable due to the gaps between the wood. The parking lot looks extra sketchy at night (the kind of sketchy you wonder if youre going to get robbed) as there is no lighting whatsoever and there is a lot of severely bad smelling trash on the walk to the restaurant throughout the parking (with the addition of having an abandoned building in the background to add to the eerie feeling).

As a positive, the servers were very amicable and the food was served somewhat quick considering we were a big group. Sadly I do not see myself coming back here.

Recommendations:

1. Do something with the outside seating so it doesn't feel as exposed to everything. Yes, I understand its outside seating, but being outside shouldn't feel like anybody could come up and rob you if you are visiting at night. A wooden deck with lighting hanging around like vines would look beautiful at night, but I know its expensive.
2. Add some kind of lighting to the parking
3. Get more sturdy chairs for the outside
4. Honestly, just move to...

So we finally made it to Senpai all the way in Aguadilla PR. To say that we were hyped would be an understatement. We got there a bit early (we had a 3pm reservation) and waited around 15 minutes outside before we were offered a drink, which was a bit long but we ordered Sapporo and waited 10 more minutes before our table was ready. The place is tiny, only around 4 tables and the small bar, but clean. Our waitress came over once we were seated and we ordered three apetizers, the eggplant, the meat balls and the fried chicken. Of these three the meatballs were the best, they had great texture and the flavor was very good. The eggplant came in second but only do to the size of the eggplant slices which were way to big. The chicken unfortunately was disappointing the batter was too thick and retained too much fat from the fryer, and the combination of sauces was not the best. From the ramen options we ordered the naruto ramen. This was our favorite dish the broth was superb and the dish was well balanced and presented. From the Mazen menu we ordered the extra spicy pork sausage version that was on yesterday's menu... and it turned out to be awful!! The dish tasted overwhelmingly of nutmeg or all spice and the dish was not spicy at all. Overall, in my humble opinion, this restaurant is completely overrated and not worth the trouble of driving all the way to...